Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes you feel like a nut
Review: "The best book I never read" is how many describe British physicist Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" -- a runaway bestseller which few managed to finish."A different kind of book that might be easier to understand" was Hawking's goal with "The Universe in a Nutshell." Instead of being organized in a linear fashion, "Nutshell" is structured like a tree; the first two chapters (A Brief History of Relativity and The Shape of Time)are more or less mandatory, while the remaining five can then be sampled by the "average" reader with some hope of understanding. Have Hawking and his friends (for he concedes that he had "a lot of help" with this book) succeeded this time in helping us scrute the inscrutable? Well, yes and no. Certainly, the language is as simple as possible, considering the subjects being discussed (relativity, quantum mechanics and
superstrings are among the simpler concepts). There are very few equations, for example, and to say the book is lavishly illustrated would be an understatement; there is at least one beautiful (and usually useful)color illustration on every page, and a plethora of boxes containing pithy descriptions of such "side issues" as cosmic strings, Godel's Incompleteness Theorem, and the biological-electronic interface. But what of the "big" issue -- the implied promise that here, in digestible form, is a description of Everything? Not really. After first being candid enough to admit that the real difference between what he does and what astrologers do is the quality of their guesses, Hawking does make so bold as to say "we may already have identified the Theory of Everything." He is referring here to something called M-Theory, "a network of apparently different theories that all seem to be approximations to the same underlying fundamental theory in different limits, just as Newton's Theory of Gravity is an approximation to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity in the limit that the
gravitational field is weak" M-Theory entertains such possibilities as multiple universes and, perhaps most interesting, the notion of brane (short for membrane)universes, the formation of a brane universe being compared to the formation of a bubble of steam in boiling water. The principle difference between a brane universe and the "garden variety" universe currently in vogue is that a brane universe is not a hollow, slightly flattened four-dimensional sphere or nutshell, but one that is filled (or surrounded?) by a fifth dimension, and hence the book's title. The hodge-podge of theories gathered under the M-Theory "umbrella" are more accurately described as informed guesses that will probably forever remain guesses -- not because there is no truth to be found, but because the truth being sought is simply by definition beyond our ability to measure or even detect. A practical example? Well, after first explaining that the smallest fundamental length in physics -- the Planck length -- is believed to be on the order of a millimeter divided by a hundred thousand billion billion billion, Hawking then lets it
drop that the diameter of a particle accelerator big enough to probe such distances -- and thus offer some real hope of "once-and-for-all" answers -- would be greater than the diameter of the solar system. So for those wanting to become familiar with the questions being asked by leading physicists, The Universe in a Nutshell is a truly accessible, and beautifully presented synopsis. But those hoping for answers will just have to keep hoping.
Rating: 
Summary: not easy reading, but worth it
Review: I loved A Brief History, so it was with great anticipation that I picked up Hawking's latest. I have the greatest respect for him as both a person and a scientist. The good news is that the illustrations are terrific and really help elucidate some thornier concepts. The bad news is that when Hawking tries to oversimplify, he simply leaves out additional explanations that would have helped. The first few chapters are fairly straighforward, but when it comes to branes, I needed more info to figure it out. He didn't spend enough time making a concept like that clear to the general reader. And as another reader pointed out, he often toots his own horn, but hey, that doesn't bother me when someone is as qualified as Hawking. In sum, this is a worthwhile book for the clear explanations and good illustrations. I wish some of his explanations were MORE detailed, not less.
Rating:
Summary: A Mandala of the Universe
Review: Stephen Hawking is a phenomenon of our age. We are all familiar with his tragic form: confined by Lou Gehrig's disease to a wheelchair, unable to move, his great mind reduced to communicating through the medium of an unearthly computerized voice. Just as we sometimes believe the blind are gifted with second sight or uncanny musical ability, most of us can't help suspecting that Hawking has been compensated for his disability by being granted a special insight into the true nature of our Universe, that he has somehow seen privileged to see the face of God. Such notions were no doubt behind the incredible success of his first book, "A Brief History of Time" (1988). Considering the difficulty of the subject matter, which can best be expressed through complex mathematical formula, and the fact that it was the first book of its kind to top bestseller lists around the world, this work soon became notorious as the most unread book of all time. With the release of "The Universe in a Nutshell," the great physicist has descended from the Mount Sinai of scientific wisdom with a fresh set of tablets engraved with the secrets of the Universe. Keen to avoid the mistakes of the first work, this book is markedly more accessible, less text heavy, and extremely well illustrated, with half the book consisting of various diagrams that enable the reader to get the gist of such advanced concepts as 11-dimensional supergravity, multi-dimensional spacetime, p-branes, string theory, and time loops, to mention a few. Most of the concepts presented here are pure mathematical constructs that have little chance of being empirically proven or disproven for some time yet. They therefore exist as a kind of Buddhist mandala, helping us to contemplate, without fully understanding, the immense mystery of our Universe. With a style reminiscent of the science writer Isaac Asimov, the book succeeds in being a lot more readable. Inevitably this has brought charges of 'dumbing down' and oversimplification. "The Universe in a Nutshell" nevertheless remains a challenging and entertaining read, and ideal as the kind of book you want to leave lying around at home to give visitors an idea of just how deep and intellectual you really are (even if you aren't).
Rating: 
Summary: FULL OF SHIT
Review: This book, like the author and Amazon.com, are FULL OF SHIT!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Fun, Imaginative Reading
Review: "Universe in a Nutshell" is not as well-written and informative as its predecessor, "A Brief History of Time," but if you've read his prior work, you will enjoy the new discussions of m-theory and the cosmological constant (...But stay away from the convoluted chapter on time travel!). Start with "Brief History" for discussions of general relativity and supersymmetry.
As with both of the volumes, if you're looking for a true mastery of the ideas and their implications, you will be frustrated every time he hides a complex concept with vague (albeit charming) prose.
Of course, the book is not targeted toward aspiring cosmologists and astrophysicists, but toward the curious average joe.
Both volumes are a triumph in this capacity.
Rating:
Summary: visual treat short on appeal to the soul
Review: I am fascinated by the possibility that the universe has a mysterious side which requires a leap in sideways thinking to comprehend. The challenge is there for everyone equally, which is part if the appeal. I found Hawkings's book a real visual treat, but, when wanting to go deeper into any given subject, the shortage of in-depth text became a problem. Perhaps there could have been an anorak section added, in which Hawking could go into as much detail as he liked. But the book's worst aspect in my mind is what one could almost call a pompous attitude to nature. Apparently nature can only manage one new bit of dna information in a century, whereas we humans could do exceedingly better with our new research! And eventually nature's limitation of head size at birth will be overcome by our growing babies outside the womb, etc. etc. I did not realise we were now able to completely re-create or even understand how dna works. Nobody yet has explained how a tiny piece of material engineers its own reproduction and switches its own settings on and off over the microscopic equivalent of miles and miles of registers, to create a human being on a totally different scale than the creative material itself. And if the mind is truly only a random byproduct of chance combinations of completely dead, mindless, dumb, and lifeless matter, how can we ever entrust it to decide what is real and what is not? The materialist explanation of the universe thus contains within its own contradiction, which is a staggering omission for a brilliantly logical mind to make. The materialist claims his mind is a haphazard byproduct of dead matter, but trusts its infallibility to unravel the universe. This seems a shame: Einstein remains in my mind the greatest physicist because he held fast to a vision of intelligence behind the animated facade. Mechanically fallible he may have been, as Hawkings is at pains to point out, but his vision still appeals to the soul, whereas Hawking's never can, since he denies its existence to begin with. One has to admire Hawking for a great many things, but the truly great physicists seemed somehow in awe of a greatness beyond themselves, and the lack of this intrinsic empathy and respect for some greater "like mind" seems to me a self-condemnation more than anything else, and may ironically be the one thing preventing Hawking from getting to grips with what is really behind the universe.
Rating:
Summary: A good overview
Review: Following up on his Brief History of Time, Hawking here gives a brief (200 or so pages) glimpse into the current state of cosmology. Given that it has a lot of illustrations, this book may have just over 100 pages of actual text. The concepts described in this book can be rather heady, so it is not surprising that sometimes the reading gets a little tough. Hawking does, however, simplify the concepts enough so you can at least get a good idea of what is being described. But ideas like string theory, even at their simplest, are not easy to grasp. The book's greatest strength, however, is also its greatest weakness: the illustrations. Many are useful, but others do nothing more than look interesting...they don't illustrate anything. In addition, the brevity of the book leaves me demanding more. For these reasons, I cannot give it the full five stars. As an introduction, this book is fine, but for anything more, you need to go elsewhere. I actually suggest The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene
Rating: 
Summary: There is better out there
Review: I agree with Amanda's review below -- this book is not the book that "Brief History of Time" was, and it is very nearly incomprehensible. Often, physics books for laypeople succeed in conveying, at some level, a qualitative sense for the main conclusions of the mathematics, but lack the detail required to fully appreciate the point or to see how related points interconnect. This book fails even to achieve that -- the text is truncated to the point that it conveys little or nothing. The examples given are too abstract to convey any inuitive point. For instance, nobody who doesn't already understand it can hope to pick up even a vague idea of what imaginary time is from reading this book -- a concept that is key to understanding the description of the universe Hawking purports to undertake. The positive part of the book is that it covers -- at least mentions -- in a broad brush manner the very latest in thinking about the structure of the universe and GUT theory, but concepts are mentioned so briefly and cryptically that little understanding is likely to result. I would commend Mr. Hawking to Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe," which, while not perfect, is a superb attempt to explain superstring theory (much of the same territory Mr. Hawking covers here) in lay terms. Mr. Greene's book feels like it was written by a good writer and a good teacher who didn't let his editor's leash out too far. Mr. Hawking's book, by comparison, reads like book flap copy.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview of everything.
Review: This book provides a glimpse into the mysteries and theories of time and space--and into the mind and personality of one of the world's most brilliant and creative thinkers. Both glimpses are worth the substantial effort they require. And for added incentive, Hawkings unashameadly goes after fascinating subjects that capture the imagination,including space travel, time travel, and the likelihood of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. The book is generously illustrated, although for the most part the pictures are more entertaining than genuinely helpful. Still, who wouldn't want to see Stephen Hawkings playing poker with Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Commander Data while dangling Marilyn Monroe on his knee? My only reservation is that, despite Hawkings efforts to keep it as simple as possible, there were times when he simply went into Warp Drive (despite Einstein's prohibition) and I became hopelessly lost. For example, Chapter Three, entitled "The Universe has multiple histories, each of which is determined by a tiny nut," defeated me completely. Generally, though, Hawkings succeeds in making the big picture available to non-specialists. And even when we're left far behind, it is enjoyable simply to observe such a great mind in action.
Rating:
Summary: A Brave Attempt to Explain the Inexplicable.
Review: I find it difficult to believe that any of the reviewers who gave this book 5 stars have read the book. 4 1/2 must surely relate to awe of the author. My rating is five stars for Chapter 6, one for all the rest. The reviewer who stated "Hardly anything in here is known to exist. Things like 11-dimensional supergravity, p-branes, and a number of other things he mentions are nothing more than purely theoretical constructs that have no verification in the real universe. They exist only in his mind.", has hit the nail squarely and completely on the head and little more need be said on the relevance of the subjects Hawking presents to the average person. Describing the matter contained in the book as theories is questionable. Theories are accepted if they provide predictions that can be verified or refuted. It is unlikely that any of the theories which describe multi-dimensional spacetime, p-branes (those of us for whom he wrote the book?), strings, supergravity, time loops and other fascinating but useless concepts in the real world, will ever be either verified or refuted. Should a theory not be accompanied by a suggestion for testing it? How does one approach describing a test to verify or refute the theory associated with worm-holes? What real world information indicates the existence or structure of any of these concepts? Hawkings leaves that out. On the positive side, Amazon's price for the book is nearly a gift for two parts of the book alone, the Glossary and Chapter 6, Our Future? Star Trek or Not?. Chapter 6 is a highly thought provoking shot at predicting our future in terms of the real world, and is probably accurate. The Glossary contains most of the useful matter in the book. Many of the superb illustrations in this well produced book also contain interesting concepts, but as other reviewers have stated, they fall short of clarifying their targets. Try to find this book in your local public library, read Chapter 6, xerox the Glossary, and put the book quickly back on the shelf before getting totally bemused/confused by the rest of it. All of the books' subject matter is grist for the mills of brains such as Hawkings', but you should pass on this book unless you are curious to read material incomprehensible to lesser mortals. Much material is simply thrown at you with no hint of rationale - take it or leave it - Hawking has spoken - the arrogance factor mentioned by another reviewer. Better reading is "Show Me God" by Fred Heeren.
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