The First Three Minutes: A Modern View Of The Origin Of The Universe

Steven Weinberg

Nov 2022 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by Raymond Todd

About this audiobook

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist explains what happened at the very beginning of the universe, and how we know, in this popular science classic. 
 
Our universe has been growing for nearly 14 billion years. But almost everything about it, from the elements that forged stars, planets, and lifeforms, to the fundamental forces of physics, can be traced back to what happened in just the first three minutes of its existence.

In this book, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg describes in wonderful detail what happened in these first three minutes. It is an exhilarating journey that begins with the Planck Epoch - the earliest period of time in the history of the universe - and goes through Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the Hubble Red Shift, and the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Background. These incredible discoveries all form the foundation for what we now understand as the "standard model" of the origin of the universe. The First Three Minutes examines not only what this model looks like, but also tells the exciting story of the bold thinkers who put it together. 
 
Clearly and accessibly written, The First Three Minutes is a modern-day classic, an unsurpassed explanation of where it is that everything really comes from.

Ratings and reviews

Goes a level of detail deeper than most pop sci books covering these topics, and doesn't talk down to the reader. It's a bit dated (e.g. "neutrinos are massless", "how galaxies can form when there's so little mass is one of the great mysteries of cosmology") but that kinda makes it even more enjoyable if you know the "spoilers" (developments from the 90s onward, e.g. neutrino oscillation, lambda-CDM).

About the author

Steven Weinberg won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 as well as the National Medal of Science and the Lewis Thomas Prize for the Scientist as Poet, among other honors. He was the Josey Regental Professor of Science at the University of Texas in Austin and the author of many books, including Dreams of a Final Theory and To Explain the World.