DP9

This review is of an audio edition, although I did get the paperback out of the library as well so I could re-look at some of the equations and diagrams if need be. I'm really pleased I did this, as it became apparent that in adapting the book for audio some stuff had to be omitted; most notably the 'master equation' in the chapter on the origin of mass. It seemed very odd the way they kept banging on about the master equation on the audiobook without ever giving even a hint of what it looked like. When I saw the equations - 4 lines of fractions, powers, upper and lower case letters and just about every Greek letter I've ever met - I understood why it was excluded, but I felt some better way of explaining its absence than just skipping over it would have been preferable.
To be honest, I struggled with the particle physics section. I can say, however, that my understanding of space-time, and Einstein's famous theories has greatly improved. I know some reviewers felt patronised by the tone of the book at times, possibly they weren't really the target market. I chuckled a bit at being advised to skip over the maths if I found it difficult, but appreciate that maths is a big mental block for some. The analogies given to help us understand the concepts where clear, imaginative and at times highly amusing.
Co-author Jeff Forshaw was a great narrator, and I loved the Mancunian accent.