Lawrence Krauss – The Greatest Story Ever Told–So Far: Why Are We Here?
Strong on science, weak on philosophy. Krauss correctly observes that science can answer all manner of how questions, but not the why questions. But he misses a golden opportunity to explain in depth that this is okay.
People, especially those given to strong religious or political beliefs, should admit when they don’t know certain things, instead of making answers up. Such assertions signal confidence and boost self-esteem, but stifle discovery and progress.
In a book of more than 300 pages, Krauss spends just the occasional paragraph or two addressing the question he thought important enough to ask in the title of his book. Instead, readers get a tour of the discoveries and personalities in modern physics from roughly Maxwell and Faraday to the present.
As a survey of modern physics leading up to the discovery of the Higgs boson, it’s pretty good. But this book could easily have been much more.
Inertia Wins! 