Rating: 
Summary: A complete waste of time - nothing new or insightful here!
Review: Stephen Hawking has made a career out of performing mathematical gymnastics on the two major physics theories of the 20th century - General Relativity, and Quantum Mechanics and has 'proven ' little or nothing about the past or future of the universe. The book 'Black Holes etc' is one of the lastest examples of this. Hawking has catapulted into the public eye with his first book - A Brief History of Time and now this book, where somehow the combination of a theoretical physicist in a wheelchair extoling broad generalities on the theories of the universe has captured the publics imagination. Let's look at some of the statements that Hawking actually makes in this book -" The universe will either continue to expand , or it will re-collapse into a singularity" How insightful ! Sort of like an object fired up into the air will either keep going or it will fall back to earth ! Stephen Hawking is a con-artist and a charlaton and you only have to look at some of his recent technical papers to realize that his mathematical presentations on for example inflationary models of the universe - have more logical holes in them than a slice of swiss cheese. Anyone who buys this book is being ripped off big time - I personally have used the book in a 'Big Bang' experiment of my own in the backyard fire pit.
Rating: 
Summary: Only for Dedicated Hawking Fans
Review: Stephen Hawking's Black Holes and Baby Universes and other Essays is a compilation of approximately a dozen essays and presentations made by Hawking from 1976 to 1992. Though some of the essays deal with scientific issues (e.g. physics, cosmology, black holes) most of the book is autobiographical in nature discussing the author?s upbringing and struggle with ALCS.
Written in the aftermath of the popular A Brief history of the Universe, the current work is a rather blatant effort to exploit Hawking's popularity with minimum effort. Although a short book (approx. 175 hardcover) there is much repetition amongst the essays. Readers with even a passing knowledge of Hawking will find no new information in this book.
Overall, a disappointing book that has little to offer. Only for the most dedicated Hawking aficionado.
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Summary: Hawking: the man, the physicist but not the philosopher.
Review: Stephen Hawking, surely the best-known genius of physics since Einstein, has given us a collection of gems. These thirteen essays and one interview comprise a review of where we are and how we got here, with emphasis on Hawking's own contributions, of course. The book provides us with some interesting insights into Hawking himself. He was unusually slow to master reading (he was a surprising eight years old) and was not an overall outstanding student. The strength of the book is in the discussions of Hawking's theory of the radiation emitted by black holes and in the presentation of baby universes and their connection to the theory of strings. The weakness of the book is that too much material is not new. Not only is there repetition within the book, but some material, while interesting, is not current. These essays were written over a long span of time - from 1976 to 1992. I would make one final comment about Hawking and his work. If science is the art of understanding the whole by breaking it down into its parts and understanding each part, then Hawking is at the top of his field. But if science also includes putting the pieces back together again to come to an understanding of the whole and what the whole "means", then Hawking only goes part of the distance. He's tremendous with the physics but not with the metaphysics. He dismisses the importance of asking questions about creation and God by describing them as "simple-minded". There may be others out there who agree with Hawking that physics doesn't need metaphysics, that science doesn't need philosophy, but I'm not one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read for novices in astronomy
Review: Stephen Hawkins does it again. He has made astonomy and his theories on blackholes one in which the layman can understand. This was required read for my advanced science students. They thoroughly have enjoyed this book and it opened up their eyes to scientific writings/authors.
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Summary: The physical world and free will.
Review: This book contains a small autobiography and interesting essays on solipsism, cosmology, general relativity and quantum mechanics.
The most important item, for me, is his explanation of the compatibility between the physical laws and free will (the solution of an essential Kantian problem).
For Hawking as for Popper, this compatibility lays in the brain, because the human brain is subject to the uncertainty principle (the randomness associated with quantum mechanics).
An interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Great insight into the man behind black holes
Review: This book is a wonderful look into not only the world of Cosmology, but Dr. Hawking's life. I couldn't put it down. Much easier to understand than a Brief History of Time, and the Desert Island Discs interview was a favorite of my entire family. An amazing read.
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Summary: A Clear Primer Of Quantum Mechanics and Beyond For Laymen
Review: This book is an excellent introduction to what is going on in the world of contemporary physics and mathematics for people without a scientific background. I know a lot of people who have actually bought Hawkings' massively popular and influential "A Brief History of Time" and "The Universe in a Nutshell" and not read or understood these sometimes esoteric books. They should have picked up this book instead. Most of the big ideas that Hawkings deals with in other books are in this slim volume as well. He treads through the intricacies of quantum mechanics and Einstein's general relativity with much aplomb and wit. The proposition of finding a Theory of Everything - its possibility - is presented with clear and logical explanation. His autobiographical account of living with his condition is also handled with humor and lightness. All in all, this book is the most appropriate introduction to a fascinating physicist and the questions in physics he tries to answer. Before reading Hawkings' other books, read this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Sophomore jinx
Review: This book reminded me of Led Zeppelin's "Coda" album, a bunch of B-sides and outtakes. "A Brief History of Time," was more like masterpiece "Led Zeppelin II." "Black Holes" sometimes was entertaining, but seemed like it was slapped together by the publisher to capitalize on the success of "A Brief History of Time." You also need more of a technical background to understand some of the lecture material. Still worth the paperback price.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read
Review: This is a collection of talks, essays and an interview given by Steven Hawking. They can be read individually, reading chapters at random, but do work best when read in order. Some of the essays are more personal, but just as readable as the cosmology ones. Very readable, every single one shows insight and great clarity of thought, all in an accessible, easy to read style. An excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: 14 easy pieces
Review: This is a compilation of 14 loosely knit essays. From 7. to 13., mainly conversational-style exposition of Hawking's musings on older and newer physics (general relativity, quantum mechanics, black holes, his introduction of imaginary time, baby universes, determinism, "the final theory" addiction); the rest is, more or less, of personal and autobiographical nature. Although a reader will not find anything mind-bending in this book (and some topics, like superstrings or quantum gravity are, if not obsolete, then at least greatly changed)- this is a relaxed glance on a few basic concepts of modern cosmology.
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