A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang To Black Holes

This book is superb. Stephen Hawking is clearly a genius who has worked through some extraordinarily complex problems and donbe the hard work of calculation to test his theories. His ideas are far-fetched and so strangely conceptual that they are at least counter-intuitive. So one would expect that his writing would be hardwork, confusing and a little dry. And yet.. ..it's brilliantly clear. Hawking takes us through relativity, the big bang and black holes and quantum particles. And all along he manages to explain these ideas in language and with references that most of us can get opur heads around. Don't get me wrong spin 2 particles symetry makes no sense to me and I am really struggling with the concpet of a finite (but really really really big) curved edgeless space. Nonetheless, concepts which demand years of research to come close to fully understanding are introduced in a fashion that any novice can follow. Hawking's writing style is engaging and often humorous (sometimes cheeky) and it makes it a pleasure to read. There are a few downsides to this book. Firstly, an introduction to a subject is always going to be sketchy on some of the detail but as not many people will have an appetite to read his full research papers I don't think that's much of an issue. Secondly, and more significantly, this book is now over 25 years old. That means that the science has moved on (in some areas considerably). At the time of writing Hawking could not be 100% certain that blackholes existed although we now know that they do. I'm sure there are other areas where his writing is now outdated but I don't know enough about physics to be sure what. Overall then a great book. It combines a relaxed and enjoyable writing style with some humour and a thorough udnerstanding of the subject matter explained in as straightforward a manner as possible. If you are interested in this then I would also recommend: Why Does E=mc2?: (and Why Should We Care?) and also Hawking's recent TV series Stephen Hawking's Universe [DVD] [2010 ]

A must read.

A brief history of time ,written by Stephen hawking, gives the reader a brief but detailed insight into the science of relativity and quantum mechanics. Spanning from a young ambitious student to world renounced professor , the book feels like an essay and also a biography of sorts. Although not much of hawkings life is given much detail ( the film ,Theory of everything, is probably the best place for this) the theories of the science community that have evolved and sometimes changed over time is ultimately what drives the book Forword. In depth and no holds bards is a good way to explain the complexity of the science introduced to the reader from the first page ,all the way to the last. Finding out in fine detail the theory of relativity from the view of Einstein ,or the theory on black holes by hawkins, for example, is fascinating and mind boggling . Physics is described as being an interlocking and developing Science that isn't as fact driven as one might believe . Theories are thus, just theories , and are by no means written in stone. Hawkins explains the growing influence technology has on mankinds ability to research and analyse. My favourite chapter is about arrows of time and higher dimensions ; concepts I have pondered about many times but knew nothing of the science behind them . I wasn't even sure there was science behind them so to read about actual theories was Brilliant . There is no doubt the average reader will ponder over some pages for a long time, with a nudging feeling in the back of their mind of being way out of their depth . Like me , you will struggle. But ...that is what makes the book so brutal and intriguing. It gives you the chance of understanding very complex physics in a brief compact 10 hour read.

It's amazing how quickly Quantum and astro-physics enter into the public consciousness. Stephen Hawking has been instrumental in doing this with his lectures and books. In fact, his views and papers have become pretty-much the established scientific viewpoint on most cosmology, and temporal physics. Although this book is getting on a little bit, and most of the key concepts are pretty-much mainstream now, it stands out as one of the better books on the subject. Sci-fi and pop-sci authors have done a brilliant job in taking what Professor Hawking originally wrote in this book, and others, and then distilling them down into much simpler ideas. This means that now, even someone who's not a science buff would be able to pick this up and follow along with almost everything. The descriptions and explanations stay away from the mind-poundingly prodigious maths, and instead focus on the cause and effect of the physics problems which affect everything from protons to galaxies. I know a lot of people will see "Stephen Hawking" and expect page 1 to be a "classical differential derivation of a gaussian distribution of matter particles in a quantum foam environment using non-euclidean warp core fusion blah blah" or some other star trek gobbledegook, but the truth is far from it. It reads relatively humbly, and takes its time to go through the high-level concepts without getting lost in the detail. If you're interested in a general discussion of the state of physics, and how we got from an apple falling from a tree to detecting gravity waves, this is one of the main books to read.

Use = reading and expansion of thought. Quality = great.....I've honours in Physics, but this book has helped me to understand concepts which were totally alien before. Unreservedly recommended.

Each page really makes you think! Fun to read in the bathroom and on the bus. Recommend if you’re into math or physics, doesn’t require an extensive background.

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Bought as a gift. Smaller in size than expected

Un super livre qui vous fait comprendre les principaux enjeux et théories de la physique. Pas besoin d'être un grand scientifique, tout est expliqué de facon simple et limpide.