Brief Answers to the Big Questions: 'A beautiful little book by a brilliant mind' DAILY TELEGRAPH

HAWKING, Stephen, “Brief Answers to Big Questions, Publisher : John Murray, 2020, ISBN-10: 1473695996, 12.8 x 2 x 19.6 cm Hawking could always be relied upon to present interesting questions and answer them in (reasonably) accessible language for non-geniuses. For those interested in astrophysics, cosmology, space and black-holes, this will be an interesting introduction. I doubt it will help specialists but, for many, it will be the key to more complexities and an understanding of our world.

Brief Answers to the Big Questions is an inspiring and insightful book that showcases Stephen Hawking's brilliance and ability to make complex ideas accessible to everyone. Hawking tackles some of humanity’s biggest questions—ranging from the future of artificial intelligence to the existence of God—with clarity, wit, and a deep sense of curiosity. What makes this book so impactful is not just the depth of Hawking’s knowledge, but his unwavering optimism for the future. He challenges us to think about the universe in new ways, while always keeping a focus on the importance of human progress and collaboration. His views on science, technology, and society are still incredibly relevant today, and his words serve as a reminder of how much we can achieve if we keep pushing the boundaries of what we know. For anyone who is curious about the big questions in life or who found inspiration in Hawking’s work, this book is a must-read. It’s both a tribute to his legacy and a call to keep exploring the unknown. Hawking was a true inspiration, and this book reflects that beautifully.

Fascinating musings by an amazing mind, expressed in language that any literate person can understand. Some reviewers appear to have found the lack of academic rigour disappointing, or even irritating – for them, the American Physical Society has assembled a collection of fifty-five papers by Stephen Hawking. Access is not free - great scholarship rarely is - but a single paper can be purchased and downloaded for $35. Even if a paper proves incomprehensible, it should, at the very least, provide insight into the complexity of thought, supposition and argument involved. For the rest of us - enjoy the booklet. Pre-digested it may be, but the content does provide interesting food for thought and conversation.

To be honest even if it was rubbish I would still have wanted to read it, these are the last words of a great man. But it is was a good read anyway. People who have given this a low review fall into 3 camps, Firstly those that found a collection of disconnected articles. To be honest, they have a point, but it does say that in the description so it seems a bit unfair to criticise something for being what it claims to be. In any case, each one of the disconnected articles does stand up well, some are of course better than others, those on cosmology standout but the more speculative ones on aliens and AI are of course less authoritative but nevertheless, I am interested in what the great man has to say on them. Secondly, some reviewers seem concerned that his celebrity status gives him more public credibility than his academic standing warrants. I have no idea if that has any merit or not, but either way, his academic credibility is high (he had the same position in Cambridge as Newton and Dirac). The fact that he was a man of great personal strength and a wonderful communicator in no way diminishes his intellectual greatness. And thirdly a few people are unhappy with his non-scientific views, especially those on Brexit. Frankly, I think he has as much right to an opinion on those matters as anyone and a good deal more credibility than many politicians. Thoroughly good read and thought-provoking.

I don't read a lot, almost need quick answers for everything, this book really helped, Mr Hawking top man, I thank you sir.

Right from ‘A brief history of time’ I have been a fan of Hawking. I can disagree with him on few things but, as he himself had said, not everyone can get it right! My one disappointment was that he could not understand the declining popularity of science since much of our life is governed by science and technology; room there for many comments, however, he also mentioned the possibility of tyranny arising from Word governance and thought it less likely because of Brexit and Trump…..make of that what you will but I think those were areas he just didn’t think so much about!!! Having said that it detracts little from my enjoyment of the book, I’d recommend it to everyone.

Easier than A Brief History of Time, it still deals with some hard science but does not explain the rift in space-time into which my reading glasses disappear, and their reappearance elsewhere in the house some days later...

Big ideas out in understandable terms. I would like to share his optimism about our global future, but I find I can’t.

Good book

Hawking in this book is able to introduce complex concepts with straightforward explanations, and without underestimating the reader's intellect. Besides his great sense of humor, despite of his well-known disabling condition, it seems he wanted to share to the world all the knowledge he crafted along with his life before leaving us, in March this year. Although he knew this would be a very difficult task, he selected the main questions which last and defy the humanity, and provided answers correlating it vast knowledge to those questions, using some tools as general relativity, quantum physics and walking around the “theory of everything” (ToE). The result varies from astonishment from “well, how no one thought about that before?”. Either way, it is a very pleasant reading for anyone interested in “Where did we come from?” or “Where are we going to?” like questions.

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Amazing how a person inflicted by so much hardship as Stephen Hawking was, could not only continue to be a world-renonwed scientist until his last day, but to remain positive and optimistic about the fate of the human race. This collection is Hawking's replies to 'big questions', such as how was the universe created; and how it may end. Throughout this collection, Hawking showcases that wonderful, oh-so-British dry wit that he was so famous for (and he doesn't forget to mention that he delivered said wit via a mechanical American accent!) Thought-provoking, enriching, and accessible, this popular science collection is aimed at the general public but doesn't shy from going into deep explanations. I found Hawking's predictions about AI far more optimistic than what some scholars are currently saying (Hawking's 'answers' were comiled over a decade ago, before the real advent of gen-AI), and his notion of 'human' future which is basically a conscious computer is a bit chilling. Hawking also doesn't believe that space colonisation is a near-future thing, which is a sobering thought to those who are looking towards a holiday on Mars. All in all, an accessible, challenging read, filled with Hawking's charm and dry British humour. Nice way to remember by the late and great Prof Hawking.

Excellent book with good quality cover page and pages, and interesting information about astrophysics