A Brief History of Time
by Stephen W. Hawking
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 4579)
Read in May, 2004
This book discusses the origin of the universe, its future, and the way it could have developed to its current state, and bases all that on physics. It dives into the part of physics whose sole aim is to devise a unified theory that describes everything in the universe, or at least do that as much as possible.
The book starts out by discussing theories as they developed, beginning with theories we all are familiar with and consider trivial, and then showing how they have proven to be wrong in...more
The book starts out by discussing theories as they developed, beginning with theories we all are familiar with and consider trivial, and then showing how they have proven to be wrong in...more
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Read in September, 2007
It is not clear to me who is in the target audience for this book. At times it tries to explain basic concepts of modern physics in simple language, and at other times it assumes a familiarity with the same subject. For the first time I think I "understand" why absolute time is not consistent with relativity theory or that space-time curvature supplants the notion of gravity, and for that I thank the author. There are a few other things I believe I have a glimpse of having (finally) sl...more
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Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
Yes
Hawking is the most famous physicist in the world today. He really is a genius, probably smarter than Feynman - though I believe they collaborated a bit before the latter died so there was obviously some mutual respect. This is considered by many the quintessential "layman's" book on understanding the universe. It is not. It is a great book, but Hawking does not have the same ease of verbiosity that Feynman has, I think its probably because Feynman was always an educator, while Hawking...more
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Read in March, 1997
Honestly, I need to go back and read this one because I simply lacked the ability to comprehend everything in this book when I was younger. However, from the few things I could understand, this book sent my mind on a journey to ask the most complicated questions that have stumped countless archetypes of philosophy and science. When I finally took a philosophy class, I realized that many of the questions pondered by Plato, Hume, Kant, Locke, Descarte, and others, were the same questions I began t...more
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Hawking is a brilliant physicist and a true expert in explaining highly complex aspects of our physical universe in terms that can be understood by most lay people.
Where Hawking fails, in my opinion, is his hubris. He proceeds in to the realm of metaphysics and religion in several portions of this book. For instance, in his chapter on the "arrow of time", he states that, essentially, the universe can only move in one direction of time. It cannot go backwards. He also states tha...more
Where Hawking fails, in my opinion, is his hubris. He proceeds in to the realm of metaphysics and religion in several portions of this book. For instance, in his chapter on the "arrow of time", he states that, essentially, the universe can only move in one direction of time. It cannot go backwards. He also states tha...more
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Read in May, 2008
Weighing it a around 150 pages, A Brief History of Time would normally be a quick read. But the concepts and ideas contained within those pages will have you going back to read and re-read passages merely to attempt wrapping your mind around what Hawking is explaining.
Beginning with an explanation of the basic principles of relativity, curved space theory, and light wave propagation, then delving into the concepts of the origins of the universe, black holes, singularities, and string theory...more
Beginning with an explanation of the basic principles of relativity, curved space theory, and light wave propagation, then delving into the concepts of the origins of the universe, black holes, singularities, and string theory...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
scientists--pro and amateur
There was a time in my childhood when I thought about being an astronomer, and to this day the subject still interests me. However, my math skills leave much to be desired and would have kept me out of the astrological fields almost for certain. But it's always a thrill to return to it as an amateur, and Dr. Hawking's work is written for the desktop astronomer and the erudite scientist alike. Presenting a history (and potential future) of the universe in a friendly, convivial tone, Hawking g...more
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Read in January, 1986
The main idea to take away from this book is that time has a clear direction. Entropy is the idea that the universe moves from highly ordered states to less ordered states. If you take the lid off a bottle of perfume, and leave it off for a few days the perfume will go from being highly ordered (all in the bottle) to highly disordered (all over the room).
Hawking uses this idea to explain why travelling back in time is impossible. It requires very little energy to knock a glass over and sma...more
Hawking uses this idea to explain why travelling back in time is impossible. It requires very little energy to knock a glass over and sma...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone interested in why we see the universe the way we do
It'd be a lie to say that reading this book has allowed me to fully understand theoretical physics. However, it certainly has helped a lot. General relativity and quantum mechanics are still incredibly confusing to me, but this book made me feel that I at least have some grasp on what's going on.
Hawking writes in a very easy, readable style, and it goes a long way towards his goal of making theoretical physics something that everyone can wrap his or her head around. Some parts of the book a...more
Hawking writes in a very easy, readable style, and it goes a long way towards his goal of making theoretical physics something that everyone can wrap his or her head around. Some parts of the book a...more
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Read in December, 2007
A surprisingly easy read, considering that I found a 1988 Redskins ticket inside my used copy. My poor unread book! Hawking's style is very good - clear, not excessively wordy.
Anyway, it's definitely the best astrophysics book for laypeople I've ever read. For its small size, it discusses a fairly large variety of questions, including a few that I hadn't even been aware of. There were a few arguments I couldn't follow, but most were explained really well. I think people who aren't at all fam...more
Anyway, it's definitely the best astrophysics book for laypeople I've ever read. For its small size, it discusses a fairly large variety of questions, including a few that I hadn't even been aware of. There were a few arguments I couldn't follow, but most were explained really well. I think people who aren't at all fam...more
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It's been a while, but now that I've entered the first twenty or so off the top of my head, which means the ones I've held in my hands in the last week or so, it's time to start with the ones on the shelf at home. It's about this time that I realize how much other work I have waiting to be attacked with as much enthusiasm as this, but some part of me pushes those realistic needs down and elevates this need to tell friends and browsing strangers on line what I thought/felt after reading these boo...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
nerds
Stephen Hawking's ability to understand complicated scientific theories is enough in itself, but his real gift is his ability to put those theories into plain English. The diction is often difficult to keep up with; quarks and positrons, matter and anti-matter, the event horizon of a black hole. I mean, those are A+ words in and of themselves. A simple metaphor and suddenly all of that stuff starts to make sense -- the equations dissolve and there is a moment of eureka where nuclear physics make...more
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اومرد عجیبی است.استفان هاوکینگ یکی از مشهورترین فیزیکدانان جهان و شاید مشهورترینشان ، دچار حمله بیماری خود Alsیعنی
شده است با همه اینها همچنان دانشمند برجسته ایست که بهترین کتابش جهان در پوست گردوست که زیباست.
یکی از مهمترین کارهای هاوکینگ نظریاتش در مورد سیاه چاله ,هاستها...more
شده است با همه اینها همچنان دانشمند برجسته ایست که بهترین کتابش جهان در پوست گردوست که زیباست.
یکی از مهمترین کارهای هاوکینگ نظریاتش در مورد سیاه چاله ,هاستها...more
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Read in April, 2008
really pushed the boundaries for me in terms of scientific knowledge on the subject that i actually had to re-read a few chapters! but dont be discouraged, hawkings does a great job translating the complex details into a book that is very accessible to the general population (especially w/ his "every day" examples, plus surprising wit) and tying it all together from chapter to chapter to form a holistic structure by its end. It really shows his command of the material, which is impress...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
nerds, those who aspire to be them
Stephen Hawking, easily one of the most intelligent people alive today, decided to sit down (heh) and try to explain some of the most complex ideas of space and math so that Joe Schmoe could understand the fabric of the universe. And somehow, almost miraculously, he succeeded.
At any rate, I'm never one to shy away from a non-fiction book- least of all those revolving around black holes and string theory- so I, unlike a good number of people who own this book, actually read it. It was concis...more
At any rate, I'm never one to shy away from a non-fiction book- least of all those revolving around black holes and string theory- so I, unlike a good number of people who own this book, actually read it. It was concis...more
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Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time is a book on the physics of the universe. Most of the information is theoretical, but is still based on facts and is widely accepted. Some of the toptics he talks about in his book are the creation and end of the universe, parallel universes, time travel, black holes and superstrings. One of Hawking's theories is that a black hole can emmit particles. This is very unlikely as nothing can escape from a regular black hole. He states that it appears to...more
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Read in August, 2006
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
(Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversay Edition)
This book has been sitting on my shelf since a class on religion and science in 2000. We read excerpts from it and I always thought that I’d read the whole thing. However, as I write a piece of fiction that relies heavily on physics, it seemed the perfect time to re-read it. I quickly remembered that I’d only read part of it in the first place. While, as I am hardly a physicist and part of the book...more
(Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversay Edition)
This book has been sitting on my shelf since a class on religion and science in 2000. We read excerpts from it and I always thought that I’d read the whole thing. However, as I write a piece of fiction that relies heavily on physics, it seemed the perfect time to re-read it. I quickly remembered that I’d only read part of it in the first place. While, as I am hardly a physicist and part of the book...more
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Read in March, 2008
About what was expected, appropriate for a guy like me with a little bit of background in Physics in college and high school, who wanted to go back and refresh a little. In just 180 or so page, Hawking seems to do a good enough job at explaining most things - I think I got most of what he was trying to tell me. There were a few instances where I felt he could have done a better job, particularly explaining particle spin. There were a few typos as well. I'm wondering if his second book...more
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"I think I recall this once being described as the least read best selling book of all time. I think it might have been one of the earlier popular physics books (although Carl Sagan was already on the scene when this came out). I have dipped in and out of it, but it is a bit unfathomable for ordinary mortals and hamsters with a limited science background. I think I have found Michio Kaku's ""Hyperspace : a scientific odyssey through parallel universes, time warps, and the tenth di...more
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Read in January, 2006
Really cool book about space and time, which seeks to explore/determine a "theory of everything." For example, the science of the big bang and other "large" cosmic phenomena in the universe are observed by following certain principles. The rules are different for observing "small" phenomena like quantum mechanics. This book seeks to unite the two by suggesting that there is a deeper set of rules that governs both phenomena; indeed they govern everything. It's we...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.02 (3666 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.01 (2852 ratings) number of reviews: 340popular shelves
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"Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of exis