Rating: 
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.
Rating: 
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.
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: 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: 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.
Rating:
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.
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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: 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.
Rating:
Summary: One of those rare books I read over and over
Review: To reveal my bias first: I loved physics in high school and college, and most of my peers did not.
This is a collection of updated essays and speeches concerning the cosmology (the origin and evolution of the universe) and related topics, such as determinism (whether every last little thing is predetermined to happen). Hawking explains everything from a scientific point of view and also explains the science he refers to, including quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of relativity. A few major points are brought up repeatedly in almost every chapter and I was thankful for this repetition because it made my understanding possible. These speeches and essays had originally been written for audiences of various levels of understanding, such as for university audiences (many of whom were grad students). Regardless of "where you're at," you will find some chapters easier to digest than others. (Chapter 7, for example, is relatively rigorous and gets into particle physics, but I appreciated its rigor after the rest of the book had become familiar.) I had to re-read a few paragraphs in this book more than once and then pause and think before they clicked, but they did click. I found this especially true of the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics and the sum over histories, which I had never heard of before. Hawking makes excellent use of analogy.
I found Hawking's explanations of Einstein's theory of relativity easier to understand than an entire book for laymen on that subject called "Relativity Visualized."
Hawking, correctly in my opinion, spends an early chapter discussing his life including his physical condition, which he had only mentioned in "A Brief History of Time" which I never finished, by the way. I found this book to be an easier read than that one. There is profound discussion of the role of scientists in society, and of science and the public.
To my amazement:
1) I finally became comfortable with the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics;
2) This book corroborated, rather than conflicted with, my philosophical beliefs; and
3) I learned that scientists are very human when it comes to stubbornly adhering to what they *want* to believe, at least for a while, after it's been disproved. Hawking cites many examples of this in his historical coverage of our understanding of physics, notably how relativity was considered too "far out" for years by most of the science community, Einstein himself not believing one of its implications.
Some of the most amazing revelations are not theory but accepted facts that I just was not caught up with. I treasure this book.
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