The First Three Minutes.

Steven Weinberg. 1998/2000. Read by Raymond Todd, 4, 1.5 hour tapes. Blackstone Audio. 0-7861-2120-3. Vinyl; content, author notes. $32.95. SA

A blinding flash of light. Temperatures hotter than billions of degrees centigrade. So much heat and radiation energy that atoms could not form for 700,000 years. Untold numbers of electrons and positrons, protons and antiprotons, neutrons and antineutrons canceling each other out, leaving behind the small residue of protons, neutrons and electrons that today form the Earth, the solar system, and all the galaxies in the universe. These are the conditions at the beginning of the universe some ten billion years ago, at the "big bang," as described by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg in this classic. Where is the universe going? Weinberg describes two possibilities.

This book is rich in detail and knowledge. Listeners will learn a lot of physics (what is a neutrino?), and will be fascinated by the story it has to tell. There is a long, detailed epilogue with updates on the latest status of the theories described in the book. Todd offers an excellent and professional reading. His voice is clear, his diction and timing are impeccable, and the reading is slow enough that you can process the events it describes. This is a must-listen for physics buffs, as well as anyone curious about the universe we inhabit. Susan Offner, Teacher, Lexington H.S., Lexington, MA