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Summary: A Brief History of Time, Review
Review: It is a shame that other books concerning this industrial (advanced) and momentus subject aren't as explicit and clear as this book. Dr.Stephen Hawking discusses early and long held thought, briefing a bakground into the new subect. Once the perliminaries are over he discusses black holes and their form and structure. In the chapter entitled "Black Holes Ain't So Black" he briefly discusses the discoveries of his that lead to earning his Ph.D. He bridges the gap between physicist and expert and brings it down a noch to the amateur.
Stephen Hawking's work is more like a simplistic poem rather than a, well... textbook. It is clear and crisp and contains a great deal of knowledge. All that it takes to read this book is a cosy seat, a nice light, and a keen intrest.
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Summary: This one will help inspire students to appreciate science
Review: A book that inspires me is good for my students, and I can then communicate my positive reactions to them. I always want to inspire first, teach second. This is an excellent book from, probably, the greatest scientist since Einstein. I intend to make it required reading for my students in a liberal arts oriented science program. Following up with somewhat more technical things, like "Elegant Universe" and "Symmetry" makes a complete physics course for the non scientist.
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Summary: Great as an introduction - not for the experts!
Review: I found this book to be a great introduction to theories on the origins of our universe, the concepts of time, gravity, the big-bang, black holes, wormholes, etc. This is not an in-depth textbook full of incomprehensible language and ideas, but more a guide that provides the reader with a glimpse into the various theories used to explain the physics of the universe for the past 2000 years or so. While there are quite a few technical terms and some of the discussion is confusing, most readers will walk away knowing more than they knew before reading the book. We're also left with the realization that this is an ever-changing field - new research and theories are constantly coming into play and many ideas and concepts are still complete mysteries.
A Brief History of Time was not written for experts in the areas of physics/astrophysics (you already know all this), but more for the educated reader that wants to know a little more about some very interesting concepts. Don't be surprised if you find one or more areas that have piqued your interest to do further research!
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Summary: Hawking's genius.
Review: I found this to be a valuable tool in understanding current physics. I would recommend this book for anyone curious about the universe or looking for a introduction to basic theoretical knowledge.
With topics ranging from the Theory of Relativity to Black Holes, Hawking has it all packed in. He is also very good at giving background information pertaining to earlier theories of the kind, who the theorists were, and the major accomplishments of those particular scientists.
The book is good reading. In spite of some scientific jargon, equation and figures, the average reader can well understand it. However, being a collection of lectures and articles, some amount of repetition is present in the work. There are places where some more explanation would do a lot of help to the reader while making the conclusions at various stages more plausible.
The value here is in our contemplating the vastness of space and time.
Though the book is a bit pricy, the illustrations, and overall book quality make up for it. Not to mention, Hawking's genius.
I also recommended Sex and the perfect lover by Mabel Iam.
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Summary: fantastic!
Review: I had the original Brief History of Time, but the illustrated version makes it a LOT more fun to read. Hawking's rapier-like mind and wit come through in this great book, and the plentiful color images help the reader visualize many of the trickier concepts. Just go buy it. Trust me.
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Summary: Too complex for the curious minded...
Review: I was very interested in reading this book because of its reviews and subject, but reading it wasn't what i hoped for. This book is not very reader friendly. It seems that the only people able to understand the majority of what he gets into
(i.e: equations,terms,subjects) would only be understood by people who have a degree in the subject. I've taken a few college classes in astronomy and enjoyed the subject very much, but seriously, i simply finished the second half of the book just to complete it. I went through the first half with hopes of it getting easier or better. There is a lot of information given, but it's really hard to understand or comprehend for anyone who doesn't have a background in astronomy.
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Summary: It Will Change the Way You Look at the Universe!
Review: Stephen Hawking is an established scientific genius, but this book establishes him as a brilliant writer - an extremely rare, yet valuable combination. A point he brings to attention is that it had been possible for the philosophers of ancient times to master practically all the knowledge of academia. Today, however, only a handful of extremely specialized scientists understand the latest ideas in their fields. While men of ancient times could easily understand the latest scientific ideas, people today are lost. Enter "A Brief History of Time." This book helps fill in that gap between an average person's understanding and the highly specialized scientists' knowledge.This book covers ideas that are profound and affect everyone. It explains theories that concern the creation of the universe, time travel, light-speed travel, and many more topics. Imagine actually having some grasp of Einstein's general relativity. Ever heard of string theory? How might time travel actually be possible? What are these black holes of which I've heard? This book packs an incredible amount of information into its 248 pages, yet somehow is still easily read - this is the true marvel of this book. The illustrated version is worth the extra money. It contains many updates and additions throughout the book by Hawking (including the time travel chapter!). Every (and I mean every) concept throughout the book is accompanied by at least one illustration - think about it: 240 color illustrations with only 248 pages! Towards the middle of the book, some of the concepts get more complex (when he really gets into the details of sub-atomic particles). However, as a recent high school graduate, I can say with some level of certainty that the average person can understand 90% of this book - and those parts are the most interesting! It will change the way you look at the universe.
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Summary: OK
Review: Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of the Universe has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, tremendous popularity (particularly for a science book - albeit a non technical one). As someone with a keen interest in cosmology and its philosophical implications, I am predisposed to view anything that brings these issues to a broader audience in a favourable light ? indeed this was not a terrible book. I do not believe, however, that it warrants the rave reviews that it has received from many Amazon customers. I sense that this may be a new area for many of these readers and a bit of bandwagon jumping may have occurred. Although Hawking is an accomplished scientist, in my view, his abilities as a communicator are modest and his grasp of philosophical concepts is limited.
In his book Hawking touches briefly on a range of issues. Following is my opinion regarding the handling of these issues. The overview of the history of cosmology and relativity theory is well done. His discussion of Quantum theory could be stronger (a variety of material that presents quantum theory and its implications/questions is available for free on the Internet - Alan Wolf also has some excellent material in this area for a popular audience). Black holes are one of Hawking's key interests and there is a lot of interesting theoretical work being done in this area. That said, however, I feel that the discussion of this topic is a bit too long. Finally, though interesting, I found the discussion of speculative concepts such as multiverses and imaginary time ill-suited for this type of book. To be honest, this type of metaphysical conjecture is better suited for a work of science fiction than a popular overview of cosmology. Although the author caveats many of his thoughts in this area, the lay reader could easily come away with the view that these ideas have a much firmer basis than is actually the case.
I found Hawking's lack of depth with respect to the philosophical implications of cosmology disappointing. Readers seeking more on issues such as the limits of science, the relationship between science and reality, the nature of God, etc. would be better served to look within in the realms of scientific and religious philosophy (many of the questions that men such as Hawking are just being to grapple with have been addressed in great depth and clarity for millennia). Asking a scientist who works in a narrow area of research to clearly understand and articulate the broader ramifications of their work is a bit like asking a software developer to explain the effect of the Internet on society. The point here is not to unduly criticize scientists or software developers, but, to highlight that there are individuals more at ease with analysing the wider implications of technical and theoretical developments. For example, an interesting read with regard to the philosophical implications of current cosmological thought is Smith and Craig's Atheism, Theism and Big Bang Cosmology.
In conclusion, anything that increases interest in the "big" questions is worth a look. Accordingly, I think Hawking should be congratulated for introducing these ideas to a broader audience. There are, however, many better discussions of these issues available in both print and on the Internet.
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Summary: Surprized to see so many positive reviews
Review: The first few chapters up to the middle of the book were useful information on the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. I enjoyed reading those chapters. From the middle of the book to the end, Hawking gets side tracked. The theme of the book changes from a scientific point of view to more of a plain unscientific talk to philosophical and even theological. Hawking adds many remarks on what God decides, what God wants, or what God does, which do not follow a scientific argument. Focus is degraded towards the end of the book by asking irrelevant questions such as: what happens if you go to the past and kill your great great great grandfather when he was a child?
In summary, as much as I respect Hawking as a person and a physicist, I found about half of the material in this book useful and the other half either confusing or vague. I am a bit surprised to see so many reviews with full 5 star ratings. There are other books that cover physics, astronomy, and cosmology in a simple and clear language (Gamow has a few gems).
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Summary: Wonderful Primer On The Nature Of the Universe!
Review: There was a joke going around shortly after Stephen Hawking's wonderful book came out in 1988 that it was the most popular best-seller that no one ever read, dooming all those copies to lay instead as a prop on millions of coffee tables as a conversation piece. Yet for those of us persistent enough to peer through the covers at the remarkable exposition of quite complicated scientific ideas lay open and rendered comprehensible in his clear, crisp style, the book is indeed a veritable treasure trove of layman's explanations for some wondrous scientific phenomena. Hawking, a Lecturer in Physics at Cambridge University, has an unusual ability to avoid all but a bare minimum of that oh-so stupefying technical scientific jargon in explaining such aspects of our universe as black holes, the nature of time, the so-called "big bang", and of course, gravity itself. He is addressing the very nature of physics as he plows through these quite centrally and enduring mysteries of the universe. Therefore, the rhetorical questions posed are obviously designed to elucidate some interesting, provocative, and fairly straightforward answers to timeless pondering we all have. Yet one's mind often boggles at the sheer scale of our imaginings, with concepts so vast and so dislocated in our ordinary day-to- day time-space continuum as to give even the most intrepid questioner among us a little case of vertigo. This only serves to magnify the breadth of Hawking's accomplishment in writing this very approachable and readable tome describing the both the origins and the very nature of the universe. Given the more than ten years since the original publication of Professor Hawking's fascinating book, this new and much revised edition shows how many of his perceptions, interpretations, and theoretical observations have been substantiated by further scientific investigation and discovery. With these extraordinary revelations included within the pages of the revised edition, it becomes an even more impressive and quite dazzling invitation to learn more about the incredible capabilities of theoretical science on the one hand, and of the universe itself on the other. This is a marvelous book, and one I can heartily recommend. Enjoy!
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