The Universe Through Rational Eyes

Your intro to this book is brilliant! The rest of it leaves me a little confused as to the type of book it is. This is the literary equivalent of listening to an amusing man at a bar ranting about his philosophies. Entertaining no doubt, but not based on any real evidence.
As far as I can tell you have no real deep knowledge on astrophysics etc, and your theories are based often on 'i just think'. So it's not an actual science book told with a lighthearted voice. But then you seem too intent on actually disagreeing with some scientific theories for this to be a purely comical book either.
That said, you have a great way with language and know how to keep the reader entertained.

Reading down the first chapter, I would have to agree. I've always seen time as a human measurement, though I do feel the brain also has an internal clock so in that sense time does in fact exist on a biological level. Perhaps this is why we think of time as a real thing when it's actually an imagined concept that has been used to measure our lives and the speed at which light travels from the distant stars?

I noticed that your analogy of the spaceman, at the end of the first chapter. If everything slowed, wouldn't his heart slow, etc. In other words, wouldn't he die? Space would be moving rapidly outside the craft but inside time would move on as normal. If it didn't, life would either slow or increase and the human organism would perish. It's my feeling that solid mater cannot travel at the same speed as light, or faster, because it's not light.

Anyway, thanks for posting. Very interesting.

what fun this was ! and also so thought provoking...
i would certainly buy this book, were it in a book store.
i enjoyed your style ..i enjoyed it especially because you discuss important and complex issues with a breezy ,non condescending ,conversational way of writing. there's a lot of food for thought here.
i certainly hope that this gets published very soon.
good luck !
mala
(songs of a seeker
mira and the red monkey)

I like the premise that time does not exist...I hold out that we just live life after life throughout an endless eternity where there is no ending and there was no beginning. When writing like this starts to make sense...I know I am outside the loop. I like your book. I will lays stars upon yars. WL

The Universe Through Rational Eyes - Only read chap 1 so far, but this is such an entertaining and well written read I will be spending more precious time than I have to spare reading more. I have nothing to offer in the way of a constructive comment, not yet anyway. I'll return if I see anything I think might be worth a mention. Shelved.
G
Einstein's Road Trip [ I would like to see your take on Einstein. Although like minded, it's a little different look at the subject.]

I like this A LOT..someone else doing the thinking for me in an amusing voice, on subjects which I enjoy pondering; very very good!! Our heads just cannot conceive of 'nothingness' so we invent all of reality...

Hawk Stephens.... Stephen Hawking.......hmmmm.

This thing is fun. It's unique, thought-provoking, and even more shockingly for a book on this subject, readable.

Are you putting up more chapters? I'd read them.

Backed

This is one of the most stimulating books on the site, judging by all the entertaining comments it's receiving. Also, to have so expertly squeezed dry all our sacred cows and concepts, this surely deserves recognition - even if one loves milk. Finally, though, it doesn't matter if I, or even you, don't understand science, it's so lucid, and a great read.
Backed.
David Grant
POMPEY CHIMES

Greetings Hawk, Though not a mathematician or astronomer, I feel that you do "speak the truth." I've always found it odd that astrophysicists seldom question their many incredible theories: big bang, black holes, worm holes, dark matter, the denial that anything could go faster than light, etc. Such ideas are largely spin-offs from solid observations, such as the Doppler effect or Einstein's demonstration that gravity can bend light. Some extrapolations sound more like science fiction than science. Indeed, they often lack the hard proof demanded in biology, say, before dogma is accepted as fact. Whether right or wrong, your challenges are credible, and I wish you every success with your book. I'll back it and plan to read more as you post it here.

Bill Carrigan
"The Doctor of Summitville"

This is clever stuff, not just the writing but also the content - as thought provoking as you wished. I bet you're fun to get drunk and put the world to rights with. Finish the book and publish it ... quickly, before time runs away with it :)
Katy Christie
No Man No Cry

Hello Hawk, I stumbled across you whilst browsing. The twisted name caught my attention so I put you on my 'to read list'. Much of what you say makes sense and you view points have supporters. You wrote a no nonsense, straight up account and for that alone you should be commended. A Documentary on black holes and quantum physics made my head ache with all the convoluted jargon used. Good luck to you and your clear and concise writing. PS: I did not read the whole book, just the first two chapters and a half.

Child - Atramentus Speaks.

Hi Hawk,
Right down to your name, this is a clever parody of cosmological physics. I'm in agreement with you so far. Time is an abstract construct man has created to give order to his perceptions, so how can it be warped or altered. Same thing with space. As to the entities that exist within space and time, I don't know, but I would prefer to put scientists rather than philosophers or priests on the trail for answers. Anyway, you raise some good points and get the reader thinking. I noticed that your later chapters are repeats. Are you going to add to this, or continue the satire by Retitling it A Very Brief History of Time Through Rational Eyes. Backed either way.
Niobrara Kardnova (Family Irregulars)

i am not awake enough yet for my brain to process this but i will come back at a more awake date lol. (((((((((hugs)))))))))

Procative. But then you knew that, didn't you? Actually, it was an interesting and fun read. Your narrative is compelling as well as fresh. Clever wit. Smooth writing. Backed.

Hi Hawk, I very much enjoyed your book. According to some Eastern philosophies, Time is merely a mental concept--a movement of mind. Some go further and think time and mind are synonymous. I lked the anti-science approach -- keep it simple is a good idea.
Backed.
Best wishes,
Barry
LITTLE KRISNA AND THE BIHAR BOYS

THE UNIVERSE THROUGH RATIONAL EYES-Hawk Stephens
hullo Hawk and good Morning. What an interesting write to begin the day with. Some very interesting concepts amd I wish you well. kind of reminds me of Star Trek which was thought out by some people sitting around a coffee table, drinking and smoking. Still love that show and still trying to find my own 'space continum'. you are shelved and now backed. don't forget to look at mine which deals with reality as we know it.
Linda Lou Long
Southern dis-Comfort

http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=11421

This is very interesting since it is really nothing at all. I agree time is nothing but a measurement much like a ruler to measure distance, and I agree that the differences in atomic clocks used to measure the slowing of time really measure the effects of natural forces on the separate clocks, but I'm not sure if I agree that gravity is nothing; however, this is all about nothing and so it doesn't really matter even after I loose my balance due to the nothingness of gravity and crack my nose on the pavement. Backed.

Hawk, I read up to Chapter Three, and I see that you're quite anti-physics. Einstein would have a fit reading this. I also had fits (of laughter) reading your work. Good job overall.

Happy to back this.

Joffrey (The Silver Spoon Effect)

Hi Hawk

Very readable thinking-out-loud take on the big popular questions - don't know enough about cutting-edge physics to say whether they're right or you are, but at least you know how to make it entertaining! Backed.

Nicole
Chosen

Hi Hawks

Very readable thinking-out-loud take on the big popular questions - don't know enough about cutting-edge physics to say whether they're right or you are, but at least you know how to make it entertaining! Backed.

Nicole
Chosen

Backed The Universe....beacue we did get a kick out of your observations. (We have written and had published 11 science resource books for teachers grades 5-8.) Science is our thing. So we find your rantings interesting because we have had similar thoughts. After writing our latest book, Theories, Laws, and Principles, we feel the following line from your book says it all. “A common sense that is cunningly disguised as insanity masquerading as absolute certainty.”
CC Brown
Dark Side

I am an avid reader of all things scientific, so I was really looking forward to reading your book. However, in the first chapter alone you have chopped your way through half a dozen scientific theories and written them off as nonsense.

The way science works is that the boffins come up with a theory and then all other boffins try and prove it wrong. Even if they can't prove it wrong it doesn't mean the theory is a fact - like dark matter, which has yet to be proved. However, sometimes a theory is proved right and it then becomes a fact.

An example of this was when Einstein predicted that gravity bends light. His calculations and observations showed that it was a good theory. However, it wasn't until there was an eclipse when astronomers were able to take photographs of the sun and see that the stars behind it had moved position. This was because the suns gravity had bent the light coming from them and made them appear to be in a different place.

Time is my personal favourite. Scientists have never said it was a "thing". Time is an effect on space. Things age . If you move away from a gravitational field the effect of time is altered (as shown by atomic clocks). (There is also no such thing as colour - it's just a way of describing the wavelengths at which light is reflected off an object.)

Your opening chapter shows that there are a lot of gaps in your knowledge of space and time. Personally I would not write a book about a subject with which I was not an expert. Sorry to be so negative but science gets blamed for a lot of things and to rip it apart you really need to know the subject inside out.

Hawk

You say: "Give it a read and see if it doesn't make sense."

I hate to be unkind, but I did, and it doesn't - there's more nonsense per paragraph in this than in almost any other book on Authonomy. One or two of the religious books are close, but this is the real champ!

I looked forward to your saying "Ha, ha ... I'm really Stephen Hawking - had you fooled there for a moment, didn't I?" But unfortunately you never did.

Sorry - not backing this one.
RT

Very interesting.

Rand

I'm a big fan of all things cosmological, and find your viewpoints very interesting! Your book is a good counterpoint to "A Brief History of Time", which made me feel like a dolt about fifty pages in. Your concepts are much easier to wrap one's head around! Backed with pleasure!

Craig Ellis
The Sun and the Saber

radical, makes you think

radical, makes you think

The Universe Through Rational Eyes Is a formidable read. Newtons chair at Cambridge University should be at once rewarded to the author, followed by the Nobel prize for literature. Nasa should make him director of operations, and he should named overseer of all observatory's.
The clever deployment of all four chapters being identical illustrates the relationship of the planets to the sun. The planets travel at various speeds, and the size of them is different, yet they all go round the sun, so they are the same, hence the chapters are the same. Genuis, Genuis thats all I have to say.

I enjoyed this. It's like meeting sombody interesting on a train. Backed

This si truly excellent. Well worth the read. Marvelous.

BACKED WITH PLEASURE

Hope you get the chance to peek inside The Russian Hat. I could do with a lift.

warm wishes

Brendan

Fresh unadulterated truth. Speaks provision, so complete it.

I'm behind you,
Ariel

I loved the start of this - making no claims for what it'll do for the reader.

The bit about time is intriguing but I have no time to read it all now.

Backed.

Cheers
Elaine (Zitheron)

As a big believer in we create our own universe and reality, I can completely get on board with the section on time. Probably the biggest stand out for me is the voice. Well done and backed.

Samantha L.
Requiem Eternal

Subversive profile. Irreverent pitch. Brain-tickling text.

Nuff said.

Welcome to my shelf.

Best,

-g
Notes on an Orange Burial (a tragicomedy)

hullo Hawk. An interesting topic of I have little or no understanding. But, you have told it well as I attempt to better understand. Already shelved and backed.
Please take a look at my book if you have not and thanks for that.
Linda Lou Long
Southern dis-Comfort
http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=11421

Hello,

Interesting read, which funnily enough made the time go by quite quickly. I like the space metaphors and similies.

Noticed a couple typos, e.g., Chapter 1, para 5 should be 'simple.'

Love the rationale on time travel being impossible... made perfect sense to me! Also some places that made me smile. Your introduction of Hawkins was pretty good.
Good read.
Kirsty
Prygon: The Circle of Dark Magic

Dear Hawk --

You let us know what we were in for with your title, author name and premise, but your book is even more fun (and surprisingly, extremely interesting) than we had hoped. Next time we give the gift of Stephen Hawking's book, we very much hope that we will be able to give yours simultaneously; it is the perfect complement.

Not only do you put forth some thought-provoking theories (the abstract concept of time, our relationship to the stars -- next time we stare directly into the sun, we'll holler "Hi, there, Dads!" as we do). You have perfected the capping phrase of each chapter: "I could say more on this subject, but I just don't have the time"; "Gravity is the nearest thing we have to the divine"; "Anyone wanting to do their family tree can start by looking up at the sun". Excellent.

We're no science geeks and have only basic understanding of the big questions, but you seem to, and you seem able to not refute them exactly, but to bring those theories to the masses and offer your insight on them. The Universe Through Rational Eyes is humorous, but it's also much more. You encourage us to question, to think -- and to think for ourselves.

Backed with extreme pleasure. -- Delhui, The Long Black Veil

Certainly very interesting and presented in an engaging style. Whether or not I'm in agreement wtih all that was said I'm not entirely certain but I WAS genuinely disappointed there was not more posted so that must mean something.
John O'Brien - Other Face

I like the irreverent tone of this..the opening reminded me of the novel Trainspotting...the long list of exactly what the book won't do for you is kinda reminiscent of Renton's 'Choose life' rant. Of course you are not aiming for literary fiction style, so the comparison ends there, but there are some nice ideas, and you explain it fairly lucidly, but of course I always tell most people, you can probably chop 40% out of a manuscript and it will not lose anything. On the contrary it will gain a whole lot more by absolutely pinging the nails on the head, one after another. All writers have to get into the 'culling' business and learn to let go of all those parts of the text that are not essential to the smooth flow of the narrative. However, you managed to tackle a very 'unsexy' subject very well. I have never read a brief history of time, and I don't know a whole load about physics, but you have educated me slightly.

I liked your sequence on time. You asked the question and then answered in the simplest of terms. Yes, your musings are different but still enjoyable. Backed.

Andrew Burans:
The Reluctant Warrior: The Beginning

This is fascinating entertainment, for me.
It's fun to browse your cogitations as it stimulates
my own, even to disagree
Shelved with best regards
mikegilli The Free

Hawk just love this. From your pitch, which I might add is real, congrats, right to where you left off( please put the rest up). Yes you have proposed many questions and also supported some of the answers proposed by another really good author Bud Carroll in his breaking work " The Materialistic Wall" you two could sit for hours I feel sure. SHELVED .I would really appreciate you giving feedback on my book as no matter how many comments I receive and it seems like I get a lot, I can always do with more

BACKED

Best Of Luck

Denise

As a Fortean, I am open to all theories and philosophies...BUT THIS??!!!!...........only joking..........Loved it!
Backed with pleasure! Good Luck!!
Frank.
You may also want to approach BJD (a big supporter of Sicilian Shadows) for a further possible backing of your book.

Hawk,

Your excellent work seems to debunk the very laws of physics that permit you to debunk those laws of physics and that permit our world to function within the time space continuum as it relates to relativity and mass structures as obviated in the laws of thermodynamics. Besides that, you are messing with Arthur C. Clarke and Gene Roddenberry here, and that is a sacrilege. I just threw that out and watched gravity gobble it up before it came back like a literary boomerang.

Funny stuff that verges on insanity or at best an autistic approach to astronomy and astro physics. I pictured the sculpture of the Thinker thinking about what you said and looking back at daddy Rodin and saying "Say what?"

If you get far enough out there, beyond reason and scientifically reproducible scenarios, you can claim anything, hypothesize anything, propose unprovable discoveries, and date anything to support whatever you want to be over 500 years old. I personally think that time is a parenthetical within eternity and ........

You are either one of the most informed and studied minds of our time, a scientist that has stepped over the line and is now writing for the latest Twilight Zone series (that doesn't exist), or you are Red Skelton reincarnate with a PHD and a new cigar.

I love literary insanity and envision Poe so coked up he doesn't realize he's drunk. I will allow anyone who manifests a controlled intellect that has researched his subject ad-naseum, has developed a workable style, and has the wordsmithing talent to pull it off, to take me away into his or her mad, mad world.

You have done all of it. I smiled, chuckled, laughed, and then sat back in my chair, put my chin on my hand, assumed the position of the Thinker, and stared blankley into outer space that may not even be what I learned in Star Trek and contemplated the universe.

I've never used dope, never been on LSD, never had a psychedelic ride to anywhere. But I may have to explore that universe because you have just destroyed mine. Bad Hawk!

I back your book because I think it's the rational thing to do, and I used to be a rational creature. My best to you and thumbs up on a rare whit of wit. You did good! P.S. I'm just kidding. But then, someone said that there is always an iota of truth in every joke or lie.

PawPaw Mike LaRiviere
Eden's Door

Ther's something particularly joyless about the theories of those scientists you talk about, especially the one whose name is the reverse of yours. Well, your theories, being the reverse of his, are full of joy. I adore your funny and brilliant writing. Backed. Lynn

Yep, crazy ass ideas. I agree: "There is no such thing as time." Just a reorganization of the same old shit. I love your line: "The world cannot function without time to order it gut that doesn't mean it exists." Yep. "I could say a lot more on this subject but I just don't have the time." I love this. You have my backing. I just heard another big bang.

I love the opening paragraph: witty, original, sane. Funny. Chapter 1 reads like an irreverent, "Joe Blow" reaction to myths of modern -- and not so modern -- science. How much is serious and how much is tongue in cheek? Readers will have to decide that for themselves. Have another beer, a handful of pretzels, and go for it.

I will back it.

F. Ellsworth Lockwood
"The Final Cruise"

I love this. Even though these types of things challenge the side of my brain that is not up to par (is it left? right?), I have actually, in recent months, tried to learn a little about time/space/the universe/etc./etc. I "read" The Fabric of the Cosmos by that Brian Green, if by "read" you mean took in a few paragraphs at a time, followed by a lengthy period of time spent staring at the wall/window/clock. Hurt my brain. This is much more up my alley, although I was quite bothered by your assessment of time related to the post-40 crowd. :-). You have a great voice; here and there, small punctuation or grammar errors but nothing major. I think that there could be a good audience for this. You will need a different pen name, of course, because although I get it, I don't think this one works. And your bio, however funny, sells your work short because it's actually quite intelligent. At least to me, but what do I know--I don't even understand time.

---Mary
The Qualities of Wood

Hi Hawk, This is thought-provoking and the narrator voice brings in the reader while making physics fascinating. I enjoyed the common sense approach, using scientific ideas, with topics like time travel and the value of time. Thanks for an interesting read! Shelved – Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)

Dear Hawk, I got so excited when I saw that you had backed, "Tell Me True Love Stories." :) Thanks so very much. :) Since I have already "backed" your book, I will put your book on my "watchlist." Could you please take a moment to "back" my completed edited memoir version? "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." I'd be ever so grateful. :) Thank you. :) Love, Susie :)
authonomy quotes: "Every time you place a book on your bookshelf, your recommendation pushes the book up the rankings. And while that book sits on your bookshelf, your reputation as a talent spotter increases depending on how well that book performs.
When you back a book, it only improves the ranking of that book, not yours. However, the author whose book you are backing may decide to back your book also, in which case yes, your ranking would be improved...authonomy.