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Stephen Hawking: His Science in a Nutshell
A science writer explains the significance of Stephen Hawking's work--in terms all of us can understand.
Stephen Hawking was one of the most important astrophysicists of the last fifty years. After the publication of A Brief History of Time, he became an international celebrity. Though the book sold in the millions, few readers really grasped the significance of his groundbreaking work. Now popular Austrian science blogger Florian Freistetter, himself an astronomer, makes Hawking's contributions accessible to everyday readers in this concise, very readable book.
By focusing on the essentials, Freistetter deftly and entertainingly makes Hawking's complex theoretical accomplishments understandable. Avoiding technicalities and jargon, he elucidates the great scientist's fascinating work on black holes, gravitational waves, the big bang, and singularities. Concluding with an appreciation of Hawking as a science communicator and popularizer, Freistetter conveys the importance of Hawking's scientific research in terms that nonspecialists can follow.
Stephen Hawking was one of the most important astrophysicists of the last fifty years. After the publication of A Brief History of Time, he became an international celebrity. Though the book sold in the millions, few readers really grasped the significance of his groundbreaking work. Now popular Austrian science blogger Florian Freistetter, himself an astronomer, makes Hawking's contributions accessible to everyday readers in this concise, very readable book.
By focusing on the essentials, Freistetter deftly and entertainingly makes Hawking's complex theoretical accomplishments understandable. Avoiding technicalities and jargon, he elucidates the great scientist's fascinating work on black holes, gravitational waves, the big bang, and singularities. Concluding with an appreciation of Hawking as a science communicator and popularizer, Freistetter conveys the importance of Hawking's scientific research in terms that nonspecialists can follow.
96 pages, Hardcover
Published January 13, 2020
7 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Florian Freistetter
41 books52 followersFlorian Freistetter (* 28. Juli 1977 in Krems an der Donau) ist ein österreichischer Astronom, Blogger, Buchautor und Podcaster.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 12, 2021
I wish it was a little more interesting to read. I feel like Hawking was less present as he should have been. Nevertheless, it's a short, simple, easy read.
January 31, 2020
Q:
My lack of success in math at school made no difference—I knew that what my teacher taught me (in a rather poor and inadequate manner, as I now realize) was not what really mattered. In the math lessons, we only learned about calculating, which was boring. As a result, I didn’t really make much of an effort. What I later learned during my astronomy studies at university, however, was not school mathematics—it was the language in which nature reveals itself to us; the language through which the mysteries of the universe can be understood; the language which Stephen Hawking used when he set out in search of the answers to all the big questions. (c)
Q:
For the whole of his scientific career, he didn’t merely strive to find answers to humanity’s big
questions—above all, he also spoke about his work in such a way that as many people as possible could share in his findings. It makes little difference that the (mathematical) details of his research can scarcely be presented in an easy-to-follow manner and are barely comprehensible even after years of study. The physics genius with his futuristic wheelchair and penetrating, computerized
voice knew better than anyone how to pass on the joy, fascination, and satisfaction that come from the study of the universe. (c)
My lack of success in math at school made no difference—I knew that what my teacher taught me (in a rather poor and inadequate manner, as I now realize) was not what really mattered. In the math lessons, we only learned about calculating, which was boring. As a result, I didn’t really make much of an effort. What I later learned during my astronomy studies at university, however, was not school mathematics—it was the language in which nature reveals itself to us; the language through which the mysteries of the universe can be understood; the language which Stephen Hawking used when he set out in search of the answers to all the big questions. (c)
Q:
For the whole of his scientific career, he didn’t merely strive to find answers to humanity’s big
questions—above all, he also spoke about his work in such a way that as many people as possible could share in his findings. It makes little difference that the (mathematical) details of his research can scarcely be presented in an easy-to-follow manner and are barely comprehensible even after years of study. The physics genius with his futuristic wheelchair and penetrating, computerized
voice knew better than anyone how to pass on the joy, fascination, and satisfaction that come from the study of the universe. (c)
November 24, 2018
Auch wenn es sehr kurz und knapp gehalten ist, hat es mir doch sehr geholfen, Hawking besser zu verstehen.
February 29, 2020
A breezy introduction to Hawking's scientific research and ideas, which can be easily read in a couple of hours. This book is not biographical, it does not contain information about Hawking's life. Plenty of books accomplish that. This book is written by a scientific journalist who specializes in making complex ideas easier to understand, and the book largely succeeds on that front. The book covers only a few select ideas from Hawking's work, only the most important ideas pertaining to radiation, black holes, gravitational waves, and the big bang. The chapters are short and stick largely to the main idea regarding Hawking's thoughts on these items. I can say, even with over-simplified language, there were elements of the explanations I did not fully grasp, but I definitely learned a lot and I can say I have a much firmer grasp on the ideas with which Hawking was primarily concerned. This is a book that accomplishes its purpose.
dnf
March 27, 2025DNF.
I thought this book would help explain Hawking's science in a way that's simple and easier to understand. It's easy to read and the basics I do understand but the majority went way over my head. It was also dry and a bit boring had expected a little bit more about Hawking himself.
I thought this book would help explain Hawking's science in a way that's simple and easier to understand. It's easy to read and the basics I do understand but the majority went way over my head. It was also dry and a bit boring had expected a little bit more about Hawking himself.
February 22, 2020
Kurz und kurzweilig, tolle Heranführung, aber eben doch kurz...
February 19, 2023
70 short pages, nice afternoon read. My husband and I both knocked it out in one day. Really enjoyable read that transports you to the cosmos and helps you almost understand why Hawking is so brilliant and what his work means. I almost understand imaginary numbers, event horizon and the Big Bang theory. Just fun to think about and ponder.
August 28, 2019
Dies war eine schöne Gelegenheit mehr über Hawkings Karriere und wissenschaftliche Arbeit zu lernen. Besonders für die Erklärung von Hawkings Strahlung bin ich sehr dankbar, denn sie hab ich nie früher in meinen Lesungen getroffen.
Ich finde die Authors Beurteilung gegen Hawking als "großartiger Wissenschaftler aber nicht auf dem gleichen Niveau als Einstein oder Newton" zu streng, weil auch die Herausforderungen von der modernen Physik viel schwieriger sind als damals. Genie mag eine wichtige Anforderung sein um die Wissenschaft zu revolutionieren, aber man muss auch zur richtigen Zeit kommen, und mit den richtigen Instrumente ausgerüstet sein.
Ich finde die Authors Beurteilung gegen Hawking als "großartiger Wissenschaftler aber nicht auf dem gleichen Niveau als Einstein oder Newton" zu streng, weil auch die Herausforderungen von der modernen Physik viel schwieriger sind als damals. Genie mag eine wichtige Anforderung sein um die Wissenschaft zu revolutionieren, aber man muss auch zur richtigen Zeit kommen, und mit den richtigen Instrumente ausgerüstet sein.
November 12, 2018
Recht nett zu lesen. Völlig klar, dass man auf nur 100 Seiten Hawkings Vermächtnis nur sehr oberflächlich anreißen kann. Vermutlich wäre ein beliebig langes Buch nicht lang genug, um die meisten Menschen (mich eingeschlossen) auch nur erahnen zu lassen, was hinter der Hawking-Strahlung oder der euklidischen Raumzeit wirklich steckt.
Florian Freistetters dünnes Büchlein ist ein leicht verdaulicher Einstieg in Hawkings Theorien. Wer beim Lesen Appetit auf mehr bekommt, findet am Ende des Buches zahlreiche, vom Autor kurz umschriebene Lektürehinweise.
Florian Freistetters dünnes Büchlein ist ein leicht verdaulicher Einstieg in Hawkings Theorien. Wer beim Lesen Appetit auf mehr bekommt, findet am Ende des Buches zahlreiche, vom Autor kurz umschriebene Lektürehinweise.
June 13, 2022
This book provides a very easy to understand summary of Hawking’s science.
You can finish it in one night.
Singularity, Event Horizon, Gravitational Waves, Hawking’s Radiation, Information Paradox to Euclidean Space-Time.
It sparks my interests to pick up Hawking’s last book - Brief Answers to the Big Questions.
You can finish it in one night.
Singularity, Event Horizon, Gravitational Waves, Hawking’s Radiation, Information Paradox to Euclidean Space-Time.
It sparks my interests to pick up Hawking’s last book - Brief Answers to the Big Questions.
August 16, 2021
Hawking does a fantastic job answering some heavy questions about the universe in qualitative terms. I would recommend this to anyone who has at least some fundamental physics knowledge otherwise the terminology and concepts discussed maybe difficult to grasp.
May 17, 2020
Interesting, quick read. I now understand a little more about the Big Bang and black holes. I also learned that Hawking appeared in a Monty Python sketch! I need to find that now.
November 12, 2020
Way above my helmet
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September 6, 2022 “But it is a source of great joy to me that Stephen Hawking’s thoughts reached me at the right time and that I was able to get to know his cosmos.”
January 1, 2020
One of the best books read in 2019. Love the way he has simplified physics for everyone. A great read and recommend for anyone who wants to know how the laws of our universe work and still lot of explore and learn.
February 17, 2020
Neat presentation of Hawking's key achievements and pursuits in theoretical physics, including Big Bang, Gravitational Waves, Hawking Radiation, Event Horizon and Singularities.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews