Black Holes and Baby Universes

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Summary: The 'child's wonder' book.
Review: 'Black Holes and Baby Universes' actually provokes more abstract than concrete thought, thus differing it from 'A Brief History of Time', in that it is written in a 'novel' style, rather than non-fiction reference.

It would be difficult to say which to read first. Most of the essays are actually popular lectures he has given, while the others are reflections on his childhood and university days. With that in mind, one might feel more inclined to read 'A Brief History of Time' first so as to become acquainted with his thought and work, and then read how it all began in his memoirs. Then again his essays on the Quantum Mechanics of Black Holes, Baby Universes and Unified Theories do provide a strong introduction the specifics in his former book.

His strong philosophical mind is explored in the essay 'Is Everything Determined' (even though he viciously attacked philosphers as having fallen behind science in a previous essay). Hawking's strong belief in the discovery of a unified theory to explain every aspect of physics in related form, implies that everything is determined, as he clarified towards the end of the essay.

His humour is not absent and neither are his feelings on God, which remain neutral. This book is far more the 'popular' easy read book out of his two, as it is a combination of descriptive physics, odd philosophy and the light hearted. A 'child's wonder' book.

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Summary: Brian Wayne Wells, Esquire, reviews "Black Holes"
Review: After reading Stephen Hawking's famous book, "A Brief History of Time," the appearance of "Black Holes and Baby Universes" (1993) led this reviewer to have high expectations.

Nothing could match, the wonderful experience of reading "A Brief History" for the first time. Yet this book had its moments. Some of the same excitement reappeared at certain junctures in the reading of this book.

"Black Holes and Baby Universes" is a collection of eassays which date from 1976 until 1992. It discusses black holes in much more depth than did "Brief History," elaborating on the theory that black holes give birth to universes. It is a worthy volume II to "Brief History of Time."

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Summary: Excellent
Review: An excellent read, though I was alarmed at the prospect of the Earth being crushed by a super-massive black hole in around 3 billion years time. Then again, I'm a glass-half-empty sort of a person.

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Summary: Highly recommended
Review: As a Cambridge professor who occupies the same chair as Isaac Newton once did, Stephen Hawking is probably the most well-known scientist in the world. His book A Brief History of Time has sold millions of copies, a rare feat for a work of theoretical physics. Hawking's perennial appeal is driven by his theoretical brilliance, his ability to explain difficult concepts to lay audiences, and his heroic, wheelchair-bound struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease.

To be sure, Hawking's reputation is not confined to popular acclaim. Other noted scientists, not known to be motivated by sympathy for Hawking's physical condition, have shown the greatest respect for Hawking's work. As Dr. Kip S. Thorne, a physics professor at CalTech, recently said in a New York Times article, "Stephen can see much farther and much more quickly what nature is likely to be doing than most of the rest of us poor mortals. Very few have his level of understanding and insight, or his ability to ask the right questions that trigger others to work on problems in ways they might never have thought of."

Hawking's book Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays continues his attempt to popularise the findings of cosmology and theoretical physics. The book is composed of one interview and 13 essays, most of which were originally given as lectures. Several of the essays are autobiographical. Hawking recounts, for example, his family history, his birth on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death, his childhood fascination with electric trains, and his marriage and three children.

Of all the segments of the book, it is the interview that gives the most insight into Hawking's personality and tastes. The interview was broadcast on BBC in 1992 as part of the famous British series called Desert Island Discs, in which interviewees are asked to choose eight records, one luxury object, and one book they would wish to have with them on a desert island. Hawking's choices are Poulenc's Gloria, Brahms's Violin Concerto, Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 132, Wagner's Valkyrie, the Beatles' "Please Please Me," Mozart's Requiem, Puccini's Turandot, Edith Piaf's "Je ne regrette rien," George Eliot's Middlemarch, and a large supply of creme brulee. Hawking even says that if he had both physics and music, he would not want to be rescued from the island.

Hawking's wry sense of humor, which no doubt has sustained him through his physical difficulties, shines through in some of the essays. He says, for example, that he has no plans to write a sequel to A Brief History. "What would I call it?" he says. "A Longer History of Time? Beyond the End of Time? Son of Time?" Could someone travel through a black hole? Probably not, says Hawking, because the destination would be as uncertain as "traveling on some airlines I could name."

Hawking's scientific essays are very approachable for the non-scientist. He seems to have deliberately avoided mathematical equations, saying that he was advised that each equation he included in a book would halve the sales. (He then speculates that he could have sold twice as many copies of A Brief History had he not included the one equation E=MC2!)

Hawking displays a remarkable ability to explain difficult ideas through the use of everyday analogies. Explaining the idea that light is divided into packets called quanta, Hawking says, "It is a bit like saying one can't buy sugar loose in a supermarket but only in kilo gram bags." He compares the expansion of the universe in its earliest stages to the rate of inflation in Germany after World War I. This book is perfect for someone who prefers readability over density and detail.

The one weakness of the book may be its perfunctory treatment of deep philosophical issues. In a few essays, Hawking discusses such profound questions as free will, the existence of God, and the ultimate nature of the universe. It can be frustrating, however, that Hawking never comes to anything more than a wishy-washy conclusion on any of these issues. Hawking pokes fun at the idea of determinism (can one really believe that Madonna was eternally destined to be on the cover of Cosmopolitan?) but finally says that yes, everything is determined, although on the other hand, we really have no way of knowing. "Why does the universe bother to exist?" Hawking asks. He apparently has no opinion on the subject, except the following consolation: "If you like, you can define God to be the answer to that question."

Hawking's resolute agnosticism and firm equivocation on important philosophical questions is not very enlightening. Then again, one doesn't read Hawking for his philosophy but for his fascinating and thought-provoking descriptions of the universe we live in. Few books serve that purpose better than Black Holes and Baby Universes. I strongly recommend it.

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Summary: Excellent Book
Review: As an undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley I saw Prof. Hawking give the lecture on Black holes and Baby Universes. He is a phenomenal scientist and his lectures were filled to capacity.

I personally enjoy all of Prof. Hawking's books and lectures. I believe it is well worth the read, especially if you have a technical background and enjoy theoretical science. This is not a technical book per se, but the concepts may require a technical background to grasp. Nevertheless, for the scientist and engineer it is a fantastic book, and it is probably fantastic for the layperson also.

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Summary: Stephen Hawking Phones It In
Review: Fans of A Brief History of Time will be terribly disappointed as they hack their way through this series of incredibly repetitive lectures presented as a series of essays. Though Hawking mentions in the intro that he's tried to reduce the redundancy, he obviously hasn't tried very hard -- you get the feeling you're reading the same lecture 13 times in a row. He also doesn't bother to dumb his stuff down as in Brief History. In this case, the lectures are academic, dry, tedious, and mildly absurd. He may be a genius, but you won't learn a thing working your way through this tome.

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Summary: Cashing in on "A Brief History"
Review: Hawking's best known book "A Brief History of Time" is one of the classics of it's type, managing to get across the essential elements of some very complex science in a simple manner. Unfortunately this is not in the same league and appears to be a shameless attempt to cash in on the Hawking name by lashing together a collection of old essays and a radio script. There is a LOT of material which will seem very familiar to readers of "A brief history" and a lot of repetition even between the different essays in the book. Very disappointing - lots of recycled science - and anyone looking for an insight into Hawking himself rather than his work would be better to look at John Gribbin's excellent "Stephen Hawking - A Life in Science".

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Summary: Shorter lectures and thinkings in an easy way
Review: I believe it is hard for a brilliant mind like Stephen to discuss theoretical physics like he does. If we look at the structure of it and the incredibly vast and complicated mathematics that follows this thinking, it is an achievement to present it in such simple way to an audience with enormous lack of knowledge in this area. If you didn't read Brief History Of Time before this book, it might seem very odd to you. This book is second part of an effort to bring some very academic field to an interest of a broad public sphere, which is interested in the principles of universe, but has no possibilities for explorations and readings in this field, because it has become too complicated to understand. In past (maybe some 100 years or more ago) an educated person could follow all the latest scientifical discoveries in the papers (and could mostly understand it). Nowadays even experts in their branches have sometimes troubles in understanding their superior colleagues. Such an attempt from Hawking is therefore very positive.

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Summary: a bit boring for a physics student
Review: I have read quite a few books in the area of theoretical physics, astronomy and cosmology, and I found this book was less than I had expected. I actually wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been given to me by a friend. I would suggest something along the lines of Black Holes and Time Warps, Kip Thorne -- for easy reading theo phys/cosmol...

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Summary: The History of the Universe and Stephen Hawking
Review: I listened to this audio tape on my drive to Vegas. It did its duty in keeping me awake and interested. I have read much of Stephen Hawkins's theories, but never much about his life, so this was interesting in that in included some biographical sketches of the scientist before his brain was wired for genius.

It took this book to remind me that Hawking is in fact a Brit, and that the American accented voice we associate with him is due only to the American programming of his vocal synthesizer. Hawking says that he identifies so much with that voice now that he could never trade it in for a proper accent.

Hawking was a standard guy who could have gone in any number of professional directions. He choose cosmology, but was rather undistinguished it seems until his body began deteriorating, causing his mind to come into sharp focus. His really is an interesting story.

Many of the ideas encompassed in this volume can be found in other works of his, but like a trusted friend, they are always worth revisiting. Some of the witty lines have been used before. Hawking never shies away from his ability to turn a phrase, so when he turns a good one, as if delivering a stump speech, he anchors his future dissertations around the worthy analogies crafted for past lectures.

I really enjoy reading and listening to Hawking. He has a good mind and a nice enough grasp of the language to present his thoughts to a mass audience.