Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand: Fifty Wonders That Reveal an Extraordinary Universe

by Marcus Chown

A mind-bending journey through some of the most weird and wonderful facts about our universe, vividly illuminating the hidden truths that govern our everyday lives. You could fit the whole human race in the volume of a sugar cube. The electrical energy in a single mosquito is enough to cause a global mass extinction. You age more quickly on the top floor than on the ground floor. So much of our world seems to make perfect sense, and scientific breakthroughs have helped us understand ourselves, our planet, and our place in the universe in fascinating detail. But our adventures in space, our deepening understanding of the quantum world, and our leaps in technology have also revealed a universe far stranger than we ever imagined. With brilliant clarity and wit, bestselling author Marcus Chown examines the profound science behind fifty remarkable scientific facts that help explain the vast complexities of our existence.

“The tone is consistently light and breezy...An addictive, intriguing, and entertaining read...A handy guide for anyone yearning to spice up their conversational skills.”—Booklist

“Heavy stuff lightly spun―just the thing for the science buff in the house.”―Kirkus Review

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Popular Science, Astronomy, Audiobook, Ebooks

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2018

About the author

Marcus Chown is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. Formerly a radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, he is currently cosmology consultant of the weekly science magazine New Scientist. He is the author of the bestselling Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You, The Never Ending Days of Being Dead and The Magic Furnace. He also wrote The Solar System, the bestselling app for iPad, which won the Future Book Award 2011. Marcus Chown has also written a work for children, Felicity Frobisher and the Three-Headed Aldebaran Dust Devil.

Reviews

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I’ve had the best of intentions I haven’t studied science as an adult. I had an amazing science teacher in my first year of high school who inspired me and made me want to pursue a scientific career. This dream then disintegrated over the next three years as all my subsequent science teacher managed to inspire was the desire to sleep through their classes. While I still intend to one day be able to have an informed and intelligent conversation about string theory, I currently sit firmly in science nerd wannabe territory.

My wannabe status is probably what drew me to this book and its conversational tone and lack of complex mathematics equations makes it accessible to readers without prior knowledge of the scientific discoveries and theories it explains.

There’s a smorgasbord to enjoy within each of the seven parts:
* Biological Things
* Human Things
* Terrestrial Things
* Solar System Things
* Fundamental Things
* Extraterrestrial Things, and
* Cosmic Things.

Given the bite size chunks of information each contain, they provide a taste of some of the marvels the universe has to offer. (Why, yes, it is almost dinner time. Why do you ask?! 😜)

While I learned enough about some topics to satisfy me I was able to narrow down some areas of interest to explore further. Each of the fifty chapters begins with a single sentence statement that may or may not give you a clue about what’s to come, followed by a quote and then several pages of explanation.

A lot of the initial statements are pretty incredible without any further explanation, for example, “Today your body will build about 300 billion cells”. Beginning the explanation the author makes a comparison to put this into perspective, noting that’s “more cells than there are stars in our Milky Way galaxy.” For those of us without scientific degrees, a cell is explained as “a tiny transparent bag of gloop.” Then you learn some amazing facts about your cells that should make you appear smarter than you actually are when you find a way to casually pass this information along to some unsuspecting bystander.

My favourite opening statements of the book were:
* “You are born 100 percent human but die 50 percent alien”
* “In the future, time might run backwards”
* “The universe may have at least ten dimensions”, and
* “Time travel is not ruled out by the laws of physics”.

My main problem with this book was its repetitiveness. I don’t mind when an author reminds a reader that a topic was previously explored in whatever chapter number so you can review that if need be but in this book some pieces of information were repeated almost verbatim. For example, in chapter 25, when talking about quantum theory, the author notes

It is fantastically successful. It has given us lasers and computers and nuclear reactors. It explains why the sun shines and why the ground beneath our feet is solid.

This is repeated in chapter 43, where the only difference is “our” becoming “your”. If you are only reading single chapters over a significant length of time or if you’re quoting a specific chapter to said bystander, this would not be a problem. However, if you’re reading from cover to cover, the multiple instances of repetition become tedious.

Thank you to NetGalley and Diversion Books for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating!

[Brian Clegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new Marcus Chown book is always a treat - and this is like a box of chocolates: a collection of bite-sized delights as Chown presents us with 50 science facts that are strange and wonderful.

The title is a quote from William Blake's Auguries of Innocence: 'To see a World in a Grain of Sand, / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, / Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, / And Eternity in an hour.' It would seem particularly appropriate if this book were read on a mobile phone (so it would be literally in the palm), which could well be true for ebook users, as the short essays make excellent reading for a commute, or at bedtime. I found them distinctly moreish - making it difficult to put the book down as I read just one more. And perhaps another. Oh, and that next one looks really interesting...

Each of the 50 pieces has a title and a short introductory heading, which mostly give a feel for the topic. The very first of these, however, briefly baffled me: 'You are a third mushroom.' I imagined a line-up of three mushrooms, of which I was the third. What it really means is 'You are one third mushroom' - about 1/3 of your DNA is shared with a mushroom. We then jump to 'Slime moulds have thirteen sexes' (boggle) and 'Babies are powered by rocket fuel.' (Really.) And that's just the first few in the 'biological things' section.

Some of the factoids that Chown builds his pieces around are genuinely surprising. 'The body in the solar system that generates the most heat, pound for pound is not the Sun,' for instance. Others may be more familiar, but are still brilliant, such as 'Every breath you take contains an atom breathed out by Marilyn Monroe.' Chown is an astrophysicist by background, so there are a lot of items on space and cosmology. Some of these are perhaps weaker than most because they have a less direct connection to people, like 'Believe it or not we may all be living in a giant hologram.' Meh - no, we're not, it's just over-application of maths to reality. But others do still have the ability to surprise - for example, 'Everyone thinks that gravity sucks, but in most of the universe it blows.'

Of course, these little tweetable nuggets are not all there is to the book, fun though they are. For each of these tiny summaries we get a few pages of exploration and this is where Chown shows just what a good writer he is. Despite having a relatively short amount of text, he makes each essay a little narrative that informs and entertains. Their engaging nature makes it difficult to restrain yourself from sharing your new knowledge with anyone nearby.

If you're pedantic (like me), one slight issue arises. Although the overall points made are fine, in the detail Chown can prioritise keeping the storytelling simple over accuracy. For example, from the first few items: evolutionary theory recognising that organisms on Earth have common ancestors predates Charles Darwin. Hydrogen/oxygen isn't, as we're told, the fuel that 'pound for pound packs the biggest oomph' (think nuclear or antimatter). And there aren't 'around a billion ATP molecules in your body.' The best estimate for these energy storing molecules in an adult is a minimum of 0.1 moles - over 6,000 billion billion. Oh, and you can extract nutrients from your food without bacteria in your stomach (guinea pigs have been bred that do this) - though they're sickly and the process is far less efficient.

This isn't a major problem. The point of a book like this is to inspire the reader to find out more and to give a snappy story that captures the reader's interest. Chown does this brilliantly - there may not be room here to go into the kind of depth required to get a more accurate picture, but hopefully some readers will go on to do so.

The bitesized approach makes this an ideal book for those who might not normally consider reading about science, making a great present for a teenager or adult. Excellent stuff.

[Gorab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect coffee table book for my taste. A collection of 50 essays on science.
Divided in the below seven sections:
Biological Things
Human Things
Terrestrial Things
Solar System Things
Fundamental Things
Extraterrestrial Things
Cosmic Things

Starts with light fun with science, dealing in interesting trivia on human body composition - like how much do we resemble a mushroom, ongoing rocket propulsion science inside our bodies, trivia on cellular regeneration…
Then comes the section on human tendencies - current gen communication vs primates, why humans have menopause, comparison with Neanderthals.
The parts which I loved the most were related to solar system. Especially the parts on Saturn rings and Iapetus!
Gears are eventually shifted, and we delve into theories of black holes, quarks, quantum mechanics, string theory, parallel multiverses…. tending towards infinity within the palm of your hand!

Quotes I loved:
“Not a single one of the cells that compose you knows who you are, or cares.”
"It is a logical impossibility that the brain can ever fully comprehend the brain. “If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.”
The latter section of the book had a lot of quotations from Douglas Adams :)

Highly recommended if you love reading Science.

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered 'Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand' by Marcus Chown while browsing at the bookshop. The title made me smile, because it was an ode to the great William Blake's legendary lines :

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour"

How can we resist a book after that? :)

'Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand' is a collection of science essays. There are fifty essays in the book. Most of them are two or three pages long. Marcus Chown explains in his foreword that across the years he has mentioned some amazing scientific facts in his talks and he wanted to pick some of them and write about them, explaining them in more detail. In the essays in the book, Chown covers mostly physics – things like astronomy, solar system, relativity, quantum mechanics, big bang theory, string theory, black holes. There are some essays on other aspects of science too – like biology, genetics, evolution, computers. The facts that Chown mentions are amazing. For example,

– 97.5% of what is there in the universe is unknown because it comprises dark matter and dark energy and whatever science we know is based on our understanding of the other 2.5%

– if we squeeze out the empty space in all the atoms in our bodies the whole human race can be squeezed into a sugar cube

– how half of the cells which are there in our bodies are not human (you should read that essay to find out why – it is fascinating)

– how there might have been a planet which stalked the earth

– how the body which generates the most heat in our solar system is not the sun

– how there is a liquid that never freezes.

Though the book is a collection of essays, some of the essays can be read together as an introduction to physics. Chown's prose is engaging and conversational and is filled with humour – in many places, I couldn't stop smiling.

I loved 'Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand'. The book is a page-turner and wonderful to read. Marcus Chown takes some of the difficult topics in science and makes them accessible to the general reader in his engaging prose filled with a wonderful sense of humour. In the pantheon of science writers, I will put Marcus Chown alongwith Christophe Galfard and Bill Bryson and George Gamov as having written the most accessible books. If you like reading on science, you will love this book. I discovered that Marcus Chown has written a book called 'The Ascent of Gravity' which has won awards. I want to read that too.

[David Wineberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just reviewed Marcus Chown’s The Ascent of Gravity, I was really looking forward to Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand. Maybe too much. The book turns out to be fifty quick stories, each one an anecdote, explained. They are standalone modules he can swap into talks he gives. Audiences love them. What’s not to like, then?

There is no real value added to these 50 stories. Chown doesn’t use them for any greater purpose. Unlike The Ascent of Gravity, where he used the backbone of discoveries regarding gravity to lay out the rise of physics and quantum theory, this book doesn’t go anywhere. You don’t have to read the stories in order, and skipping one two or five, won’t result in confusion.

The structure is from the microscopic aspects of biology to the bizarreness of quantum theory, to wonders of the universe. Ever outward. The gift of quantum theory is Chown’s vehicle. There are endless unfathomables in the workings of the subatomic for mortal human readers. It provides unusual facts for things as mundane as helium and as uncertain as why black holes feature at the center of galaxies.

The stories employ a cute trick. Chown creates a catchy one-line description for each story that he twisted out of the topic he wants to explore. So for example, “Babies are powered by rocket fuel” is just a way of saying we need oxygen, as do rockets. But his way is catchier. On the internet, we call this clickbait. In the book, it’s a check on whether you can guess what’s coming.

It does seem Chown was less than assiduous in assembling these 50 stories. Because they don’t connect, he says the same things over and over. This must be because in giving talks, he needs to have a complete story to tell. But the result is repetition unbecoming a science book. He actually repeats the whole story of scientists discovering ancient gravitational waves, thinking the noise was interference. The tried to filter it out, and went so far as to remove the local flock of pigeons and the accompanying guano in order to avoid it. (They got the Nobel Prize anyway). But we don’t need to read it again in the same book.

If you are into science, most of the 50 chapters will be simple refreshers. There are lots of takeaways, just nothing new. For very many, if not most, it will be a treat of discovery. It is popularizing science, an age-old amusement that itself never gets old.

Just disappointing.

David Wineberg

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books like these as they bring information to any non scientist or science inclined person and break it down to sound less intimidating and full on and portrays science to be a thing of wonder and interest. It’s filled with plenty of great information, as well as being funny and for any type of reader, whether they’re a scientist or never picked up a science book in their lives.

I love his down to earth way of communicating science, that’s both informative, easy to understand and incredibly interesting reading. Once you’ve read this book, I guarantee you’ll have a few facts and bits of knowledge in your tool belt to bring out at parties or whip out in general conversation to impress whoever you’re talking to.

The succinct chapters on all sorts of topics and science I got great enjoyment out of reading and I always see a book as a success when they can leave you taking away new knowledge from the book and have you learning things without feeling like you’ve been learning. Great read!

[Noah Goats · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to start reading about science but aren’t sure where to begin, allow me to recommend this book (although, A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson, is even better). Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand is a collection of short essays, each one focusing on a different “gee-whiz!” scientific idea ranging from the fact that some slime molds have 13 different sexes to the fairly recent realization by astrophysicists that they don’t know what 97% of the universe is made of. I was familiar with most of the subjects discussed here, but if you haven’t read much about biology, space, and physics your mind will be repeatedly blown. Even if you have read some science, these essays are written so clearly and with so much interesting detail that this book is still worth your time. I enjoyed it very much. Will definitely read more books by Marcus Chown.

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of this book is to collect under one roof a bunch of mind-blowing snippets of modern science which the author has been using in his talks while promoting his other popular science books. The fascinating micro-stories inevitably lack in depth. I don't know what I would have made of this scientific hodge-podge if I already wasn't familiar with most of the scientific ideas. I much preferred Marcus Chown's Quantum Theory Cannot Help You, which, although equally entertaining and comprehensible, tells a coherent story.

Lots of food for thought here, but in tiny portions. Three stars, which on goodreads means "liked it" (but wasn't madly in love with it).

[Elena Marmiroli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,25

Ho intrapreso questo libro praticamente alla cieca e devo ammettere che non mi è dispiaciuto, in quanto è un breve volumetto che ci illustra 50 fatti sorprendenti dell'universo da un punto di vista scientifico accessibile a tutti. Ho però riscontrato un problema con l'opera: a tratti, probabilmente anche a causa del modo di raccontare dell'autore, alcuni passaggi risultano noiosi.
Questo problema non è risultato così intenso da impedirmi di apprezzare l'opera completamente, ma di sicuro ha inficiato sul giudizio finale.

[R Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a similar tone to This Idea Is Brilliant, this well written book also manages to provide bite-sized chunks of interesting information on myriad, wide-ranging topics without expecting more than basic prior scientific knowledge from the reader. From an electron no-longer being the same electron if rotated by 360 degrees (more about this here - https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that...) to how the sunlight you see right now was created in the middle of the last ice-age about 30,000 year ago, to how you get a new body every 7 years.
Excellent food for thought.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this tries to be funnier than it actually is - but still it's a great observation of some oddities in science.

[E.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

50 short (2-4 pages) chapters talking of an interesting scientific topic with a wide range. Written in a witty and engaging way. This was one of my reads during my recent vacation and perfect for a travel read !

[Deniz Ata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Öğrencilerime tavsiye edebileceğim formatta ve açıklıkta olmuş bir kitap .
Benim beklentim daha hardcore bilim ifadeleri idi .

Kafa dağıtmak için her gün bir parça okunup tamamlanabilir .

[Bandit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow I’ve managed to read two books back to back that take their titles from beloved poems. This one is from Blake’s Auguries of Innocence and it’s just such a great line. But that, of course, wasn’t why I read this. This was done in the name of science and the best way to get science into my not especially scientifically oriented brain is to make sure it pops. Science pops, not the brain, that would just be weird. So pop science it is. And this one seemed to fit the bill. It has a gimmicky premise and an approachable style. The latter is much appreciated, but the former was actually unnecessary. The 50 chapters in this book are so interesting, educational and varied that didn’t need a pithy sort of party joke to preface them, because they speak for themselves. But at any rate, I liked this book very much…even when it went too far into physics (or the dreaded chemistry) and threatened to do my brain in. A lot of the facts were more like refreshers, especially all things astronomy and quantum related, but it’s always a pleasure to revisit some of my favorite subjects, especially well summarized. I suppose my main thing with science books is that, while they are so very edifying, they never fail to remind us of just how insufficient our knowledge really is. I mean, just think about it, only 4.9 percent of the universe is known to us. The rest is dark matter and dark energy and we can only guess what those are. So it’s very humbling in a way…and very frustrating too. But back to the book…the author did a very good job of maintaining education to entertainment value and probably not just because he meant this book to be a sort of memorize the fact and blow someone’s mind at a party sort of thing. But essentially the book is written in such a manner that any reasonably intelligent person can read, comprehend and enjoy it without getting too overwhelmed. There are some repetitions, but the range of subjects is terrific and it really does make you go…wow, what an awesome world we live in. At least until you go outside and take in the dreary immediate surroundings. Ok, so…conceptually, what an awesome world we live in. Read this book and be reminded of it. Or read this book and lean something new. Or refresh old knowledge. Or just read it for sheer reading pleasure. It’s very enjoyable. And for a work of nonfiction such a quick and lively read. I went through it in one day, footnotes and all, not even all of the day, and I must admit it may not be the best approach to reading science, my brain was swimming with it, but it was actually really fun to do that and see what thoughts come up. Such a good book. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand: Fifty Wonders that Reveal an Extraordinary Universe, Marcus Chown, 2019, 214 pages, Dewey 530.02, ISBN 9781635765946

Broad and shallow.

Fifty short articles:

Biological: 6
Human: 4
Terrestrial: 4
Solar System: 10
Fundamental: 11
Extraterrestrial: 5
Cosmic: 10

"Nothing is too wonderful to be true."-- Michael Faraday (1791-1867) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha...

BIOLOGICAL

We share one-third of our DNA with fungi. [Implies that the size of fungal DNA is more than 1/3 the size of human DNA. No. Fungal genomes are much smaller: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genom... ] p. 7. He lists a stretch of DNA present in every cell of every living thing on Earth. p. 9.

Human DNA codes for only 24,000 genes. (Genes are protein recipes.) Genes switch on and off, "making it appear like more than one set of genes." p. 199. [He says nothing about how switching on and off makes for more functions.]

"The capacity to blunder [mutate] slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music." --Lewis Thomas (1913-1993), /The Medusa and the Snail/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis... p. 9.

Slime molds can have hundreds of sexes. They reproduce with any member of their species with different variants of three genes. p. 10.

Sexual reproduction provides protection against parasites: a parasite may be maladapted to survive in offspring even if it thrives in the parent. pp. 11-12.

Almost all cells in your body get replaced every seven years. Brain cells don't. pp. 19-20.

Each human contains 250 kinds of human cells, and 10,000 species of bacteria and fungi. Twenty-nine percent of us harbor MRSA in our noses, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. These cause incurable disease in people who have weak immune systems, but don't harm people with strong immune systems. p. 22.

The human brain uses 20 watts of power, 20% of the body's oxygen consumption. p. 25. Whenever you have a conversation or read a book, the experience causes physical changes in your brain. p. 26.

HUMAN

We used stone hand axes for 1.4 million years. p. 31.

Neanderthals survived in Eurasia from 250,000 to 40,000 years ago. They made cave paintings. pp. 39, 202.

FUNDAMENTAL

"Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments?" --Werner Heisenberg. p. 113.

NOTES

Burning fuel provides insufficient energy for a rocket to escape Earth. A payload can escape, if the empty metal fuel-and-oxygen-container stages are successively released to fall back down. p. 200.

[Alexander Páez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro de curiosidades científicas de toda índole (desde los microbios que tenemos en el cuerpo hasta detallitos astronómicos). No está mal, pero no profundiza nada en ningún tema, apenas le dedica una página y media a cada "wonder". No lo recomiendo, es como leer un montón de columnas breves de una revista de divulgación seguidas. O como leer artículos en la típica revista de avión. Una lástima, me esperaba algo más parecido a Gravedad.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your interested in the wonders of physics and want something accessible and light to read this is for you.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this! It was super palatable for someone like me, who has never taken a physics class, but is finding herself more and more curious about how the world works. So many fascinating tidbits in every chapter that I wish my brain could absorb. I loved reading about the nature of space and time and maybe understanding a little more why we still hail Einstein as such an important, influential figure 100 years after his discoveries (I think I now get what E= mc^2 means at the most basic level, which is progress, haha!). I loved learning about black holes and infinite universes and the birth of our own. My favorite part was when the “pale blue dot” photograph was referenced, urging me to look it up, and then order a print for my home because I found it so awe-inspiring. Pretty wild ride we’ve got going here!

[Lasse Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tykkään jostain syystä lukea, kvanttifysiikasta, avaruudesta ja maailmankaikkeudesta, vaikka en tajua niistä mitään. Tämä paketti oli viihdyttävyydessään omaa luokkaansa.

Kirja lähtee liikkeelle ehkä hieman tylsästi, mutta parantaa otettaan jatkuvasti loppua kohden. Nautin tunteesta kun lukee mitä hämmästyttävimpiä asioita ympärillä olevasta maailmasta. Ja siitä että vaikka kuinka paljon tiedetään, niin oikeastaan ei tiedetä oikeastaan juuri mitään.

Jos tykkää ihmetellä ja hämmästellä niin tää on hyvä.

[Cassandra Marie Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much physics for my liking in this book. I thought this would be easier going and cool. But alas like most these books you got to have some relative knowledge towards physics and for me it is a bit advanced (or I am too lazy). Trying again to follow quarks is hard work, when I wanted a bit of bean tickling facts which could be followed completely.

I mean read it, but sometimes just makes you feel a bit thick... Was in top set for science too... Wtf we're they teaching us...

[B.ell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting to read, definitely will read it again.

[Mark Jeffs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun short fact book. I was impressed by Chown's descriptions of quantum mechanics and cosmic phenomena. I thought some of the theories presented were a bit speculative and treated with the same seriousness as other more established therories. Also the structure led to a little repetition in places. Overall I learnt something new.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a condensed read of flattening science facts, you've arrived at your destination. As the title indicates, the "Fifty Wonders" snuggle up under the blankey of universal findings, often referencing terms/phrases that repel the turning of pages for certain people--like "quantum physics", "parallel universe", and "Kinsey scale", for starters.

Sure, the chapters surely vary in how deep they dive into their respective sciences, but I challenge any author to be more concise and efficient while also achieving the entertainment value presented by Chown; he has a knack for relating these heady concepts to everyday, familiar situations. Each chapter is relatively short, and so going back for a re-read isn't an issue if you feel that your understanding has stalled. Only a few of the chapters intertwine in terms of subject matter, so there's minimal page-flipping (and Chown does issue plenty of reminders/call-backs to assist).

Each of the fifty chapters are massively thought-provoking, easily initiating a level of mental exhaustion when you begin to try to wrap your head around things. As you finish the book, you might be sitting the next day, at your job, just wondering things you never thought of before--and that's the real beauty of this work, in fact. Without deep-diving or bogging down with details, Chown has imbued you, in an accessible and friendly way, with some of the greatest hits of what science has brought to our feet. You probably read a lot of these or watched them on the news when they happened, but have you really been told just what they indicate? The weight of these discoveries/theories is completely and thoroughly transmitted.

In books such as this, a great barometer for how successful they are is if the reader simply feels smarter and more informed when they're done, like a new world's been opened up. This read more than accomplishes that task. With information that's great as the catalyst for one to go into studying a new field of science, fantastic conversation material at the pub, or something for your conservative relatives to roll their eyes at during holidays, you should prepare to learn. Superb.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Diversion Books for the advance read.

[Amit Misra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chown has organized his book very logically — life sciences, geology, physics and cosmology, and so on. There is no jumping back and forth; the content is organized in such a way that the flow is natural, and in case need arises, Chown is able to refer to content presented earlier in the book.

The language is easy, simple and very interesting. There are sentences scattered throughout the book, and especially in the last paragraph of every chapter, which would make you feel surprised, happy or contemplative.

Chown has a perfect idea of length and knows when to stop talking. He ends the chapter before you get tired of heavy dose of information, or lose concentration, or simply get bored. He knows how long can he expect to hold a reader’s attention and certainly remains within his limits. But that does not make him sacrifice rigour or depth. He does present all the aspects of a subject, but only that much as you would require to acquaint yourself with the subject, instead of flooding your mind with concepts and theories.

Every chapter starts with a one-liner which is aimed at arousing your curiosity and immediately sit upright in your chair. This is followed by a celebrity quotation, not necessarily from a scientist, which is somewhat related to the subject to be discussed in that chapter. Then he starts his discussion by picking up from the one-liner at the beginning of the chapter, explaining what he meant by that, presents basic background, and takes you to heights of scientific knowledge on that subject. The book is very fresh — it discusses and presents latest results, data and discoveries wherever applicable.

The only serious limitation and drawback of this book is a complete lack of figures and images. Page after page of text does strain the reader and unless you have patience, are fascinated by the science that is being discussed, are able to appreciate the beauty and charm of the written word, you may find the book tiring.

In summary, treat this book as your daily required dose of science. This book will certainly serve as a springboard for diving into the depths of scientific discoveries. Highly recommended!

[Amit Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is science packed short book that covers staggeringly wide topics related to physics and astronomy.
.
.It is book for people in hurry who wish to know about our latest knowledge in the field of space research. This is presented in 50 crisp chapters.
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Each chapter starts with a lovely quote from great geniuses in the field of physics and tells nice stories about how we discovered so many great things in last 70 years about our universe.
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It is fascinating, informative as well as enjoyable book which only an expert broadcaster may write. Its like taking all the available spices and producing a fragnant dish for curiosity seekers.
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I started it in the morning and finished in a single day. I was fascinated by how less we know about our univese and how we are inching towards finding a universal theory which could explain whole universe. Analogies and metaphors are easy to relate.
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Part detailing string theory, cosmic waves and gravitational waves is very interesting.
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There is great discussion about time machines, black holes, parallel universe, big bang and gravity.
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Moons of our solar system are detailed nicely .

It is great book to update yourself about latest in astronomy and particle physics and where our species stands in this great mystery of universe.
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Thanks #netgalley and author for review copy.

[Meg Tome Infinity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive this ARC in exchange of an honest review!

INFINITY IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND: FIFTY WONDERS THAT REVEAL AN EXTRAORDINARY UNIVERSE BY MARCUS CHOWN

“Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand is a mind-bending journey through some of the most weird and wonderful facts about our universe, vividly illuminating the hidden truths that govern our everyday lives.”

Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand is a collection of short essays, with each section focusing on different topics, and scientific ideas. I have read, or learned about some of these topics and others were new to me, which was fun. I enjoyed Chown writing style and thought he presented the topics in a way that is very clear and with enough details to be interesting. I personally found some aspects of the authors choice to be confusing because it felt like it was torn between being a humor book with science or a science book with alot of one liners. I prefer a more straightforward science book to really sink my teeth into but I do think that this approach makes it more accessible to a wider audience.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and I give it 3.5 Stars!

[Gretchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the foreword, Chown explains that this book started its like as a collection of fun facts to share at parties. It reads that way, too - each fact oversimplified in a way that strips its most fascinating nuance away. If you want to learn more, you're on your own; the citations are minimal, usually just the sources for quotes rather than jumping off points for further investigation. The framing of the chapters as "facts" (even when they're worded in ways that can't be literally true) also reinforces the concept of science as a collection of facts, rather than a way of thinking. The quick bite approach especially is a problem in the last few chapters on cosmology, which is a weird enough realm that it becomes difficult to tell what's oversimplified versus unverified theory versus the sort of nonsensical that's simply inherent to quantum physics. I ended up heavily skimming the parts I was familiar with and puzzling over the parts I wasn't, both of which were unsatisfying.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this fun, enlightening and thought provoking gem from science writer, Marcus Chown.
Within these pages are fifty incredibly amazing features of our universe, both near and far, very far away.
The book is written in laymen's terms so whether Chown is talking about the ingredients required to make a time machine, the moons of Jupiter or dark matter, it all seems plausible and easy to understand.
Interesting nuggets run the gamut and offer conversation starters at your next cocktail party or trivia night.
I highly recommend this to anyone curious about our universe. It's a great stepping stone to the next level.
Thank you NetGalley, Diversion Books and the author for the opportunity to read and advanced copy of Infinity in the Palm of your Hand. Available in April, 2019.

[Mariana Quesada · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I would definitely recommend it:
-For people who are intrigued by science facts and universe theories.
-To be read in your own language.
-In physical or digital format.

A book with scientific interesting curiosities which I listened to in audiobook and that's where my main issue lays. The audiobook was in disorder so it started in chapter 6 I think, once it ends we get and interview with the author and then come the missing chapters which was a bit disorienting. Also, I listened to it in English which is not my mother tongue and with so many scientific concepts and theories I got a bit lost.

I'll keep an eye out for the translation.