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...)