I'm always excited to learn a little bit more about the universe. And while This Way to the Universe does do that for the parts I understood, I feel like a lot of it went over my head.
The book takes us on a journey through the highlights of all that science has discovered and yet to discover about the universe, from its origin all the way to now and where it might go from here. It's a fairly technical journey, bound in theoretical physics and math, and my understanding of the book definitely reflects that.
For me, where this book works best is that it tries to tie all the information together into a cohesive narrative. It was satisfying to walk through the history of scientific progress and to check in at its pivotal moments. Along the way, Dine pays homage to many scientists, including women and those from non-Western countries whose impact may be lesser known to the world.
However, the book lost me for a big chunk in the middle once it started going into subatomic territory with mesons, pions, gluons, and symmetry, to name a few. There's just not enough depth here. The book tries to tackle these fairly complicated topics without the necessary background or details. So if you don't already know the topics covered, it would be hard for you to glean anything from what's in the pages.
It's not entirely the author's fault. I can see that he didn't want to get mired in the technical details in a 300-page book. Otherwise, it would soon resemble a textbook. But without any technical explanation, it's just impossible for me to make heads or tails out of the whole thing. It almost feels like this should be a companion to a graduate-level course rather than a standalone book for the layman.
Too bad. The topics in here are fascinating and the parts I could understand worthwhile. But I just can't rate it higher than 3 stars when I didn't understand half the book.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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