30-Second Theories: The 50 Most Thought-provoking Theories in Science Hardcover – January 1, 2010

This book is one of the 30-Second series to buy. Buy this book and enjoy!On page 110 we have the "Rare Earth Hypothesis," which should be read by everyone.This entry shows that it is Earth's Moon that is "special," not the Earth itself. Why? "Earth's huge moon is important too- it stabilizes the axis of the Earth and stops it wobbling like a spinning top (see Mars). The Moon- powered tidal forces inside the Earth keep it hot, and sustain the magnetic field that shields us from harmful cosmic rays. The same forces drive the ocean tides, which played a role in the migration of life onto land. The Moon is believed to be a chunk of Earth's crust knocked into orbit by an immense impact in the early days of the Solar System. That impact also thinned the Earth's crust, making plate tectonics possible, shifting the continents to and fro, allowing life on Earth to diversify in splendid isolation."Here are two reasons the Earth is not "typical." It is not the Earth, but the Earth's moon.1. The Moon. We would not be here if the Moon was not there.The Mars sized planet that slammed obliquely into the Earth which created the Moon could be the unique circumstance of our plant Earth. It is not the Earth that is unique, but the Moon. If the Moon were not there the rotation of the Earth's North Pole would vary so much over periods of about 100's of millions of years that the relatively stable weather on the Earth would not have allowed the "weather stability" in "deep time" necessary for sentient, conscious life to emerge on Earth over billions of years. Its kind of like a top that as it starts to lose it spin and it's north pole begins to oscillate wildly. The Moon keeps this from happening to the Earth and this fact allowed intelligent, sentient and conscious life to emerge over a period of billions of years on planet Earth. Life might have emerged on Earth if the Moon were not there, but not sentient, conscious life.2. Earth's iron core. Also due to the Mars sized impact that created the Moon, the Earth has 1-1/4 to 1-1/3 the normal iron core for a planet this size. (Part of the iron core of the Mars size planet joined Earth's iron core after the impact) This increases the magnetic bow wave shield that protects the Earth from the harmful rays of the sun. This may have facilitated the development of "life" on Earth and allowed the formation of sentient, conscious life on Earth over a period of billions of years.So the unique thing about the Earth is not the Earth, but Earth's Moon.

Good. This covers a lot of general topics in a simple to understand fashion. My only complaint is there is a lot of information on the founders/scientist, which takes away from details around the theories.

We all hear about scientific theories but who has the time to figure out what they mean? You do! Each one takes 30 seconds, more of less. Concepts you never thought you'd grasp (I'm just an economist) are suddenly quite clear -- not clear enough to get an "A" on a science test, but clear enough to make you amazed. Paul Parsons should get some award for this very slim opus.

1) Book published in 2009, then date "refreshed" to 2022. But no editor spent any time refreshing the book, for example: a) John Nash and Stephen Hawking have passed, b) The Ekpyrotic theory page says "If they find the [gravitational] waves, it will prove that the ekpyrotic theory is wrong." They did find them in 2015!, so why wasn't this theory removed from the book? And since it should be removed, then the Big Bang theory persists, which leads to #2 below.2) Why wasn't Intelligent Design Theory included in this book? This book heralds the Evolution Theory and makes it appear to be a fact by saying this: "The theory of evolution by natural selection is a knock-out punch for religion". But Intelligent Design Theory is thoroughly supported by the Big Bang; the Universe's fine-tuned physical constants; DNA; Music; Consciousness; the Periodic table of atomic elements; Gravity; known miracles in the world; and 11 unique human identifiers: the iris, ear, lip print, tongue, voice, finger and toe print, teeth, retina, hair, and gait. To name just a few.I understand that your front cover says, "The 50 most thought-provoking theories in science...", but science through the centuries keeps pointing to Intelligent Design, so it should have been included, too.

It's like cheating and learning and realizing all at the same time. This is an excellent teaching aid for students in the arts, humanities or even in business who need to fill in some holes in their education. Obviously, it is not thorough, but it provides an overview of the most important theories of The Way of reality, which can create epiphanies. It is a wonderful gift. I wish I could afford to buy them out.

This is a fun way to introduce theories in science to your middle school or high school level student. Also, it is a quick reference for the teacher. As a high school science teacher, I recommend this for the lay person!

Book was a little banged up but the cover is cardboard so it damages easily. The book itself is a fun, easy read!

This book is fun to read. It's quick and gets the theory across in an interesting manner. Many theories are talked about on the Bang Bang Theory and many I have know about from college but forgot.

Questo libro spiega in modo semplice e divertente diverse teorie scientifice. Consigliato.

One theory => one page in this book. It's funny to have all of these different theories together. Only drawback - everything was very simple presented.

We're so lucky to live at a time where our knowledge of the universe is so advanced, but to the interested non-specialist with a busy life, science can sometimes seem like a mishmash of theory, fact, claim, jargon and ugly equations. However do not fear, because this book strips things down to the bare essentials of what you need to know.Very similar in principle to the "50 Ideas You Really Need to Know" series, except this one book has a broader coverage of the whole of science, cut into 7 sections on Macrocosm, Microcosm, Evolution, Mind/Body, Earth, Universe & Knowledge and punctuated by glossaries of key words and short biogs of 7 key men (Einstein, Darwin etc).Okay so you're not going to get a deep understanding of most of the stuff, but you'll at least be aware of where science is currently at and you'll maybe be inspired to delve further into one of the topics if it strikes an interest. Also don't be put off by the dull front cover, as inside is pure quality, glossy pages, artwork, easy on the eye, and it really does only take 30 seconds for each....old, young, expert, beginner...a must have reference on your shelf, in fact it should be in every school's library.

I'd guess this book is primarily aimed at people without a scientific background to give them a brief overview of the 50 theories and it definitely does exactly that. I don't fit into what I'm guessing the target audience is as I studied physics at university however I thought I'd get it to remind me of all the things I've forgotten and to give me an overview of the non-physics theories and overall it's been very successful at that. I've marked it down 1 star as I've spotted a factual error in one of the descriptions (and it's not a physics one!), for the 'Out of Africa' theory it states that modern humans don't share any genes with neanderthals however I've read in other places that a small percentage of the dna is common between the 2 indicating an element of interbreeding. I haven't spotted any errors in the physics based theories I've read so far however after spotting that error I'm a bit worried that there may be other errors in the non-physics theories that I don't have the base level of knowledge to be able to spot them.

I found this too lightweight. For sure it gives you quick insights into major theories, but it covers the ground in a way that is reminisent of one of those Christmas books.It's a skim read, but even then the writing is not engaging for non-technical people to buy into.I read it quickly and it was disappointing. I was quickly fed up with the opinions and the content was at the end of the day too light weight and the writing not involving. After an hours reading I wrapped it up again and lent it to someone else and told them to keep it. I won't miss it.