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: Shorter lectures and thinkings in an easy way
Review: I believe it is hard for a brilliant mind like Stephen to discuss theoretical physics like he does. If we look at the structure of it and the incredibly vast and complicated mathematics that follows this thinking, it is an achievement to present it in such simple way to an audience with enormous lack of knowledge in this area. If you didn't read Brief History Of Time before this book, it might seem very odd to you. This book is second part of an effort to bring some very academic field to an interest of a broad public sphere, which is interested in the principles of universe, but has no possibilities for explorations and readings in this field, because it has become too complicated to understand. In past (maybe some 100 years or more ago) an educated person could follow all the latest scientifical discoveries in the papers (and could mostly understand it). Nowadays even experts in their branches have sometimes troubles in understanding their superior colleagues. Such an attempt from Hawking is therefore very positive.
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: 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: 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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