Rating: 
Summary: Stephen is Awesome
Review: I loved this book. It explains some the hard technical and visual aspects of time and cosmology. Stephen is a great writer and a comological genius! Buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: Read Brief History of time first
Review: I really love this book but the true is that is a little heavie so if you are planing to read this book you better have some time to think about it and if you can i recomend you to read firs brief history of time. In this book I got a better understanding of what i already knew about Hawkings job and about him thats why it was a very good complement.
Rating: 
Summary: A book certainly not for the misanthropic
Review: In this collection of essays, which tend to resemble very closely the style and content of Hawking's other works, a reader will be prone to find topics leaning a bit more towards the philosophical than I personally find scientifically palatable. It amazes me that Hawking has gotten this far in the science of cosmology when he seems very ready to bow down to any hallucination of a priest that might suggest there is, actually, no way to predict how the universe began, for the reason it began was to allow man to perceive it. Hawking's wishy-washiness makes reading through his thin tomes repetitive and irritating: however, if you're simply looking for 'science light' and desire to derive some philosophical principle from your reading, I assure you that nary an equation pops up in this presentation, and there is plenty of food for thought for those who care to ponder the theory of man. For the theory of black holes and baby universes, though, I suggest you go elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Science, but for non egg-heads.
Review: It's kinda hard to review a book that has no plot per se, but more of an explanation on the theories of space, time travel, our universe and its creation and demise, and of course black holes.What is really nice about this relatively short scientific book, is that Stephen Hawking makes his research and theories very accessible to the everyday reader. His explanations are not overly complex and deep that it leaves you with a headache afterwards. In other words, you need not be a rocket scientist or have and alphabet soup degrees to catch on. Mr. Hawking keeps his chapters relatively short and not mired into too much techno-babble, but gets straight to the meat of any said topic and presents wonderful layman analogies that we can all identify with. It's also pleasant that he interjects a certain degree of wit and self humor into his style so as he doesn't come across as a stiff scientist. The book ends with a transcript of a wonderful radio interview he did when he was 50, which surprisingly depicts a very human side to Mr. Hawking while still presenting his thoughts on creation, God, dark matter, time travel, and what exactly 'may' happen if one were sucked into a black hole.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent precursor to "A Brief History of Time"
Review: Lucasian Professor Stephen W. Hawking once again puts "the big questions" into a much more readily digestable format than the general public would normally have access to...and avoids force-feeding us countless equations in doing so! While there are sections in this book which tend to confound many, it delves into the question of the creation of the universe and the philosophical ramifications of our actually finding the answer to that question. It offers subtle insights into "the man behind the mind" that awes so many people across the globe. You are reminded many times that it's not the body which restricts what can be accomplished, but the mind...and Hawking's is one mind which knows no apparrent bounds! While I must admit that this book contains a number of repetitions, this is noted at it's outset as an "at times irritating" byproduct of teh fact that the book is conprised of several essays written over a number of years. This relatively minor irritatation aside, if you are planning to purchase "A Brief History of Time", this is an excellent book as preparation for it. I would highly reccommend both books to anyone with a desire for the answers to bigger questions than "Where am I gonna eat lunch today?"
Rating:
Summary: An excellent precursor to "A Brief History of Time"
Review: Lucasian Professor Stephen W. Hawking once again puts "the big questions" into a much more readily digestable format than the general public would normally have access to...and avoids force-feeding us countless equations in doing so! While there are sections in this book which tend to confound many, it delves into the question of the creation of the universe and the philosophical ramifications of our actually finding the answer to that question. It offers subtle insights into "the man behind the mind" that awes so many people across the globe. You are reminded many times that it's not the body which restricts what can be accomplished, but the mind...and Hawking's is one mind which knows no apparrent bounds! While I must admit that this book contains a number of repetitions, this is noted at it's outset as an "at times irritating" byproduct of teh fact that the book is conprised of several essays written over a number of years. This relatively minor irritatation aside, if you are planning to purchase "A Brief History of Time", this is an excellent book as preparation for it. I would highly reccommend both books to anyone with a desire for the answers to bigger questions than "Where am I gonna eat lunch today?"
Rating:
Summary: The Universe for Dummies
Review: My review is based on the no-longer available unabridged audio book. As with "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking discusses various aspects of physics and theories of the universe in a down-to-earth fashion that most of us can handle. His lack of hubris and subtle humor add to the interest and wonders of science he loves to explore. There is some amount of repetition since these essays (written over several years) frequently deal with the same topics, but it is not so repetitive that I found it boring. At times, I found myself listening for short periods, then turning off the tape so I could mull over the possibilities (the energies created by the impact of two black holes, black holes emitting radiation, etc.). It was a little too heavy for early-morning listening (still dark, heavy traffic, no caffeine in my body) but made for excellent afternoon listening. As an unexpected bonus, many essays contain a lot of personal history and details of his experiences growing up during WWII in England.
Rating:
Summary: The Universe for Dummies
Review: My review is based on the no-longer available unabridged audio book. As with "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking discusses various aspects of physics and theories of the universe in a down-to-earth fashion that most of us can handle. His lack of hubris and subtle humor add to the interest and wonders of science he loves to explore. There is some amount of repetition since these essays (written over several years) frequently deal with the same topics, but it is not so repetitive that I found it boring. At times, I found myself listening for short periods, then turning off the tape so I could mull over the possibilities (the energies created by the impact of two black holes, black holes emitting radiation, etc.). It was a little too heavy for early-morning listening (still dark, heavy traffic, no caffeine in my body) but made for excellent afternoon listening. As an unexpected bonus, many essays contain a lot of personal history and details of his experiences growing up during WWII in England.
Rating:
Summary: The Universe for Dummies
Review: My review is based on the no-longer available unabridged audio book. As with "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking discusses various aspects of physics and theories of the universe in a down-to-earth fashion that most of us can handle. His lack of hubris and subtle humor add to the interest and wonders of science he loves to explore. There is some amount of repetition since these essays (written over several years) frequently deal with the same topics, but it is not so repetitive that I found it boring. At times, I found myself listening for short periods, then turning off the tape so I could mull over the possibilities (the energies created by the impact of two black holes, black holes emitting radiation, etc.). It was a little too heavy for early-morning listening (still dark, heavy traffic, no caffeine in my body) but made for excellent afternoon listening. As an unexpected bonus, many essays contain a lot of personal history and details of his experiences growing up during WWII in England.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest scientific works every published
Review: Not only did Prof. Hawking do an excellent job in setting the book in layman's terms, he also also captivates his audience with physical science oddities. A great follow-thru to "A Brief History of Time."
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