A Brief History of Time in The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Apr 29, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it really liked it

Shelves: philosophy, non-fiction, science, ultimate-reading-list

A friend of mine loves this book and has read it more than once. Reassuring, since like me, she doesn't hold a doctorate in the sciences! In fact, as someone who used to do a lot of science reading--I read many a astronomy book by Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan once upon a time--most of the concepts here were very familiar. Well, until we reached the very weird land of quantum mechanics and string theory and imaginary numbers, where I admit I was pretty lost.

Hawking gives the history of the scienc A friend of mine loves this book and has read it more than once. Reassuring, since like me, she doesn't hold a doctorate in the sciences! In fact, as someone who used to do a lot of science reading--I read many a astronomy book by Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan once upon a time--most of the concepts here were very familiar. Well, until we reached the very weird land of quantum mechanics and string theory and imaginary numbers, where I admit I was pretty lost.

Hawking gives the history of the science surrounding the ultimate questions of the universe starting from the arguments of Aristotle in 340 B.C. for a round earth to the very strange land of today's physics of quantum mechanics with its different colored quarks and antimatter on the micro level and the strange interstellar beasties of relativistic physics of dark matter, black holes, quasars, and neutron stars and the very weird string theory that might unite both. I do think his explanations are lucid and elegant. I can't remember a better description of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity by explaining its historic relationship to Newton and how the theory tried to answer questions about the relationship between space and time. And Hawking manages to explain some sophisticated concepts without loading the book with jargon or equations. Hawking was also great at explaining how the theory of Relativity fits--or rather doesn't fit--with Quantum Mechanics and the search for a theory that could unify them both. I'm not saying I understood everything in the book. The concepts are counter-intuitive and hard to digest, and there's only so far you can go in explaining difficult subjects in simple terms to people lacking the background. But I understood it better, and certainly got the implications Hawking spelled out.

About the only stylistic quirk I had an issue with was Hawkings refusal to use the B-word. (A Briticism?). I find it a lot easier to wrap my mind around ten billion than "ten thousand million." The edition I read was written in 1996, updated from the first edition from 1988 which was a enormous bestseller. In the Foreword to that revised edition, Hawking wrote he thought that "within a few years we should know whether we can believe that we live in a universe that is completely self-contained and without beginning or end." Hawking definitely leaves me wanting to read more to find out the verdict. Worth reading, although not always easy to grasp. ...more

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Nov 09, 2014 Cee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

A long, long time ago, before I became a humanities student at university, I loved science. I adored physics in high school. Gravity, electromagnetic fields, laws of warmth - I devoured all subjects and was well-versed in the language of equations. I joined an extra-curricular science class, and visited the hadron collider in CERN. But physics disappeared from my life when I choose to pursue my dream of entering the literary field.

A Brief History of Time reminds me of why I frigging love physics ...more

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Feb 22, 2015 John Parker rated it liked it · review of another edition

I presume it was well written. Certainly well narrated. A little mind boggling for me, but that's the subject matter, not the material. ...more

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Oct 09, 2010 Somdutta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The possible theories which explain the origin and fate of the universe are described in this book. However, it is also suggested that on account of the unpredictability of the events of the universe, these theories may or may not hold good, until verifiable occurrences support these theories. There is also a possibility that on account of the unpredictability of the universe, new theories may be required to develop to explain the happenings in the universe. It is an interesting read for anyone ...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Martha rated it it was amazing

Note to self: Don't pick up any Stephen Hawkings books for "a bit of light reading"! I'm loving the book so far but it's slow goings. I just want to understand everything he's talking about and with no physics in my background it isn't as easy as I thought. The learning is great and the more I read the more I feel I understand about the universe around us. So far so great! ...more

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