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La historia universal de nosotros: Un viaje de 13.800 millones de años, desde el Big Bang hasta ti
Es la historia de ti, de mí y de todo lo que nos rodea, de cómo llegamos a ser. En resumen, es la historia más grandiosa jamás contada.
¿Alguna vez te has preguntado por qué existes? ¿Qué tuvo que suceder para que tú, y toda la vida en la Tierra, llegara a existir? ¿Cuál es la verdadera respuesta a la pregunta definitiva sobre la vida, el universo y todo lo demás?
En La Historia Universal de Nosotros, Tim Coulson, profesor de Zoología en Oxford, nos lleva de regreso al principio de el Big Bang, hace 13.800 millones de años. A partir de ahí, nos guía paso a paso por el camino hacia lo más asombroso que hemos encontrado hasta la increíble complejidad de la mente humana moderna.
Abordando temas como la física, la astronomía, la química, la geología, el surgimiento de la vida, la evolución, la consciencia y el ascenso de la humanidad, pero escrito para ser comprendido por cualquier persona con curiosidad, este libro trata de la historia más grande de todas y la cuenta de manera simple, apasionante y, sobre todo, entretenida.
Es la historia de ti, de mí y de todo lo que nos rodea, de cómo llegamos a ser. En resumen, es la historia más grandiosa jamás contada.
¿Alguna vez te has preguntado por qué existes? ¿Qué tuvo que suceder para que tú, y toda la vida en la Tierra, llegara a existir? ¿Cuál es la verdadera respuesta a la pregunta definitiva sobre la vida, el universo y todo lo demás?
En La Historia Universal de Nosotros, Tim Coulson, profesor de Zoología en Oxford, nos lleva de regreso al principio de el Big Bang, hace 13.800 millones de años. A partir de ahí, nos guía paso a paso por el camino hacia lo más asombroso que hemos encontrado hasta la increíble complejidad de la mente humana moderna.
Abordando temas como la física, la astronomía, la química, la geología, el surgimiento de la vida, la evolución, la consciencia y el ascenso de la humanidad, pero escrito para ser comprendido por cualquier persona con curiosidad, este libro trata de la historia más grande de todas y la cuenta de manera simple, apasionante y, sobre todo, entretenida.
Es la historia de ti, de mí y de todo lo que nos rodea, de cómo llegamos a ser. En resumen, es la historia más grandiosa jamás contada.
- GenresScienceNonfiction
464 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 10, 2024
Tim is so clever and funny! What a great book
August 10, 2026
The Universal History of Us offers an intriguing opportunity to step back and consider the larger story of humanity from a scientific perspective. The book's subject immediately appeals to anyone curious about where we came from, how humans developed, and how our species fits into the much larger story of life and the natural world. It provides a broad perspective that encourages readers to look beyond individual events and consider the forces that have shaped humanity over time.
What makes this kind of book especially engaging is the way it connects the human experience to larger scientific questions. Looking at our history through the lens of science can change how we understand our development and our relationship with the world around us. The subject also invites readers to think about humanity not as something separate from nature, but as part of a much longer and more complex evolutionary story.
Overall, The Universal History of Us is an appealing choice for readers interested in science, evolution, human history, and popular nonfiction. It has the kind of broad subject matter that can spark curiosity among both dedicated science readers and those simply interested in understanding the bigger picture of human existence. It is a thought provoking concept that encourages readers to see our shared history from a much wider perspective.
What makes this kind of book especially engaging is the way it connects the human experience to larger scientific questions. Looking at our history through the lens of science can change how we understand our development and our relationship with the world around us. The subject also invites readers to think about humanity not as something separate from nature, but as part of a much longer and more complex evolutionary story.
Overall, The Universal History of Us is an appealing choice for readers interested in science, evolution, human history, and popular nonfiction. It has the kind of broad subject matter that can spark curiosity among both dedicated science readers and those simply interested in understanding the bigger picture of human existence. It is a thought provoking concept that encourages readers to see our shared history from a much wider perspective.
July 18, 2024
When I first saw the title of this book I assumed it was yet another attempt to take us from the earliest life to humans, but, as the subtitle suggests, the target is much broader - getting to us all the way from the Big Bang. This makes it sound like it's going to be a chronological approach, but it's rather more fragmented - while it does sort of follow a timeline, we get, for example, a chapter that introduces the relevant key parts of physics and another primarily on molecules, with the timeline more of a background than the main content.
Taking this long span and wide sciences approach means there is a huge amount to cram in, even though it's a somewhat over-long book. Covering so much is a daunting endeavour for which I have to admire Tim Coulson's bravery. One potential problem is that it means having to be very summary in parts. Almost inevitably it's more summary about areas outside Coulson's own field of biology and this can be detrimental - in can be an exercise in giving things labels rather than giving the reader any understanding. Here's a brief extract to demonstrate:
'Hydrogen atoms always have one proton and one electron. However, in nature, hydrogen nuclei can have zero, one or two neutrons. These different types of hydrogen are called protium, which has no neutrons, deuterium, which has one, and tritium, which has two. These three types of hydrogen are known as isotopes of hydrogen.' Gripping it is not.
Once we get onto life (which is not until page 170), things go a lot more smoothly and the remaining 250 or so pages would have been a strong book, either alone or with a better first section. Coulson paints an effective picture and doesn't shy away from giving his own opinion when an area is disputed (and makes it clear he is doing so). As well as the biology there's an effective chapter on consciousness, a part of what makes us human that is not always given good coverage in a book like this.
I do have two big concerns, though. One is a lack of notes. I know many people ignore them, but especially because Coulson often tells us that 'scientists' believe something without telling us who they are and why, it's very difficult to find out more. On the second page, for example, he tells us that 'some physicists' have argued that the universe is totally deterministic and 'with hard work and a huge amount of computing power we could perfectly predict the future of any universe from its birth until its end'. I'd like to know who those physicists are, as such a view totally ignores the random nature of quantum outcomes - so important in the early universe - and the chaotic nature of many systems, which admittedly are deterministic, but result in huge changes in outcome after random influences vary earlier conditions.
The other problem, particularly around the physics parts, is that the compression of information can mean a lack of explanation - or even incorrect statements. To give a few quick examples, we are told 'The force carrier particles for the strong and weak nuclear forces are respectively referred to as gluons and bosons' as if a boson were a specific particle. Soon after we are told 'Force carrier particles are sometimes referred to as virtual particles' as if the two terms were equivalent. (They are very different.) We are told about beta particles ':very high-energy particles and this makes them radioactive', without being told they are electrons (which, of course, aren't radioactive). And some of the attempt at explaining quantum physics is painful.
One final moan is that Coulson had clearly been told it's good to include personal experiences in the story. In some parts of the book this works, but on other occasions, such as his description of how he decided to write a popular science book and got it published, are rather painful. Most bizarrely, we are given a couple of pages on how difficult it was to get his work computer replaced because of the Oxford University bureaucracy under the guise of identifying such administrative delay as one of the unique aspects of the human species.
It's not a bad book - but my four stars reflect a very low rating for the first parts and a much better one for the rest: it could have been significantly better.
Taking this long span and wide sciences approach means there is a huge amount to cram in, even though it's a somewhat over-long book. Covering so much is a daunting endeavour for which I have to admire Tim Coulson's bravery. One potential problem is that it means having to be very summary in parts. Almost inevitably it's more summary about areas outside Coulson's own field of biology and this can be detrimental - in can be an exercise in giving things labels rather than giving the reader any understanding. Here's a brief extract to demonstrate:
'Hydrogen atoms always have one proton and one electron. However, in nature, hydrogen nuclei can have zero, one or two neutrons. These different types of hydrogen are called protium, which has no neutrons, deuterium, which has one, and tritium, which has two. These three types of hydrogen are known as isotopes of hydrogen.' Gripping it is not.
Once we get onto life (which is not until page 170), things go a lot more smoothly and the remaining 250 or so pages would have been a strong book, either alone or with a better first section. Coulson paints an effective picture and doesn't shy away from giving his own opinion when an area is disputed (and makes it clear he is doing so). As well as the biology there's an effective chapter on consciousness, a part of what makes us human that is not always given good coverage in a book like this.
I do have two big concerns, though. One is a lack of notes. I know many people ignore them, but especially because Coulson often tells us that 'scientists' believe something without telling us who they are and why, it's very difficult to find out more. On the second page, for example, he tells us that 'some physicists' have argued that the universe is totally deterministic and 'with hard work and a huge amount of computing power we could perfectly predict the future of any universe from its birth until its end'. I'd like to know who those physicists are, as such a view totally ignores the random nature of quantum outcomes - so important in the early universe - and the chaotic nature of many systems, which admittedly are deterministic, but result in huge changes in outcome after random influences vary earlier conditions.
The other problem, particularly around the physics parts, is that the compression of information can mean a lack of explanation - or even incorrect statements. To give a few quick examples, we are told 'The force carrier particles for the strong and weak nuclear forces are respectively referred to as gluons and bosons' as if a boson were a specific particle. Soon after we are told 'Force carrier particles are sometimes referred to as virtual particles' as if the two terms were equivalent. (They are very different.) We are told about beta particles ':very high-energy particles and this makes them radioactive', without being told they are electrons (which, of course, aren't radioactive). And some of the attempt at explaining quantum physics is painful.
One final moan is that Coulson had clearly been told it's good to include personal experiences in the story. In some parts of the book this works, but on other occasions, such as his description of how he decided to write a popular science book and got it published, are rather painful. Most bizarrely, we are given a couple of pages on how difficult it was to get his work computer replaced because of the Oxford University bureaucracy under the guise of identifying such administrative delay as one of the unique aspects of the human species.
It's not a bad book - but my four stars reflect a very low rating for the first parts and a much better one for the rest: it could have been significantly better.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews