Paperback, 212 pages
Published March 4, 2020 by Ishi Press.
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a book on theoretical cosmology by English physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. Hawking wrote the book for readers who had no prior knowledge of physics and people who are interested in learning something new about interesting subjects. In A Brief History of Time, Hawking writes in non-technical terms about the structure, origin, development and eventual fate of the Universe, which is the object of study of astronomy and modern physics. He talks about basic concepts like space and time, basic building blocks that make up the Universe (such as quarks) and the fundamental forces that govern it (such as gravity). He writes about cosmological phenomena such as the Big Bang and black holes. He discusses two major theories, general relativity and quantum mechanics, that modern scientists use to describe the Universe. Finally, he …
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a book on theoretical cosmology by English physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. Hawking wrote the book for readers who had no prior knowledge of physics and people who are interested in learning something new about interesting subjects. In A Brief History of Time, Hawking writes in non-technical terms about the structure, origin, development and eventual fate of the Universe, which is the object of study of astronomy and modern physics. He talks about basic concepts like space and time, basic building blocks that make up the Universe (such as quarks) and the fundamental forces that govern it (such as gravity). He writes about cosmological phenomena such as the Big Bang and black holes. He discusses two major theories, general relativity and quantum mechanics, that modern scientists use to describe the Universe. Finally, he talks about the search for a unifying theory that describes everything in the Universe in a coherent manner. The book became a bestseller and sold more than 25 million copies.
A fantastic read. It makes lots of complex ideas fairly clear using plain language. The revised edition has an extra chapter on string theory that is worth seeking out.
Finally got around to reading this classic masterpiece. I'm not giving it 5 stars because I don't really think I understood all of it. There's quite a few bits that honestly went way over my head but it is almost magical in the way it summarizes the universe and logically argues why we believe there was a beginning to the universe and why we might be wrong. It is lighthearted every once in a while and makes science seem gigantic and full of possibilities.
It is definitely a book worth coming back to in the future, even if just to see if I can understand it any better.
Rest in Peace, Mr Hawking, your legacy is enormous and most of us are just beginning to discover it.
The balance between informative and accessible wasn't always quite right for me, but I do feel I got a somewhat better grasp of 1) special relativity and 2) quantum mechanics.
In reading this book, I got the impression that my mind would be blown... assuming that I actually understood what was going on.
Explains some very complex subjects in a very engaging way
Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" is just that - a brief overview of the current understanding of the universe, and some current theories about how it works and how it began.
I found Hawking's use of analogies very helpful in understanding topics, but few things are thoroughly explained. This left me wanting to know more about the things I did understand, and lacking details that might have helped me comprehend things I couldn't.
Still, it is "a BRIEF history of time", and it serves it purpose well - giving an overview to the layman.
I should have loved this book because at the time I read it I was working in that area, but I found it barely OK. This is probably a problem with how to present scientific material: it is hard to make everyone happy, and popular works are often annoying to practicing scientists.
On the other hand I have loved [b:A Short History of Nearly Everything|21|A Short History of Nearly Everything|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320540603s/21.jpg|2305997] and [b:Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem|38412|Fermat's Enigma The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem|Simon Singh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320518732s/38412.jpg|38182], finding them as gripping as a thriller.
I think the main problem with Hawking's book might be that the writing has an awkwardness in taking these long loops around a description, which merges poorly with a certain self-importance. In the end the best thing this book might have done is to give Bill Bryson …
I should have loved this book because at the time I read it I was working in that area, but I found it barely OK. This is probably a problem with how to present scientific material: it is hard to make everyone happy, and popular works are often annoying to practicing scientists.
On the other hand I have loved [b:A Short History of Nearly Everything|21|A Short History of Nearly Everything|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320540603s/21.jpg|2305997] and [b:Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem|38412|Fermat's Enigma The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem|Simon Singh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320518732s/38412.jpg|38182], finding them as gripping as a thriller.
I think the main problem with Hawking's book might be that the writing has an awkwardness in taking these long loops around a description, which merges poorly with a certain self-importance. In the end the best thing this book might have done is to give Bill Bryson an opportunity to make a pun in his title. (I actually don't know if that's deliberate, but I thought of it immediately...)
