From the time of the ancient Greeks through the present time, this historical overview of cosmology is told by one of the most famous and fascinati...
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Sep 09, 2008
Bill
rated it: 
This book puts me in mind of the story about how a Harvard number theorist, through some malfunction of the scheduling computer, got assigned to teach an introductory course in pre-calculus. Being one of those individuals to whom math came so easily that they couldn't grasp how difficult others found it, the professor had no idea what to cover in such a course.
So, he went to the chair of the department, who told him: "You'll want to start with the real number-line and then prog More...
So, he went to the chair of the department, who told him: "You'll want to start with the real number-line and then prog More...
5 comments
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(26 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Matthew
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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 st 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 st More...
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(9 people liked it)
Sep 25, 2007
Daniel
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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
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(13 people liked it)
Dec 08, 2007
Trevor
rated it:
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 More...
Hawking uses this idea to explain why travelling back in time is impossible. It requires very little energy to knock a glass over More...
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(7 people liked it)
Nov 03, 2011
Manny
rated it:
Apparently this book tops the world list of "bought but not read", which may explain why it's so universally acclaimed as a work of genius. If you know anything much about relativity or cosmology, it comes across as a potboiler, admittedly a well-written one with a great final sentence. I wasn't impressed.
But... without it, we would never have had MC Hawking. If you haven't come across him, start with the lyrics to "E = MC Hawking". Then buy A Brief History of Rhy More...
But... without it, we would never have had MC Hawking. If you haven't come across him, start with the lyrics to "E = MC Hawking". Then buy A Brief History of Rhy More...
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(7 people liked it)
Jan 08, 2010
Annalisa
rated it:
Disclaimer: I love math and physics and books that make me feel stupid, as in they are that intelligent. It was interesting learning about the development of science as it refers to the way we think about the universe and how scientific discoveries have been influenced and influence the way people think about God. My favorite section was the discussion of black holes and antimatter.
At times Hawking lost me. He wants to explain theory to the masses, but as he draws near to his own th More...
At times Hawking lost me. He wants to explain theory to the masses, but as he draws near to his own th More...
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(5 people liked it)
Oct 23, 2009
Laurel
rated it: 
If I had a slightly more evolved brain than I do, or were as brilliantly smart as, say, Stephen Hawking (or my equally brilliant science-minded fiance), I may give this book 4 or 5 stars. I'm pretty certain it deserves 4 or 5 stars. But my brain is only (I like to think) a bit above average. And so, yes, I admit it -- much of this (especially when delving into his own theories) was over my head. And while I found what I did understand absolutely fascinating, I can't really give it more than 3 s
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3 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jul 09, 2008
Molly
rated it: 
It was while reading this that I finally had an "aha" moment about why it is that observation can change what you're trying to observe. I was always kind of skeptical of this, because I was wondering "what is it that our eyes do that could possibly affect things?" Stephen Hawking set me straight: it's the tiny speck of light that you have to shoot at what you're trying to observe that affects it. Light bulb is on!
I have an interest in physics, and I have read q More...
I have an interest in physics, and I have read q More...
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(4 people liked it)
Jun 22, 2007
Khalid
rated it:
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 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 More...
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 24, 2009
Greg
rated it:
I read the Illustrated Brief History of Time because I was hoping it would have helpful visual depictions of the complex theories and concepts that Hawking describes - and it did.
Overall, this book was pretty good, but I guess the biggest problem I had with it was that Hawking never really came out and declared which of the current theories he most subscribes to. He does a great job presenting a mostly unbiased view on the differing theories, but doesn't take a stance on which he th More...
Overall, this book was pretty good, but I guess the biggest problem I had with it was that Hawking never really came out and declared which of the current theories he most subscribes to. He does a great job presenting a mostly unbiased view on the differing theories, but doesn't take a stance on which he th More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jul 10, 2008
Michael
rated it:
Copy from a briefer history review since very similar books.
It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination.
That was somehow lost in our information generation. So like I said, if this tiny take on life and physics gets into more hands then horray. Its a crazy world out there. Be curious.
This book takes topics like general relativity, quantum theo More...
It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination.
That was somehow lost in our information generation. So like I said, if this tiny take on life and physics gets into more hands then horray. Its a crazy world out there. Be curious.
This book takes topics like general relativity, quantum theo More...
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 14, 2011
I'm just using this space here to direct your attention to the following amusing project
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblo...
Essentially, as you may know, Christian Marclay assembled a 24 hour film out of clips from zillions of movies. Each clip features the TIME on a clock or watch or in the dialogue, and of course it's all in order, and the film runs continuously, so if you start watching it at 4.17 there you will see a clip where it's 4.17 in some Jimmy cagney mov More...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblo...
Essentially, as you may know, Christian Marclay assembled a 24 hour film out of clips from zillions of movies. Each clip features the TIME on a clock or watch or in the dialogue, and of course it's all in order, and the film runs continuously, so if you start watching it at 4.17 there you will see a clip where it's 4.17 in some Jimmy cagney mov More...
Jun 02, 2008
Nate
rated it:
Hawking presents a scientific and philosophical view of the universe via the most complicated theories of mathematics and science in layman's terms. That said, the book requires a second reading. There's so much intriguing information in the book's 191 pages that on a first reading, I believe it would be difficult for anyone (without advanced knowledge of astrophysics, quantum mechanics, etc.) to conceptualize all the book contains and postulates. Nonetheless, an incredible book for anyone as
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Sep 06, 2011
Usando spazi-tempi euclidei, in cui la direzione del tempo è sullo stesso piano delle direzioni dello spazio, c'è la possibilità che lo spazio-tempo sia finito e che nondimeno non abbia alcuna singolarità che ne formi un confine o un bordo. Lo spazio-tempo sarebbe allora come la superficie della Terra, con l'unica differenza di avere quattro dimensioni anzichè due.
[...]ci troviamo di fronte allo stesso problema [...]: può darsi che Dio sappia come ha avuto inizio l'universo, ma noi non possiamo More...
[...]ci troviamo di fronte allo stesso problema [...]: può darsi che Dio sappia come ha avuto inizio l'universo, ma noi non possiamo More...
Dec 02, 2011
Simon
rated it:
For my second book reveiw I read "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. This book was writen as an educational novel to teach the reader about things like astronomy, phisics, and chemistry. This book goes into alot of detail about highly complex mathematics and phisics which would be very difficult to understand, and puts them into analogies that make them very easy to learn and remember.
The theme of this book is to educate about various feilds of astronomical science. More...
The theme of this book is to educate about various feilds of astronomical science. More...
Jul 06, 2011
For the record, I'm an Art Historian who likes to exercise the left side of her brain every once in a while, so this review is geared towards the less scientific who are thinking about delving into the world of physics. I'm only about halfway through, but what I can say is that so far it has given both the left AND the right hemispheres a thorough work out, but in the best if-you're-not-sore-you're-not-doing-it-right kind of way. Hawking explicitly states in his introduction that he's writing th
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May 28, 2011
Gordon
rated it:
I picked this up years ago and put it down until I was about to deploy last year. I'm so glad I brought it along. I read it in a couple of days, then read it again. I am amazed out how far Quantum Physics has advanced since I graduated in 1981. String theory, M theory, the Multiverse and much more have all appeared. More is to come. Stephen Hawkings narrates a wonderful tale of the evolution of science from the Greeks to modern day all the while explaining human understanding of the forces
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Mar 25, 2011
Jose A.
rated it:
I don't know why, but i felt this book like a Dejavu. A lot of the theories explained here are actually present in the "Theory About Everything" (or it might be the opposite? sorry i don't remember which one came first) but in any case, is nice to... be aware of the stage of science in these days, to have some reference about the different version of how everything started and with a little extra about time travel, dimension crossing, light speed vehicles, etc, etc.
It is true More...
It is true More...
Feb 13, 2011
Sarah Jane
rated it:
The point of A Brief History is pretty self-explanatory I'd say. Stephen Hawking details the glories and mysteries of the universe and most major theories on such that have been created (and then disproved) to date in a relatively short book. It's definitely worth reading if you have any desire to understand the universe or the science of it. It's directed at the non-genius community, so it's not TOO hard to follow. Stephen Hawking also includes some brief anecdotes about his life. He is an inte
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 22, 2010
Roel
rated it:
In Het heelal, Verleden en toekomst van ruimte en tijd, zoals de Nederlandse titel van het boek luidt, weet Stephen Hawking het onvatbare, begrijpelijk te maken.
Vanuit de klassieke mechanica van Galilei en Newton, legt hij uit hoe Einstein met zijn relativiteitstheorie ruimte en tijd kon verbuigen en hoe de kwantummechanica niks meer zeker kon weten.
Er wordt gezegd dat als je kwantummechanica snapt, je het niet begrepen hebt, maar toch weet Stephen Hawking abstracte principes, More...
Vanuit de klassieke mechanica van Galilei en Newton, legt hij uit hoe Einstein met zijn relativiteitstheorie ruimte en tijd kon verbuigen en hoe de kwantummechanica niks meer zeker kon weten.
Er wordt gezegd dat als je kwantummechanica snapt, je het niet begrepen hebt, maar toch weet Stephen Hawking abstracte principes, More...
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Nov 01, 2010
Brian
rated it:
Excellent, excellent book. If you like science at all, I would recommend this book. Reading this reminded me of my favorite class as a Freshman that I took with Nick (and where I learned how to spin a pen around my thumb) - Astronomy 101.
One thought about the subject, and then two observations:
Thought: Just picking this book makes you feel smarter. Starting to reading makes you feel really, really smart until you realize that if someone asked you to explain what you're r More...
One thought about the subject, and then two observations:
Thought: Just picking this book makes you feel smarter. Starting to reading makes you feel really, really smart until you realize that if someone asked you to explain what you're r More...
Jan 13, 2010
Jayesh
rated it:
Stephen Hawking's book is about space and time. The questions he attempts to answer in this book are where did the universe come from, how and why did it begin, will it come to an end and when.
Hawking discusses the origins of the universe in terms of several laws of physics: the laws of motion and gravity, the theory of general relativity, the laws of conservation of energy, and quantum mechanics. As we read through the book, he explains spatial phenomena such as the big bang event, More...
Hawking discusses the origins of the universe in terms of several laws of physics: the laws of motion and gravity, the theory of general relativity, the laws of conservation of energy, and quantum mechanics. As we read through the book, he explains spatial phenomena such as the big bang event, More...
Jul 07, 2009
Robert
rated it:
Buku ini saya baca dari perpustakaan sekolah SMA dulu. Diterbitkan di Indonesia pada tahun 1994 dengan judul saduran, "Riwayat Sang Kala". Di buku ini, Stephen Hawking menuliskan banyak pemikiran-pemikirannya mengenai Teori Dentuman Besar (Big Bang Theory) hingga Lubang Hitam (Black Hole) dengan bahasa yang cukup bisa dipahami karena memang buku ini ditujukan untuk kalangan awam.
Banyak sekali hal-hal yang mencengangkan mengenai jagat raya yang saya temukan di dalam buku ini More...
Banyak sekali hal-hal yang mencengangkan mengenai jagat raya yang saya temukan di dalam buku ini More...
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Jun 14, 2009
Alex
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This is a review of the unabridged audiobook of "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking.
I've always been the type of person who likes to daydream about the origin of the universe--(when I was younger, this was more like an obsession than a daydream)--so it was inevitable that I eventually would attempt to finish this book.
I thought maybe the format of a book on tape would be ideal for this famous treatise on physics--which I've always been told was very acc More...
I've always been the type of person who likes to daydream about the origin of the universe--(when I was younger, this was more like an obsession than a daydream)--so it was inevitable that I eventually would attempt to finish this book.
I thought maybe the format of a book on tape would be ideal for this famous treatise on physics--which I've always been told was very acc More...
Jun 07, 2009
Sara
rated it:
I don't know that I'm qualified to rate this book, in the sense that since I have hardly any foundation in theoretical physics, especially at the time i read it, I had a difficult time understanding much of it, so I really couldn't get a good grasp on what I thought of the book, except that it was frustrating, but that I'm sure is because I lacked the premise of knowledge necessary to read this without struggling so much. I'm more well versed in physics now, so someday I'll try to get through it
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 15, 2011
Andrew
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I'd previously picked up A Brief History of Time earlier in life, but never made it all the way through. But with a renewed interest in astronomy, I was compelled to give it another go. By happy accident, I ended up with the illustrated version from the library instead of the original. And I would recommend the illustrated version to anyone, because it really does make the more challenging concepts in the book easier to visualize. The scope of the book is amazingly broad, and I'll be amazed
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Apr 09, 2011
Adam
rated it:
I was really looking forward to reading this one. It has kind of a legendary reputation in scientific writing in that it was supposed to be the once-and-for-all attempt to explain the general and special theories of relativity and the nature of space-time for the layperson to understand. Well, it failed--or I failed to understand it. Not sure. Hawking falls prey to something every other genius is weak towards and that is being so enamored of their own genius that they quickly fly off the gri
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Jan 06, 2011
Robert
rated it:
I would give it a star or two more but for one thing. That one thing is the air of overconfidence or even complacence near the end as he discusses the "theory of everything". The problems involved with that are nowhere near being worked out even in theory and the theories in progress are nowhere near being experimentally testable in any useful part. What it reminds me of is the similar complacence in the 19th century in the heyday of classical physics just before Max Planck blew it
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Oct 13, 2010
Tamsen
rated it:
A Brief History of Time is supposed to be the layman's version of science as it is applied to the universe. While I could understand whole sections fine (especially when Hawking used anecdotes, his own unique 'nerd humor' or referenced the history of science), there were other chapters where I would read, then reread and finally just move on. I think that Hawking tries very hard to incorporate laymen's terms and he does, successfully... however, he seems to zip along on his own journey/history o
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 03, 2009
Bob
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This audio edition of Hawking's well-known book is a challenge for those not well-versed in the subject matter. A main Hawking argument is that the general theory of relativity conflicts with quantum theory. His book then describes how these two theories can be united in a quantum theory of gravity. In singularity events where matter collapses into ultimate densities(black holes; the "time" before the Big Bang), Hawking says that the known quantum interactions involving micro events
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