Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book - without the last chapter!
Review: Here is the last chapter by French author Maurice, Dr. Bucaille,"The Bible, the Qu'ran and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge." This is available at amazon. If you are lost by reading Carl Sagan or Hawking, read the answer in the above book. Most of the authors are like very good soccer player, they take the ball, maneuver very nice moves, people cheers.. but when it is time to score a goal, they shoot too wide. This book is no exception.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I have read Hawking's Brief History of Time and Black Holes and Baby Universes, in addition to Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe. I can easily say that, out of those and any conceptual physics book that I have read even a portion of, this is the easiest to read and offers the most knowledge. While I have read reviews, not only on Amazon but in numerous other sources, that say that this book is complicated, foolish, or even proves that a creator exists, it is/does none of these things. I, only from taking a single semester of High School level conceptual physics, was able to easily understand the novel. Also, regarding the foolishness, many who do not realize basic physics principles (such as inabsolute and imaginary time) might feel that this is somewhat silly and abstract. Finally, regarding creationism, Hawking only states that physics does not disprove religion. For instance, he states that while the big bang created time, it is still possible that a "God" created the universe at that time, and therefore does not take any stance on religion whatsoever.
Rating:
Summary: Cosmic Science Made Simple
Review: This is a well written book and follows a series of books by the author. So it is the product of a number of revisions and refinements - all which give us some sense of clarity. The advantage in a book from Hawking is that he can weigh the significance of different theories and observations, distil the concepts to something manageable, and try and present these in proper context in a coherent form - understandable to the rest of us mere mortals in cartoon like descriptions. Science books by definition are the views of the author - as of the day and time that the manuscript is finally is mailed to the publisher. But the field is moving at a rapid rate due to technological advances in sensors and data processing, so the book will date quickly. These new tools along with better trained scientists have given us better eyes and ears and techniques to see greater distances into the universe, and hence to see farther back in time. There are new discoveries reported almost daily. Good science - as described in the book - just reports the facts as they are observed and then tries to fit the observations to mathematical models and prior observed ideas such as quantum theory. There is no religious or mystical ideas involved - just regular physics and mathematics but at a high level of sophistication. Hawking simplifies the otherwise incoherent jungle of ideas and torrent of scientific publications and conferences so we can understand the essence and main points. Many basic ideas have yet to be resolved. Some examples are inflation as opposed to an oscillating universe, string theory, and parallel universes all still unsolved puzzles. Also, it is not clear at the present time if we have even yet identified all the basic particles and forces that make up nature. Having said that this book gives a very up to date picture of where we are as of today. It is an informed summary of what we know about the origin of the universe and some of the stunning cosmic processes - but just as we know it at the present moment. Read this book and stay tuned for new developments. The concept such as how we view time itself is actually a subject that might change, as is our understanding of the basis of quantum theory. Jack in Toronto
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting.
Review: A Brief History of Time is about Stephen Hawking explaining to the layman developments in astrophysics in the last 2,000 years or so up until modern day approaches to this topic. To be honest it is not that hard to understand (it is written somewhat for the layman) and Hawkings does make his own beliefs known in the final few chapters. Stephen Hawking is ONE of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, but not the most brilliant theorectical physicist in history, but he is actually not a bad writer too so that is why you have heard more about him than all the others, but if you look around you will find plenty of other writers who have different postulations however they all seem to going to the right direction. Hawkings was one of the first theorectical physicist to actually start a new direction in the 1980s with his papers on theorectical physics so you might as well listen to what he has to say. Basically this is astrophysics made somewhat easy but even those more mathmatically minded will find lots of useful data to mull through. The accessibility of high-end astrophysics is right here in these pages. Hawkings understood that the layman wanted to know what the hell these guys where thinking and so he wrote a book to do just that and here is it. It is a lot harder looking that what it actually is. High-school students can follow it no problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Interseristing Ideas...flawed conclusions
Review: This is an interesting book, and if you like Physics it does present many fascinating ideas for you to ponder, like time travel, evaporating black holes, and the expansion of the universe. My problem is that it doesn't lead anywhere, and the authors grandiose statements really contradict what his own data suggests.....others, avowed atheists like Carl Sagan have gotten ahold of this work and tried to twist it into proving that God does not exist, however; even the author reflects that these theories actually confirm the existence of a creator. It seems his brilliant mind cannot make the final leap that his theories suggest.
Rating:
Summary: Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time - 4 / 5
Review: Stephen Hawking knows what he is talking about. I am absolutely amazed that other reviewers have had the audacity to question his brilliance. That alone proves their ignorance.
This book's content is wonderful. Hawking quite obviously knows his stuff, but he's a physicist, not a writer. This is apparent in some places. He deals with mind-boggling subjects, and although he tries to explain it at a level the common person could understand, it's not always accomplished. And it's no all his fault; some of the subject matter he discusses is very difficult to grasp.
Overall, the book is filled with enough information to keep most people who aren't phyiscs majors happy, but be forewarned, it is not the easiest read out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Special
Review: Interested in the universe? If you want to know what happened or in some cases what might have happened, then this book is adequate. However, if you want to know why and how it happened, you will be greatly disappointing. In many cases, no effort is made to explain the why's and how's. In other cases the explanations are poorly written. The truth is Hawking is not a good writer. He is incapable of clearly explaining complex ideas. Like many other pop-science writers he uses poor analogies to avoid explaining abstract ideas. The problem is these analogies do not accurately convey what is really happening. If you really want to understand the how's and why's, I strongly recommend you read Feynman's work. He is truly wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: What? This book sucks
Review: This book is not only poorly written, but fails miserably to explain the very concepts that the reader hopes to understand. Now, this is not due to the 'difficulty' of the matter, but due to the weakness of Hawking's arguments. Perhaps mathematically he is more lucid, but here the 'genius' seems like a dummy. Honestly, can one discount 2-dimensional life on the basis that a dog would fall apart at it's digestive tract? This argument is especially inconsequential and I looked up references to it on the web...and what did I find? People using it as proof of the incompatibility of life and other dimensions. This book is poorly written AND false in parts (the dog diagram among them) but influences the masses. The poor masses! So when I flipped to these reviews to try to find somebody to agree with me, what do I find? The only low ratings come from people that don't understand the material. Don't understand the material! This book was written for 9-year-olds, judging from its content. Hopefully, this is only because serious people didn't read this crap in the first place. Michael Wales
Rating:
Summary: A Brief History of Time by Hawking
Review: The author ponders some very deep questions in theoretical and
practical physics and the universe. He covers space, time,
the expanding universe, uncertainty, black holes and a unifying
theory of physics and all matter. Einstein first postulated that
matter could neither be created nor destroyed. Ptolemy's model
predicts positioning of heavenly bodies. Galileo proved that
each body increased speed at the same weight despite it's own
weight except for a feather which fell slower due to air
resistance. The author explained that it takes 8 minutes for
light to reach the earth from the sun. In fact, this distance
is an important portal in the quantification and measurement
of time. Without light and distance, the measurement of time
would be difficult and perhaps impossible. The author explained
that the expanding universe slows down and stops.
Chandrasekhar calculated that a cold star would not be able
to support itself against its own gravity. This work is
excellent for science enthusiasts. It would be perfect for a
student class project in science.
Rating:
Summary: Why was this book written?
Review: The ideas discussed in the book are not all that new and notwithstanding the claims by the author I am sure that the book was not written to make physics more appealing or understandable. There are very few lay readers that would pick up a book such as this for the pleasures of science despite its popularity. The most telling reason that the book was written lies at the beginning and the end of the book, namely the introduction by Carl Sagan and the brief biographies of Galileo, Newton and Einstein. The latest edition interestingly leaves out this introduction possibly because it was so telling. In the introduction Sagan, a man not noted for his belief in God, expresses his satisfaction that despite the many times that God is mentioned in the book, the author's inflationary and boundless universe seem for the time being to preclude the existence of a Creator. This was obviously done to reassure the reader that while the author may at times seem to say that the Big Bang Theory is consistent with the Biblical account of the Creation, there is nothing to worry about because his theory offers a way out of this dilemma at the end. And indeed Hawken's theory, although highly speculative and unproven, does offer a way out for those not inclined to accept God as the Creator. As he struggled with his attempts to write God out of the picture, Hawkin's even admits to a mistake in his explanation of a collapsing universe, i.e. that time would reverse or that effect would precede cause. An indication, in my view, of the desperate state of the atheistic view of the universe is the willingness to accept that effect precedes cause rather than admit to the existence of God. The book was, in my view, written for Hawken's fellow scientists and philosophers as a warning that unless the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe is proven wrong then the most basic tenet of the Enlightenment, that God does not exist, is in trouble. There are too many uncomfortable parallels between the Biblical Creation and the Big Bang Theory for the latter to be accepted as science's final word on Creation. So the hunt for dark matter proceeds in earnest as the means by which gravity will eventually lead to the Big Crunch thereby starting the cycle over again. A steady state universe which automatically expands and contracts due to natural laws is much more appealing to those who are uncomfortable with the existence of a Creator. The brief biographies of Galileo, Newton and Einstein with reference to Galileo's near fatal encounter with the Grand Inquisitor is a reminder to the reader of the danger that the existence of God poses to intellectual progress in the view of the author and thereby further reinforces the author's fear that a theory of everything may prove the Church right after all. In the case of Newton and Einstein the biographies are a reminder that the greatest minds in science are non-believers and therefore those with the same view are in good company. Not that the Church is any more of a benevolent ruler over the human psyche than is science, but the existence of God puts a lie to the so-called progressive morality founded on relativism which permeates modern Western Civilization since the Enlightenment. The irony is that relativity in physics should lead to absolutism in morality and this book brings this irony to the fore.
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