Peter Nguyen
ROAR. The Universe In A Nutshell by Stephen Hawking
1.
Comments
- The speed of light is through perception, due to the Doppler affect.
- A series of experiments failed to prove this theory.
- The speed of light is independent.
- The Twin Paradox states that time travel slows down time.
- Objects try to move in a straight line.
Questions
- Why does space travel near the speed of light slow down time?
- If time is slowed during space travel, near the speed of light, is it possible to somehow travel through “time” indefinitely?
- How and why do Mass and energy warp Spacetime
Vocabulary
- Oscillate: vibrate
- Initiate: start
- Patent: rights
Literary Terms
No Literary terms found in this section of the book.
Overview Sentence
- This section of the book tells of a history of relativity.

2.
Comments
- Light curves due to gravity.
- A star behind the sun can be seen because of the light curves.
- The universe is expanding.
- Time becomes warped around stars
- Time ends in a black hole
Questions
- Isn’t light only able to be curved by black holes because of their high gravitational pull?
- When the universe expands to a critical point, gravity will lessen, the galaxy will stop orbiting other galaxies, what will happen then?
- If time ends in a black hole, is it possible for objects to be returned?
- Black holes are assumed to crush whatever enters by its gravitational force, however, if time stops in a black hole, would you not still be alive because your life would not end because time has stopped?
Vocabulary
- Cosmological: astrophysical
- Quanta: discrete packets of light
-
Literary Terms
No literary terms for this section.
Overview Sentence
- This chapter talks about how space warps time.

3.
Comments
- Time is eternal.
- People hypothesize that the universe was only made a couple thousands years ago.
- One may curve time, as it is not possible to be able to curve space without involving time as well.
- It is possible to curve time
- Time is theorized to be a string; it is possible to loop back however events are not possible to be changed, as no matter what a string will always be in a straight line, like time.
Questions
- Is it possible for time to “loop” back?
- If the universe had been created, why had there been an infinite wait before its creation?
- If the has existed forever, why hasn’t everything to happen already happened, meaning history is over?
- If time is forever, that would mean that the universe has been around forever, if it has been around forever, why hasn’t the universe reached equilibrium?
Vocabulary
- Postulate: hypothesize
- Phenomena: occurrence
- Inextricably: incapable of being disentangled
Literary Terms
No literary terms found for this section.
Overview Sentence
- On this section of the book, Hawking speaks about the “shape” of time.

4.
Comments
- It is said that space is like a rubber sheet
- The theory of relativity PREDICTS the universe
- When one look out into space, one sees back in time.
- People theorize that the universe is closing up; this is because as we look into space, the galaxies are spreading, but as you may remember, we are seeing into the past, meaning the universe may be closing.
- There is an uncertainty principle; this principle says that particles are always in constant movement, meaning it is impossible to predict its movements and location.
Questions
- How many dimensions are a part of the universe?
- If there are more than 4 dimensions, what do the other dimensions measure?
- How is mass equal to energy?
- Are all p-branes created equal?
Vocabulary
- Fluctuations: continual change from 1 point or condition to another
- M-Theory: string theory, web of dualities.
- Imaginary Time: Time moving alongside real-time that scientists refer to
Literary Terms
- Analogy: space to rubber sheet.
Overview Sentence
- To be honest, I am still unclear how to explain this section of the book, as it is very confusing and complicated, but it tells of M-Theory, a new, complicated theory, and it theorizes in space and time and quantum theory.

5.
Comments
- Black holes are a collapsed star
- Black holes stop time (inside)
- It is said that black holes have a massive amount of gravity that supposedly creates holograms.
- There is a deep connection between quantum gravity and thermo dynamics
- If time is stopped within a black hole, is it possible to send a capsule that can withstand the gravitational force, and allow the capsule
Questions
- Is it possible to recreate what has entered the black hole if it can project holograms?
- Is the universe actually infinite or very large?
- Is the universe ever-lasting or just long lived?
- Are wormholes existent?
Vocabulary
- Entropy: a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition that is a measure of the energy that is not available for work during a thermodynamic process. A closed system evolves toward a state of maximum entropy.
- Consistent: constant
- Frontier: border
Literary Terms
- No literary terms found for this section.
Overview Sentence
- This chapter is all about black holes, their functions, theories, and other things scientists have said about them.

6.
Comments
- No one really knows where the end of the universe is.
- The universe must have a beginning, and yet it is forever
- Inflation of the universe could harbor more intelligent life.
- M-Theory consists off over 10 dimensions.
- Real time history continues to spiral off larger and larger while imaginary time spirals in a ball.
Questions
- What is the end of the universe like?
- Is the frontier of space a point in space?
- Is the frontier of the universe a jagged point where space and time were scrunched together, with an infinite density?
- Does the universe have a beginning?
Vocabulary
- Inflation: inflation
- Fluctuate: vary
- Vacuum: void
Literary Terms
No literary terms found for this section.
Overview Sentence
- This section talks about the expansion of the universe.

7.
Comments
- Universe has 3 regions, supernovae, clustering, and microwave background.
- All of these regions have a common intersection
- If there is matter in the region, it means that the universe ha sped up its expansion rate
- Imaginary time is a tiny flattened sphere
- Imaginary time resembles a nut
Questions
- Why do scientists refer to imaginary time?
- Is imaginary time a hypothesis or a theory?
- Is it possible to predict the future?
- Are there such things as wormholes?
Vocabulary
- Implausible: improbable
- Velocity: rate of travel
- Quantum: a particular amount
Literary terms
No literary terms found for this section.
Overview sentence
- This section talks about the future, and how it may be “possible” to predict it.


8.
Comments
- It is possible to predict the future.
- If you know where and at what speed something is moving, you can predict where it well be (future)
- A great controversy is the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect says that if one were to go back in time and change something, something else would change in the present. Some scientists believe time is like a string where nothing can be changed. Others believe that the butterfly effect is plausible.
- It is said that if u input lousy variables and coordinates, then you would get lousy answers, meaning prediction of the future is very precise.
- Wormholes may lead to time travel.
Questions
- Is there a formula or formulae that allows one to accurately predict he future?
- Are wormholes discrepancies in the universe or are they meant to be there to allow easier travel?
- Every percepts spacetime differently, is it possible for people to travel through time at different rates?
- If gravity affects light and warps spacetime, is it possible for a star to be sp massive that light cannot escape its pull?
Vocabulary
- Relativity: subject to 1 person
- Quasi-stellar: a radio source (according to Hawking’s book)
Literary questions
No literary terms found in this section. Clearly Hawking does not use them often, or perhaps, I do not notice them.
Overview sentence
- This section of the book talks about space travel and the possibility of predicting the future and also time travel.

9.
Comments
- Space stops in a black hole
- A black hole records all information that has been sent into it
- Scientists theorize that it is possible to extract the information from the black hole when it dissipates, but it said that the information disappears into an alternate dimension(how sci-fi -.-“)
- An astronaut, who is drawn into a black hole, will never be heard from again, because the radio signals he/she is broadcasting would get sucked into the black hole.
- Virtual particles appear and annihilate each other close to the black hole’s horizon
Questions
- Do black holes lead to another dimension?
- Is it possible to retrieve information from a black hole before it is destroyed?
- Is it possible to survive the crushing effects of a black hole’s gravity?
- What shape is a black hole?
Vocabulary
- Radiation: emission
- Calculate: compute
- Branes:
Literary terms
No literary terms for this section (exasperated sigh?).
Overview sentence
- This section of the book explains the theory of black holes and other space phenomenon.

10.
Comments
- Time travel… however ludicrous, is possible.
- Time travel is possible through machines that an advanced civilization coming back
- However, time travel is also possible through the warps and contours of space and of course, through wormholes.
- It is possible for a spaceship to go through the extreme warping of space and return before the ship even takes off.
- This space warping, if exploited, could be very useful… or disastrous.
Questions
- Is it possible to create a machine which warped the surround space and time to the point of time travel?
- How accurate is the butterfly effect in describing time effects?
- How accurate is the string theory of time in describing the effect s of time?
- How can one exploit the time warps in space benefit?
Vocabulary
- Warp: distortion
- Contour: curve
- Butterfly effect: the theory that if one goes back in time and changes something, something in the present would change.
Literary terms
No literary terms…not surprising.
Overview sentence
- This section is the section on time, and time travel, and all time discrepancies including wormholes.

ROAR 5-4-3-2-1 (1-10)

1.

comments
- Mother was crippled in left half.
- Mother left child alone at bus stop for a period of time.
- Family was Jewish.
- The town did not like Jews.
- Mother is being secretive about her past.

questions
- Why did the mother leave the child at the bus stop for a period of time?
- Why were Jewish unwanted in the town?
- Why was the mother so secretive about her past?
- What was so important about the church to the mother?

vocabulary
-

literary terms
-

overview sentence
- in this chapter, it gives the exposition where it described the setting and characters.



2.

comments
- Narrator realizes that the mother is white.
- Jews were not appreciated in the town, and the other citizens resented their presence.
- The wife was very loyal but the husband did not appreciate her for who she was because of her looks (crippled in the left half) and cheated on her frequently.
- A reference to "Color of Water" was made "god is the color of water."
- The mother takes church very seriously.

questions
- Why didn't the mother tell the child that she was white rather than having no color?
- Why did the husband cheat on the wife and let her know?
- Why is the church such an important part of the mother and the family's life?
- Why did other families hide from the Klan and this family did not?

vocabulary
- congregation: meeting
- piezyna: Jewish for goose feathers
- connoisseur: a discerning judge

literary terms
- Sam was like a shadow: simile
- God is the color of water: metaphor

overview sentence
- In this chapter, James McBride tells about the narrators past and of how his mother treats him.


3.

comments
- Rabbi's were treated with great respect.
- The narrator was neither the smallest nor largest in his family.
- Jack is a person of trust, anyone could trust him with anything.
- Helen runs away to a place near Jack.
- James (narrator) is singled out in class due to his skin color.

questions
- Does Helen ever come home?
- Why did Helen run away?
- It says they have no dad, yet the father speaks later on, explain?
- Did Helen trust Jack, if so, why did she not go to his house?

vocabulary
- denizen: an inhabitant of a place
- insignia: a symbol on an item/logo/etc.
- yarmulke: a Jewish hat

literary terms
- setting: page 79
-

overview sentence
- in this chapter it tells of the hardships that the narrator goes through at home and school.


4.

comments
- James is confused about his skin color, black or white.
- They differentiate between black and negro.
- James' brothers tend to play tricks on him.
- Mother's side of the family is dead(?)
- James is ashamed of his mother.

questions
- What is there differentiation of of black and negro?
- How was the mother's life "fall apart," what could have happened that they used this analogy?
- Why does the mother reveal anything about her past?
- Is James ashamed of his mother because she is white?

vocabulary
- arraignment: processing stage in a courtroom
- chastise: scold
- inadvertently: accidentally, mistakenly

literary terms
- flashback: it tells of the mothers past life.
-

overview sentence
- In this chapter it shows us a flashback of the mothers life.


5.

comments
- His father could do anything and made his living in several different ways.
- He drove behind MBTA buses to avoid traffic tickets
- She (the mother) had to get an abortion.
- Mother went to Girls Commercial high school
- He (the guy who got the mother pregnant) married someone else.

questions
- Why was the niece named "Z"?
- Was the person taking drugs heavily to avoid bad memories?
- Did the mother have any children while on drugs?
- Did the mother know how to drive?
- Why did she not get her license?

vocabulary
- gentile: of pertaining to any non-Jewish people
- stupor: mental torpor
- torpor: sluggish inactivity

literary terms
- flashback: tells of the mothers past
- gentile church: imagery

overview sentence
- In this chapter it tells of hardships that the mother had to go through in her childhood and taking care of her children.



6.


comments
- Mother is 51.
- When first encountering a segregated town the family was shocked.
- Mother learns to drive (finally, at the age of 51 lol)
- Narrator worked as a butler for a period of time.
- Narrator lies and acts racist towards white people to fit in.

questions
- Why didn' the mother learn to drive earlier in her life?
- why does the narrator lie to fit in?
- Why did he insult the same person that helped him go to Europe and through college?
- What was the Jewish view on women?

vocabulary
- hors d'oeuvres: french food
- dilapidated: to cause or allow to fall into a state of disrepair, as by misuse or neglect
- oblivion: the state of being completely forgotten

literary terms
- dilapidated bus: imagery
- bespectacled man: imagery

overview sentence
- In this chapter it tells about when the narrator and his family move to a new town that is very segregated.


7.

comments
- Mother is reunited with an old friend
- There is more discrimination against jews.
- It goes back to the mother's past and background.
- More racist comments come up.
- When the family got their own rooms they were bad, to the point where you bruised and cuts from falling.

questions
- Are the family still in the same town as before?
- Why are there so many sections where it goes back to the mother's background?
- Is the story in chronological order?
- Why does the point of view keep changing?

vocabulary
- synagogue: a Jewish religion
-

literary terms
- flashback: mothers past again
-

overview sentence
- In this chapter it tells of the mother pass experiences with work and comparisons with her sister.



8.

comments
- Story gets confusing with multiple points of view.
-

questions
- Is there a reason to why the author is changing the point of view so much?
-

vocabulary
-

literary terms
- point of view: the point in which the story is told

overview sentence
-