A Brief History of Time

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Glamour of Hawking's bestselling presentation of cosmology and astrophysics (superstrings and elements of "older" quantum physics added) rests, in my opinion, on two pillars: mystique of the author's personality (or his mind-over-matter fate and stature) and very readable and accessible exposition of his subject. Nicely illustrated and comprehensive (one gets the entire story, from the dawn of mechanics via general relativity to the superstrings and black holes thermodynamics), Hawking's "History" has one excellent quality: an interested reader can, with a minimum of energy, easily swallow (in a gulp, so to speak) all the "buzz" concepts of contemporary cosmology. In short: if you read this book, you'll know (on a graphical/imaginal level) how the modern cosmological narrative looks like. On the other hand: this story is anything but "deep". Its philosophical pretensions (the nature of Time, the Mind of God (what's that ?), (in)determinism and free will, great "whys") are simply ludicrous. Some of his "innovations" (especially imaginary time, which has been virtually smashed as a concept in, for instance, William Craig's article in Brit. J. Phil. Sci., issue 41. p. 473-491, (1990)) are not happy at all. Even more- Hawking equates time as a physical concept with Augustianian-like philosophical Time about which neither he nor Einstein have nothing to say (Einstein was at least lucid enough not to stray beyond physics self-imposed limits). "Mind of God" is another, completely redundant & meaningless phrase when used in this context. Tampering with metaphysics has long since been a fatal/"tragic" flaw of ill-equipped scientists. Hawking is just another prey in this, as it seems, irresistible intellectual trap. In sum: I would recommend this book as a nice intro in cosmology and some physics history, amply illustrated and accessible to all interested in expanding their sci conceptual framework (although, Greene's "Ellegant Universe" is a better book for laymen). For anything "deeper"- forget it.

Rating:
Summary: Very Brief, but Very Good
Review: If you're new to physics and cosmology, you will not find a better intro to the field than in this book. Hawking has a knack at making the most abstract things sound remarkably simple and interesting. Since this is only an intro, you'll do yourself a favor by following up on this reeding with Greene's "Elegant Universe" -- a much more in-depth look at essentially the same concepts & more.

Rating:
Summary: Required Reading for the Human Race
Review: Stephen Hawking's Brief History of time is one of the greatest books to come out of the 20th century. The nature of the universe in all its complexity is plotted out in terms for both laymen and scientist to easily grasp and understand. There will be moments in reading this that you will simply be dumfounded and reflect deeply on what you've just taken in. Truly magnificent - you will never view existence the same way again.

Rating:
Summary: Tremendous
Review: First released in 1988 this fantastic cassette settles all arguments about the musical antecedents of the All Your Bases rave phenomenon. This remastered and re-engineered classic benefits enormously from Talvin Singh's deft touch in the studio and Professor Roger Penrose's innovative remixing of several of Stephen Hawking's central equations. Old favourites such as "Big Bang to Big Crunch - Singularity to Singularity" are still here, but revised thinking on non-baryonic particles is reflected, in the case of the above track, with a fresh UK Garage rub surely not foreseen by the astrophysicist when he first started experimenting with Newtonian general relativity and quantum mechanics back in the day. Hawking's freestyling with Roots Manuva on provides a competent (if inevitable) concession to hip-hop - think "Dusted" jacked up with an almost ironic take on string theory. But the Cambridge Lucasian Professor of Mathematics is at his best when he lays down his trademark dub-saturated beats as in "The Role of Weakly Interacting Cold Particles" with Sons of Silence and Professor Alexander Valenkin and the Tufts University Particle Fizzix Boyz taking the 'nuff respects on the sleeve notes.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Review: For those of you who can't unlock the power of physics, this book is the key. This is perhaps one of the most insightful books on physics ever published. It is simple to understand, and it will make you re-consider everything you once thought you understood. Simply put: "Wow!"

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Book Ever Written!
Review: This book is so powerful! Stephen Hawking brilliantly covers both quantum mechanics and general relativity along with brand-new ideas about space and time. This book is so easy to understand, and its countless photos really help the reader visualize the information. I treasure this book, and hope his magnificent work will endure for generations to come. Hawking can be compared to some of the greatest physicists who ever lived. He is so brilliant despite his ALS. If you only read one book in your entire life, or just one book on physics, READ THIS BOOK!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!! It will change your entire outlook on the Universe and help you to ponder its possibilites like the best philisophical thinkers of today and yesterday. If I could, I would rate this as six stars, or seven! Please read this amazing book!!!

Rating:
Summary: Best Book ever on Cosmology and Astronomy
Review: Stephen Hawking is an utter genius! No other words could describe him. My first reading of this book was in 1991 when I was 15 years old. I had little understanding of the cosmos and astronomy until i read this book for a class. He is funny and fascinating on every page. It is amazing that the deteriorating body of Dr. Hawking is nothing to the brillance and ever growing nature of his mind. What lies behind his eyes (the real spark you can see of his thoughts) is truly a miracle that all should read and share. His explanations of how the earth came to be and keeps expanding is nothing less than the greatest scientific work of the 20th century. His work will last forever. Read this book to understand why you are here and what will happen after you.

Rating:
Summary: Cosmology for everyone
Review: It's hard to say more than what these other reviews have noted about this bestseller. However, I confirm that is indeed an easy to read, scientifically account of modern topics in physics and cosmology.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Pictures
Review: "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking is tiny book about how physics had developed since the ancient Greeks to the Superstrings. Of course its very summarized but can be a very nice introduction to physics and its history. The pictures of this edition are wonderful 3D images that helps a lot the reader to visualize the explanation, thus its much better than the original version (without the pictures). In fact, the pictures are so nice that even if you have the original one you rather buy this copy just for the images (they can be very useful!)

Rating:
Summary: "A publishing phenomenon"
Review: Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time" can rightly be termed a publishing phenomenon. But why? It is not particularly well-written, contains some poor English and doesn't answer questions it poses early on. As a popular science book, it compares unfavourably with those of Paul Davies and, as far as the subject matter is concerned, "The Primeval Universe" by Jayant Narlikar covers the material much more lucidly. So what is special about this book? For some reason, which is not identifiable immediately, Hawking has become almost a cult figure. This is surprising since he works in a highly abstract area of physics which is not readily understandable to the layperson, except, possibly, as science fiction. It is also true that Hawking has been portrayed as the greatest British scientist since Newton. But is this true? Unlike the theories of Newton, those of Hawking have not been verified as yet. However, criticism of these theories is, on occasion, stifled. A case in point is provided by the Bekenstein-Hawking expression for the entropy of a black hole. A major objection to this is that it violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Papers raising this have appeared in the scientific literature and none has been challenged. However, articles have been rejected for publication purely on the grounds that the end result disagreed with Hawking. This is puzzling but it may lead some to feel that Hawking has achieved a status in popular culture which has influenced his scientific standing. If this is so, it is certainly not his fault but it is not a healthy position for science. In the end, though, the fact remains that this book is a real publishing phenomenon but not one which is justified by its contents.