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The Grand Design

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 16,075 ratings · 1,049 reviews

THE FIRST MAJOR WORK IN NEARLY A DECADE BY ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT THINKERS—A MARVELOUSLY CONCISE BOOK WITH NEW ANSWERS TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS OF LIFE

When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the nature of reality? Why are the laws of nature so finely tuned as to allow for the existence of beings like ours...more THE FIRST MAJOR WORK IN NEARLY A DECADE BY ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT THINKERS—A MARVELOUSLY CONCISE BOOK WITH NEW ANSWERS TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS OF LIFE

When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the nature of reality? Why are the laws of nature so finely tuned as to allow for the existence of beings like ourselves? And, finally, is the apparent “grand design” of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion—or does science offer another explanation?

The most fundamental questions about the origins of the universe and of life itself, once the province of philosophy, now occupy the territory where scientists, philosophers, and theologians meet—if only to disagree. In their new book, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present the most recent scientific thinking about the mysteries of the universe, in nontechnical language marked by both brilliance and simplicity.

In The Grand Design they explain that according to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence or history, but rather that every possible history of the universe exists simultaneously. When applied to the universe as a whole, this idea calls into question the very notion of cause and effect. But the “top-down” approach to cosmology that Hawking and

Mlodinow describe would say that the fact that the past takes no definite form means that we create history by observing it, rather than that history creates us. The authors further explain that we ourselves are the product of quantum fluctuations in the very early universe, and show how quantum theory predicts the “multiverse”—the idea that ours is just one of many universes that appeared spontaneously out of nothing, each with different laws of nature.

Along the way Hawking and Mlodinow question the conventional concept of reality, posing a “model-dependent” theory of reality as the best we can hope to find. And they conclude with a riveting assessment of M-theory, an explanation of the laws governing us and our universe that is currently the only viable candidate for a complete “theory of everything.” If confirmed, they write, it will be the unified theory that Einstein was looking for, and the ultimate triumph of human reason.

A succinct, startling, and lavishly illustrated guide to discoveries that are altering our understanding and threatening some of our most cherished belief systems, The Grand Design is a book that will inform—and provoke—like no other.(less)

Hardcover, First Edition, 320 pages

Published September 7th 2010 by Bantam (first published 2010)

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Oct 11, 2012 Marvin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Stephen Hawking is smarter than I am. That's no big feat because two of my cats are smarter than I am. The other cat is a certifiable idiot. But Hawking is way smarter than I am. The Grand Design is Hawking's explanation, more or less, about why the universe is the way it is. The answer comes down to M-theory which is more of a combining of explanations than one single unifying theory. Many reviewers seem to think Hawking is saying there is no God but he really seems to be stating that God is i...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Manny rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, multiverse, science, science-fiction

Look John look!
See the pop science bestseller.
See the glossy paper.
See the large font.
See the wide margins.
See the world-famous physicist.
See the ghostwriter.

See the double slit experiment!
Maybe you have seen it before.
But you can never see the double slit experiment too many times.
See the theory of everything.
It is free of infinities.
Probably.
Anyway, never mind that.

See the quantum multiverse!
See the strong anthropic principle.
See them explain the mystery of being.
They are science.
They make pre...more

20 likes · like · see review

Dec 23, 2010 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: blinded-me-with-science, sky-cake, non-fiction

When this book was released, I was reading a story about it on-line, and the headline said something like: “Stephen Hawking Says There Is No God”. Then I made the critical mistake of looking at the user comments under the story. It was the usual collection of badly spelled notes from ignorant asshats who tried to say that stupid science didn’t know nuthin’ or that it was all Obama’s fault.

But one in particular caught my eye. It was by someone who undoubtedly dabbles in both neurosurgery and roc...more When this book was released, I was reading a story about it on-line, and the headline said something like: “Stephen Hawking Says There Is No God”. Then I made the critical mistake of looking at the user comments under the story. It was the usual collection of badly spelled notes from ignorant asshats who tried to say that stupid science didn’t know nuthin’ or that it was all Obama’s fault.

But one in particular caught my eye. It was by someone who undoubtedly dabbles in both neurosurgery and rocket science in his-or-her spare time, and it said something along the lines of: “THAT”S WHYY STEVN HAWKENS IS IN WHEEELCHAR!!!!!! BCAUSE HE DON”T BELIVE IN GOD!! JEBUS IS PUNSINGHING HIM!!!”

Which got me thinking about why anyone would expect a guy who has suffered from ALS and been confined to a wheelchair for most of his life to believe in God? Among the many people who have just cause to question that a loving God is waiting in heaven to dish them out a heaping plate of Sky Cake, I’d think that Stephen Hawking would be one of them.

It’s that kind of thinking that Hawking and Mlodinow take on here. Some people will point out the odds against any kind of life existing on Earth and say that God must have set it all in motion and made this place just for us and that it’s proof of an intelligent creator. Or you listen to a scientist like Hawking who points out that there’s whole multiverses where life doesn’t exist and that the only reason we know how lucky we are is that we exist to appreciate how lucky we are. Basing the idea that there must be some kind of intelligent creator simply because we’re here is bad science.

And that’s Hawking’s point. This isn’t an anti-God book, it’s a pro-science and pro-critical thinking book. Hawking does a nice job in the early chapters of giving a brief overview of the development of the scientific method and how beliefs in mysterious beings have been incorporated into theories and then debunked over the centuries. Then he lays out the flaws in the models that insist that there has to be some kind of creator being in the mix.

Even though Hawking does his best to dumb down the quantum physics that he claims proves his point and provides lots of handy pictures and graphics to help out the math and science challenged like me, it’s not exactly light reading. It’s short at 181 pages, and that helps, but while I’m fascinated by this kind of stuff, I’m also stupid enough that I had to read over some sections a couple of times before I thought I had a handle on it.

It’s enlightening and a nice overview of both the scientific method and quantum physics, but unfortunately, I can’t see any of the people who should read this actually picking it up.
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Oct 12, 2010 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, non-fiction, first-reads

It's a funny thing being a cosmologist in the greater Los Angeles area. Back when I was a partying single graduate student, I'd frequently hit the town for some fun. Inevitably I'd meet someone, strike up a conversation, and they might ask me what I did for a living.

"Oh, I'm a cosmologist."
"Cosmetologist? Cool, do you do make-up for movies?"
"Um...not unless rouge is a component of dark matter." (ba-da-bum)
"..."
"I make detectors and use them to study the origins and geometry of our universe."
"...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Jafar rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have a feeling that the publishing industry is milking Stephen Hawking. There was a time when we had a dashing physicist named Richard Feynman who used LSD and played banjo in a strip club. The naked pole dancers didn’t distract him from formulating quantum electrodynamics. He was quite a genius, and he was all over the place with his talks and popular books. But he’s dead. Now Stephen Hawking seems to be the coolest physicist around. He’s paralyzed and wheelchair-bound, and he speaks through...more I have a feeling that the publishing industry is milking Stephen Hawking. There was a time when we had a dashing physicist named Richard Feynman who used LSD and played banjo in a strip club. The naked pole dancers didn’t distract him from formulating quantum electrodynamics. He was quite a genius, and he was all over the place with his talks and popular books. But he’s dead. Now Stephen Hawking seems to be the coolest physicist around. He’s paralyzed and wheelchair-bound, and he speaks through a voice synthesizer by twitching a tiny working cheek muscle against a screen to pick up a displayed word. How cool is that! So he’s become quite a celebrity, and he fully deserves it. The public is fascinated with him. But that doesn’t mean a whole lot for the quality of his books. I’ve read better pop-physics books than this one. Besides, I didn’t see anything new here.

This book got more publicity because it’s supposed to take on the question of God. It’s no secret that the great biologists and physicists tend to be atheists. That’s a very telling fact. But having acknowledged that, I don’t see a point in a physicist trying to “disprove” God through physics. Upon being asked by Napoleon where God fits in his physics, Laplace is reported to having said: “Sire, I have not needed that hypothesis.” Science, by definition, does not and cannot use the God hypothesis. I don’t see why it should get into the business of rejecting that hypothesis. Those who are inclined to reject God can point to the findings of biology and cosmology for support. But that is quite different from a physicist setting out to refute God based on physics.

As for the God-rejecting physics – it can be summarized in two points: 1) While no individual physical object can appear out of nothing, an entire universe can. This is because the sum-total of the energy in the universe is zero. 2) There are almost an infinite number of universes popping out of nothing into existence. One of them, like the one where we live, can, by mere chance, have the right properties (laws and constants of physics) for the emergence of starts and planets and eventually life. The book goes into explaining the physics behind these two claims. Unless you’re a physicist as good as Hawking, there’s nothing you can say about his physics.
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Sep 05, 2011 5pac3m0nkey rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: physicists, philosophers, dorks

I often wonder how Stephen Hawking writes books since he can't move. Does he dictate the book? Does he use his specialized interface to type it himself? Whatever the case, he clearly is brilliant at solving difficult problems with the tools of physics, astronomy, computer science, and mathematics.
Like Richard Dawkins, Hawking brings in the God question. Assuming what we know is true in science, what does it suggest for the faithful? Well I don't want to spoil the surprise so read the book.
This...more I often wonder how Stephen Hawking writes books since he can't move. Does he dictate the book? Does he use his specialized interface to type it himself? Whatever the case, he clearly is brilliant at solving difficult problems with the tools of physics, astronomy, computer science, and mathematics.
Like Richard Dawkins, Hawking brings in the God question. Assuming what we know is true in science, what does it suggest for the faithful? Well I don't want to spoil the surprise so read the book.
This book is very accessible. Little prior science knowledge is necessary to enjoy it. Everything is explained in clear and simple metaphor, with little to no mathematics. No doubt the number of equations in a science book in inversely proportional to the number of books sold.
So what is this book about really? Well it is about the question of how the universe came to be out of 'nothing'. The question is slightly misleading, and maybe seems like a bit of a quibble. But believe it or not, this question ties into, of all things, String Theory, Multiverse Theory, Gravity, and Quantum Mechanics.
The conclusion? The universe obeys its own laws, and if we have identified those laws correctly, then we can say that the universe did indeed form out of 'nothing'. I put the word nothing in quotes because it is a bit of a misnomer. For instance, when someone says 'well what existed before the universe came into existence', their question implies what happened before time existed. An occurrence is measured in space and time. Without space or time, how can one really say anything at all happened before the Big Bang occurred? You get the picture. I enjoyed the book because I like how they clarify the difference between popular thought and science on what seem to be philosophical questions that have been usurped by physics. Whether physics will answer the questions of the philosophers seems, for now, to be yes, at least if you trust in Hawking. Well why not trust him? What vested interest does he have in convincing you that science has all the answers?
The only downside I noticed in this book, is how it is written in a very simplistic style, as if all the reader ever read was juvenile fiction or the newspaper. But other than that, it is a good take on the latest thoughts on scientific cosmology, and model dependent reality. (less)

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Oct 26, 2010 Elise rated it 5 of 5 stars

After reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos, I felt that I might finally be ready for my first Hawking book. There were a couple of sections that I re-read, in an attempt to make concrete some of the more abstract aspects of m-theory. Despite my rudimentary understanding of quantum physics, I still gleaned a great deal from this book and would recommend it to anyone who is even mildly curious. Those who have a more advanced educati...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

In the first chapter Hawking says that his aim is to provide an answer to "Life, Universe and Everything" and goes on to assure us that his answer will not merely be "42". After just completing the last chapter, I think I still prefer "42".

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Feb 22, 2013 Mohammed Al-Garawi rated it 4 of 5 stars

It took me almost a year to get around reading this book. But after reading how the world's most notorious atheist Anthony Flew changed his mind and reached the conclusion of the need of the existence of a God in his book There is a God,I thought I should see how Stephen Hawking changed his mind too and started believing that there isn't a need of a God and the universe can explain itself by itself. But as much as I was disappointed after reading Flew's, Hawking's disappointed me too. Neither of...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Rob rated it 2 of 5 stars

Previous books by Stephen Hawking in the past have been quite good and explained some extremely complex physics in a matter that the lay person can understand it. Unfortunately, this book falls short on explaining the science to the layperson so I have a hard time recommending it on those grounds.

However, as I read the book I came to think of it less as a science book and more as a philosophical thesis by Mr. Hawking even though it declares that "...philosophy is dead." on page five (page one o...more

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Sep 03, 2010 Daniel Toker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy, science

THE GRAND DESIGN is a remarkably accessible book. It's incredible how Hawking and Mlodinow manage to convey so much complicated information in such a short and even somewhat easy text. THE GRAND DESIGN definitely covers what I was missing from other works on theoretical physics: a discussion about the metaphysics/epistemology of choosing this particular model of reality, and a COMPREHENSIBLE explanation of quantum physics and Feynman's sum-over-histories. Also, it was of course enjoyable to see...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Brent rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

I am no physicist, but I'm not seeing how the authors' description of "spontaneous creation" is any less mystical than some sort of divine creation.

It was as if they were saying, "We know you could easily give our theory a religious interpretation, but if you did, you wouldn't be as smart as us."

It was a good explanation of recent developments in physics, and I'm sure readers that are smarter and more atheistic than myself will be find it's conclusion convincing.

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Sep 10, 2010 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars

Wake me up when you actually define M-Theory.
(Which has yet to be defined)

This was a short read that cost WAY TOO MUCH money.

Any book I can read in a day should cost less than 9 dollars.

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Jan 18, 2013 Jeremy rated it 4 of 5 stars

a bit repeated from his earlier works (history...) but is well written and concise. and can appeal to us w/o a PhD... with many many points to how exact the universe is for our existence and how minute changes would mean no life, so that everything is precisely what it must be. yet with all his knowledge, can still make this statement: "The universe has a design, and so does a book. But unlike the universe, a book does not appear spontaneously from nothing. A book requires a creator"…. he missed...more

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Aug 09, 2011 William Holm added it

Hawking is undoubtedly one of the most influential physicists of our time. In part this is due to his ability to outlive every prediction concerning his illness. However, his contributions to cosmology are of great importance for the field. I once heard him say in a lecture that if anyone could travel to a black hole and measure the so called Hawking radiation he would get the Nobel prize. It feels good that this type of scientist devotes at least some of his time to write books accessible for l...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nov-dec-2010

Whether or not critics bought into Hawking's and Mlodinow's mind-bending exploration of "the grand design" depended to some extent on each reviewer's familiarity with physics. The Spectator thought that the authors should have provided some answers instead of just introducing mathematical concepts with "such reckless abandon," while the New York Times Book Review called the book condescending and, more seriously, M-theory "somewhat disappointing... a patchwork quilt rather than a fine, seamless...more

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Jun 05, 2013 Paul Donahue rated it 4 of 5 stars

If my knowledge of quantum physics before this was 0 out of 100, I'm now, I think, at about a generous 2. So forewarning -- this is likely to be one or more of the following: boring, completely wrong, and the most asinine and laughable goodreads review I have ever written. I can already feel it. GET JUICED. Also, I don't know the difference between a theory and a hypothesis so I'll probably use one or both of them incorrectly. F'ing sue me.

In a very amateur way I'm a big fan of reading about spa...more

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Jun 03, 2013 Salma Haloda added it

I have been a fan of Stephen Hawking since I was 13 years old, I was more into his conferences and speeches than books. I always thought about his conclusions, but what concerned me the most is his assumptions of the absence of God.

Life without a God, without a creator, my instinct refuses such a statement, I wonder If the participation of my Islamic readings and knowledge are the things which created or shaped the so called "instinct".

But it doesnt make sense, there are basics and fundamental...more

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May 24, 2013 Daniel Mower rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm no physicist but I'd say this book for people who want an entry-level foray into the ideas of quantum and general relativity theories and the picture they paint of the universe we live in. It introduces some fascinating concepts with which I had only a passing familiarity before, and left me hungry for more information. As a work of literature, it is accessible and easy to read...perhaps a little too easy to read (like I said, it left me hungry). Some people felt talked down too while readin...more I'm no physicist but I'd say this book for people who want an entry-level foray into the ideas of quantum and general relativity theories and the picture they paint of the universe we live in. It introduces some fascinating concepts with which I had only a passing familiarity before, and left me hungry for more information. As a work of literature, it is accessible and easy to read...perhaps a little too easy to read (like I said, it left me hungry). Some people felt talked down too while reading it, apparently. I did not feel like this was the tone of the book. It feels to me like the author intended to communicate some generally fascinating concepts in a way that would inspire the general readership to educate themselves and learn more about the subject. If there is an agenda that was the only one I picked up on, and it worked on me. I want to learn more, and I'll be reading more of Hawking's work as well as his critics.

I did not feel like "disproving God" was part of Hawking's agenda at all. It just seems like a natural question to deal with when discussing the subject of the origins of the universe. Theists go up in arms whenever a scientist tries to "write God out of the picture". While Hawking does make it clear that he doesn't believe in the necessity of a creator, he does express a certain empathy for the religious mindset and asserts his non-theism in a respectful way, reiterating that a full understanding of the origins of the universe does not exist (M-theory). But people, the book is called "The Grand Design." The very title implies that it will likely deal with the questions of creation and God. I found his handling of the subject to be very tasteful. Ironically, at more than one interval while reading the book, I felt myself wondering if Hawking wasn't arguing FOR the existence of a creator ( perhaps sensing this, he clarifies on more than one occasion that he does not believe a creator is necessary ).

My only critique is that I wished it were longer and dived a little further into some of the concepts.

I recommend this book for people who, like me, want to familiarize themselves more with these fascinating theories on an easy-to-read level (easy to read does not mean easy to understand). Probably not recommended for people who already have a passing understanding of the concepts discussed in this book.(less)

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May 12, 2013 Rick Sand rated it 3 of 5 stars

Stephen Hawking tries to revitalize the argument of "what is reality" using science instead of philosophy.

There is a significant portion of this book dedicated to explaining how the universe could exist without a creator. I don't think it's an effective approach. Hawking, for example, writes about how particles can appear out of nothing, so two particles could have appeared from nothing, collided, and created the big bang. Well, it's backed up enough by data that has been observed to follow tha...more Stephen Hawking tries to revitalize the argument of "what is reality" using science instead of philosophy.

There is a significant portion of this book dedicated to explaining how the universe could exist without a creator. I don't think it's an effective approach. Hawking, for example, writes about how particles can appear out of nothing, so two particles could have appeared from nothing, collided, and created the big bang. Well, it's backed up enough by data that has been observed to follow that logic, but then one must wonder: "Where did the particles come from?" Or where do the laws of nature that allow for this spontaneous creation from nothingness come from? All Hawking does is present answers that can be further questioned, which means it's impossible to rule out a creator. Now I'm not a religious person, so this point of view isn't slanted by religious bias.

Even with the main purpose of the text a misfire, there are some interesting ideas explored in this book, presented in a way a non-scientist (like myself) can mostly understand. This book is not as easy to read as Hawking's "Brief History of Time" and includes a number of chapters that non-scientists may find difficult. Overall, it is reasonably accessible to a larger audience.

The discussion of "what is reality?" is probably the best part of the book, beginning with an easy to contemplate perspective on reality to a goldfish. To a goldfish, the world outside the bowl is curved due to the shape of the bowl. The same mathematics we use would not function in a fishbowl. It basically explores the idea that all reality is a construct of human observation, that reality is relative to the observer.

A number of other science concepts are discussed, particularly in the field of quantum physics.

I rate this book 3/5 stars because it is fairly easy to read with some exceptions, presents some interesting ideas, but completely fails to make any strong argument about whether or not a creator exists, which seems a primary purpose of the text.(less)

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Apr 30, 2013 James Curcio rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I was a philosophy major undergrad, I wrote several essays, and ultimately my senior thesis, on a premise that is here much more elegantly presented by Stephen Hawking as Model-Dependent Realism. He obviously understands the underlying scientific models better than I do or ever will, though his snide comment that "philosophy is dead" is somewhat ironic considering that this book is essentially a piece of populist scientific philosophy. The most pressing issues for philosophy have changed in...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Justin Boden rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: popular-science

The Grand Design is a light and accessible tour of modern theoretical physics, told with wry humour by one of the living giants of modern science. But more than being a summary of what we know of the universe, it attempts to demonstrate why we can meaningfully say that God doesn't have a hand in the creation of the universe. Towards this goal, it spends the penultimate chapter, "The Apparent Miracle", discussing what I think is the strongest argument for Intelligent Design: the relative unlikeli...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Ioannis Savvas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: Φυσική

Ο Stephen Hawking είναι ένας από τους μεγαλύτερους θεωρητικούς φυσικούς και κοσμολόγους. Γνωστός για το βιβλίο του A Brief History of Time, έχει γράψει εκλαϊκευμένη επιστήμη με μεγάλη επιτυχία. Για μένα, εκτός από καταπληκτικός επιστήμονας είναι και ένα μοναδικό παράδειγμα δύναμης και κυριαρχίας του πνεύματος πάνω στο υπόλοιπο σώμα: το πείσμα με το οποίο παλεύει την ALS είναι σπάνιο.

Ο Leonard Mlodinow είναι φυσικός. Τον γνώρισα από το βιβλίο του The Drunkard’s Walk. Μαζί με τον Stephen Hawking έ...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Jaakko J. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy

I opened with rather grand expectations the much talked about book by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow called ‘The Grand Design’, as I really expected to be told how and why our universe was born.
However, I did lay this book down a a bit disappointed two nights later. In reality the book was just a grand tour of the latest theories in cosmology over which I did really already have a working knowledge even before reading this book.

Of course, the big news was that Stephen Hawking has thrown hi...more I opened with rather grand expectations the much talked about book by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow called ‘The Grand Design’, as I really expected to be told how and why our universe was born.
However, I did lay this book down a a bit disappointed two nights later. In reality the book was just a grand tour of the latest theories in cosmology over which I did really already have a working knowledge even before reading this book.

Of course, the big news was that Stephen Hawking has thrown his full weight on the M-theory that does contain the idea of the multiverse. On the other hand, maybe the real big news for the general public was that Stephen Hawking has finally triumphantly and openly dismissed the idea of a creator-god as an unproven and unnecessary hypothesis.
This all is big news for those who are inclined to hero worship and Stephen Hawking has undoubtedly been a hero for many. Because of this fact, this book can of course have a bigger impact on the world than an reader like me can imagine.

I can freely admit that I have always thought that a person with the amount of knowledge and experience like Stephen Hawking has accumulated can never be other than a deist, agnostic or atheist. A person who is well versed in real science over the nature of our universe and cosmology in general just cannot believe in the kinds of gods that religions have on offer. This is true, if he or she wants to remain sane.

Of course, a scientist like Albert Einstein can believe in a pantheistic spirit of the universe or in a spiritual sameness of the whole nature. For some unknown reason, he preferred to call this idea confusingly with a same name that the religions do use for their own "gods".
One must really remember that this Einsteinian spirit of the universe has nothing to do with the angry and worship demanding god-figure that is available in, for example, the Jewish and Christian religions.

However, the book is an excellent read and for a person just dipping his or her toes in these matters it can be a real eye-opener. The writers do explain in a clear and crisp language very many difficult concepts and ideas. They really explain a lot of the nature of the bits and pieces that make up our universe.
I did enjoy the book all the way. However, I was left with the feeling that towards the end of the book the grip of the writers had lessened. The grand ideas presented there are just presented with a little too thin layer of explanations.

After all, I was left after reading this book at the very same point as before reading it. I am greatly enthralled by the M-theory and a keen believer in the idea of multiverses, but even after reading this book I do think that they are still theories, even if very, very, very promising theories. I hope that one day we can also prove them, as they offer a good way to solve many puzzles in the nature of our universe.
Sadly this day is not here, even if Stephen Hawking has apparently become quite convinced on the validity of these theories. Of course, this endorsement gives a major boost to the scientific reputation of these theories, but reputation alone does not prove a theory.

On the other hand, we can also think as my wife. She said just recently when we did discuss the nature of our universe: “I do not need to know how the refrigerator works to use it”. In other words, we can live happy and full lives even with the full knowledge that we do not know for certain why our universe was born. Of course, we can get comfort from the certainty that we most certainly will have better knowledge about this matter in 10 or 100 or 1000 years.
There is the incredible hubris of the creators of these religions who claim to having found all the answers to all of the unanswered or difficult questions that humanity has ever faced.
This book would of course be a valuable source of information just for people quite satisfied with the crude and extremely simplistic answers offered by the religions, but I’m afraid the people who would need most to read this book will never come even near it.(less)

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Dec 14, 2012 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the aetheists' bible, and although brief, it makes some very good points. The flaw, in my very humble opinion, is that it cannot get around the God and infinity question. The author states that what happened before the big bang is irrelevant because we can see no observable consequence of it and also that the universe will self-create based on the laws of nature. My problem with this is that it does not answer for me why? It is an insufficient and overly convenient way of looking at thin...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Rick Flynn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hawking and Mlodinow provide a short (about 180 pages) overview of modern physics with an emphasis on the multiverse theory and culminating in a brief discussion of M theory. For a very accessible account of physics today this book is recommended. There is no mathematics of any kind which I don't think is necessarily a good thing but since the math needed to accurately describe these theories is far beyond the average reader's skills (including mine) it was probably the correct decision. The phi...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Manish Sinha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: astronomy

This book isn't for beginners. They should first read more simpler books before starting with this one.

The first few chapters of the book are relatively easy to understand and need just basic physics to understand. It assumed you remember concepts of physics like matter-wave-duality. It even assumes you have a basic knowledge of our view of universe some two hundred years back like we are in center of universe etc.

The book contains beautiful graphical depictions and photos. It makes the book ea...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another GEEK book. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR MIND! I love this book, what I could understand of it. I am reading it again. Yeah, Hawking. Another I like is The Elegant Universe. OK, I'm a bonafide Geek cardholder.....

Publisher's Summary

THE FIRST MAJOR WORK IN NEARLY A DECADE BY ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT THINKERS—A MARVELOUSLY CONCISE BOOK WITH NEW ANSWERS TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS OF LIFE
When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is...more Another GEEK book. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR MIND! I love this book, what I could understand of it. I am reading it again. Yeah, Hawking. Another I like is The Elegant Universe. OK, I'm a bonafide Geek cardholder.....

Publisher's Summary

THE FIRST MAJOR WORK IN NEARLY A DECADE BY ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT THINKERS—A MARVELOUSLY CONCISE BOOK WITH NEW ANSWERS TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS OF LIFE
When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the nature of reality? Why are the laws of nature so finely tuned as to allow for the existence of beings like ourselves? And, finally, is the apparent “grand design” of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion—or does science offer another explanation?
The most fundamental questions about the origins of the universe and of life itself, once the province of philosophy, now occupy the territory where scientists, philosophers, and theologians meet—if only to disagree. In their new book, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present the most recent scientific thinking about the mysteries of the universe, in nontechnical language marked by both brilliance and simplicity.
In The Grand Design they explain that according to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence or history, but rather that every possible history of the universe exists simultaneously. When applied to the universe as a whole, this idea calls into question the very notion of cause and effect. But the “top-down” approach to cosmology that Hawking and Mlodinow describe would say that the fact that the past takes no definite form means that we create history by observing it, rather than that history creates us. The authors further explain that we ourselves are the product of quantum fluctuations in the very early universe, and show how quantum theory predicts the “multiverse”—the idea that ours is just one of many universes that appeared spontaneously out of nothing, each with different laws of nature.
Along the way Hawking and Mlodinow question the conventional concept of reality, posing a “model-dependent” theory of reality as the best we can hope to find. And they conclude with a riveting assessment of M-theory, an explanation of the laws governing us and our universe that is currently the only viable candidate for a complete “theory of everything.” If confirmed, they write, it will be the unified theory that Einstein was looking for, and the ultimate triumph of human reason.
A succinct, startling, and lavishly illustrated guide to discoveries that are altering our understanding and threatening some of our most cherished belief systems, The Grand Design is a book that will inform—and provoke—like no other.(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Bobbettylou rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Attempts to answer the following questions (from the wrapup, p. 171"
"Why is there something rather than nothing?"
"Why do we exist?"
"Why this particular set of laws and not some other?"

Very readable and non-technical. Wide-ranging philosoophical discussions. For instance (p 162), "What can we make of these coincidences? Luck in the precise form and nature of fundamental physical law is a different kind of luck from the luck we find in environmental factors. It cannot be so easily explained, and h...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, science, owned, physics

So I was in an airport with very little time to spare before my flight, but knowing I had hours of transit yet before I'd be home and I'd just run out of book. The only airport bookstore I found was tiny and the books on the shelvers were all titles I could only imagine reading under extreme duress (or, rather, wouldn't want to be seen reading unless under extreme duress -- I'm such a snob), and I was on my way out of the store, despairing of having anything to entertain myself but my own over-a...more So I was in an airport with very little time to spare before my flight, but knowing I had hours of transit yet before I'd be home and I'd just run out of book. The only airport bookstore I found was tiny and the books on the shelvers were all titles I could only imagine reading under extreme duress (or, rather, wouldn't want to be seen reading unless under extreme duress -- I'm such a snob), and I was on my way out of the store, despairing of having anything to entertain myself but my own over-active and troublesome imagination, but especially no shield against strangers and the rest of the world, when I saw the name Stephen Hawking in big, stark letters and I knew I was saved.

Just for background, without the influence of Stephen Hawking, I might not have a master's degree in physics. Really. I count four main influences (other than my parents) in my choice of a physics degree. The other three were teachers/professors. A boy who was enamored of me once sent me a copy of A Brief History of Time. It was a really good gift. Probably the best gift I ever got from a boyfriend before I met my husband, who buys me bookshelves. (I just checked, because I couldn't remember, and the book wasn't inscribed. That boy was kind of an idiot.)

This is a book of grand ideas on the nature of the universe -- that tries to establish an understanding of the scientific theories on the most basic and fundamental questions underlying the universe. So, you know, big. From grand unified theories to the big bang to string theory, with multi-verses, alternate histories, and the probability of a Chinese pope along the way. It goes about explaining all this with humor, some fabulous illustrations, and Hawking's trademark straight-forwardness, which assures that "all of this is understandable."

That said, I had my usual complaint about this book that I have about all science books written for a lay audience. That is, my understanding is always deepened when I can see the math. It's just how my brain works. Most lay readers, however, are terrified of equations, so it will remain a problem for me. It only really bothered me in the section on Feynman's sum over histories -- something never really covered in any of my classes, but which I'd like to understand better. Time to get myself a textbook?

I would say there is no better place to look for a small, easy-to-understand (but intelligent!) book on the current scientific understanding of the history and structure of the universe, were it not for the recent (maybe) discovery of the Higgs boson -- there's not so much on elementary particles here. Still recommended, anyway. (less)

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About Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England. His parents' house was in north London, but during the second world war Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At eleven Stephen went to St Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford, his father's old college. Ste...more Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England. His parents' house was in north London, but during the second world war Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At eleven Stephen went to St Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford, his father's old college. Stephen wanted to do Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he did Physics instead. After three years and not very much work he was awarded a first class honours degree in Natural Science.

Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there being no-one working in that area in Oxford at the time. His supervisor was Denis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph.D. he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973 Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Reverend Henry Lucas, who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton.

Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory, the other great Scientific development of the first half of the 20th Century. One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear. Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science.

His many publications include The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with G.F.R. Ellis, General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey, with W. Israel, and 300 Years of Gravity, with W. Israel. Stephen Hawking has three popular books published; his best seller A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays and most recently in 2001, The Universe in a Nutshell. There are .pdf and .ps versions of his full publication list.

Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees, was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes and is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Stephen Hawking continues to combine family life (he has three children and one grandchild), and his research into theoretical physics together with an extensive programme of travel and public lectures. (less)

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“The idea of 10 dimensions might sound exciting, but they would cause real problems if you forget where you parked your car.” — 22 people liked it

“The human capacity for guilt is such that people can always find ways to blame themselves” — 12 people liked it

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