The book's format was super helpful with a little summary at the end of each chapter. As a physicist myself I really liked that Hossenfelder criticized her colleagues and the current way of thinking. This seems for non-science people quite mean, but this is how science works! And it made myself thinking too. I reflected a lot of the stuff my own profs told me (huge SUSY fans) and I missed that they never introduced other possibilities to us.
Hossenfelder tries to get into the details and this made me fall in love with the book but for others with a non-mathematical background it might be too advanced. I am also afraid that people don't see that they did not understand certain concepts.

Thank you to Netgalley, Basic Books and the author Sabine Hassenfelder for this book. I'll grateful to have read it. The opinions are mine and mine alone.

Great book about the huge gap amongst theoretical physicists, written by a theoretical physicist. Having become disenchanted by the current state of trying to discover a new theory to explain this world, and the lack of progress of trying to discover supersymmetry (Susy), the author makes her way around the world, interviewing other scientists in her field, getting their take on what's going on and what they think should happen in science.

It's mostly conversational, which is a refreshing change from most other science books, and reads almost like a television documentary. Personally not coming from a science field (I'm just a science fan who wants to learn about these things), I was a little lost in certain parts of this book. Ok, not a little bit PRETTY LOST. Not to take anything away from this book because it was very entertaining to read. But just that there wasn't really a balance between technical jargon and an layman's perspective. At times I'd have to keep backtracking just to keep up. But other than those moments, the conversational style of the writing did keep the book going, and kept me awake when I should have been sleeping after my graveyard shift.

Glad to have read this book, since I read this directly after another book on theoretical physics. I was able glean some from both books, but this one was good for its divergent style.

Sabine Hossenfelder's Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray is a critique at theoretical physics discipline and how it's physicists are too focused on finding beautiful theories. In her case, beautiful theories are one's that have mathematical equations that fit nicely with their theories. However, she states that sometimes these discoveries are messy and there is no streamlined equation to fit. It's an interesting take on physics. I'm not a physicist myself, but I definitely find that other popular nonfiction physics books focus a lot on the wonders of physics. Her book adds a different dimension to this discipline that I would have never thought of on my own. 

Her writing style is candid and if feels as if you are with her as she interviews renowned physicists around the world to learn more about their quest for beauty in physics. It's also a bit funny at times. 

I felt as if the science she describes in Lost in Math is a bit complex for me, but I found an appendix at the end of the book to refer to for brief explanations of the scientific theories she mentions. Sadly, it was a bit hard for me to flip back and forth in an e-book so I didn't do this, and I only found out when I got to the end. 

I would recommend this to people who are interested in physics and probably have a bit more general knowledge on it.

I truly appreciate Lost in Math. What I value the most about the book is the tone. Sabine Hossenfelder offers an honest, humorous and self-deprecating view to a topic that would not be considered "light". I appreciate also her bringing perspectives from many researchers in the field, and doing so respectfully, without belligerence, and again, humorously (when I grabbed this book I was not expecting to laugh as much as I did). Sometimes, the theories explained went above me, but that is due to my own limitations, not the author's capabilities in explaining them. I actually understood many concepts and the figures intercalated in the text were a good aid to comprehension.

DID NOT FINISH
I tried to read this book and I tried to become engaged with the topic but after reading 20% I decided it was not for me and it was a struggle to get through it. Lost in Math is a non-fiction book that explores how research and progress in Physics went astray as experts in the field sought elegant and beautiful solution to their questions, propped up by elegant and beautiful mathematical proofs. I liked the idea behind the book and exploring how the scientific method can be changed and interpreted based on the field of science and the philosophy of the scientists. While there were some really good points made in the 20% of the book that I had read and I did learn some new physics theories that extended well past what I had learnt during the one physics unit I took during my undergraduate studies, this book was left lacking in some parts. In terms of the writing I felt like it took too long to make each key point, with some paragraphs and sections repeating some of the previous content in slightly different ways; if it was a tad more succinct I might have been a bit more engaged instead of feeling like I was reading in circles. It was also a bit more opinionated then I expected and I needed a some more detail into the sections discussing the philosophy that guided the scientists in the field and any evidence of this. In terms of the scientific content, I was craving more in depth overview of the physics concepts mentioned as I felt it was hard to critique the approaches of the scientists seeking to prove these concepts without actually understanding what the were trying to prove, however this may change further in the book.

I thought there would be more math mixed with some physics. This book spends a lot of time with the authors biography and it seemed like a series of essays.