Check out our Most Anticipated Books for 2025

What readers think of You Are Here, plus links to write your own review.

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

You Are Here by Christopher Potter

You Are Here

A Portable History of the Universe

by Christopher Potter
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Mar 1, 2009, 304 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Feb 2010, 304 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Reviews

Page 1 of 1
There is 1 reader review for You Are Here
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

Peter Best

Some good answers to the Big Questions!
As a physicist of old, this book is a revelation as it maneuvers so easily between many technical subjects - in fact it reminds me of Peter Watson's "A Terrible Beauty" - a favourite- in its breadth and fluidity. It is not a "popular science" book if you expect oversimplification; it does give many insights into the ways and perils of the "scientific method". The use of orders of magnitude to take you up and down the scales of space and time works well. The book has enough surprises and short anecdotes to entice a reader to keep going (and delving for themselves).

My one disappointment was that Christopher Potter looked fully at most aspects of "You are here" except the "You". I would have loved an extra chapter or two with him delving through recent areas such as "interpersonal neuropsychology" to look at what is involved in the creation of self and perception, both in childhood when we start wondering about the universe and in older age when we have the luxury of pondering our own fuzzy path through life.

But I am heartily recommending the book to friends who appreciate an enjoyable read and explorations in personal space-time.
  • Page
  • 1

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Sequel
    The Sequel
    by Jean Hanff Korelitz
    In Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Sequel, Anna Williams-Bonner, the wife of recently deceased author ...
  • Book Jacket: My Good Bright Wolf
    My Good Bright Wolf
    by Sarah Moss
    Sarah Moss has been afflicted with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa since her pre-teen years but...
  • Book Jacket
    Canoes
    by Maylis De Kerangal
    The short stories in Maylis de Kerangal's new collection, Canoes, translated from the French by ...
  • Book Jacket: Absolution
    Absolution
    by Jeff VanderMeer
    Ten years ago, the literary landscape was changed forever when Jeff VanderMeer became the "King of ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Life is the garment we continually alter, but which never seems to fit.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

X M T S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.