Brief Answers to the Big Questions: Mid-Reading Discussion

[Winter, Group Reads]

This is where we will discuss the book after we start reading it in November.

Please remember to mark spoilers by using spoiler tags: [spoiler]...[/spoiler], but replace [ by < and ] by >

[Ilona]

Last night I read the foreword by Eddie Remayne, which was lovely, and the introduction by Kip Thorne about Hawking's (and his own) research, which was a bit daunting. I followed a few courses on thermodynamics and quantum physics in uni, so I recognized the words, but I don't understand gravitational waves at all, haha.
Hopefully, the rest of the book is not too complicated.

[Sheila]

He does seem to be explaining things to be mostly understandable to my non scientific mind. I’m still just taking it in smallish doses.

[TerryJane, Challenges]

I'm sorry to say that much of this book went over my head, so I can't really comment on the science.

I listened to the audiobook, primarily narrated by British actor Ben Whishaw. At the end of each chapter, there is a recording of an original Q&A, with Hawking's answers delivered via speech synthesizer -- with an American accent.

I am reminded that having heard this as Hawking's voice all my life, in a time when there were no information searches at my fingertips, I assumed this brilliant man was American. Only in more recent decades did I learn of my error. Oops!

[Ilona]

TerryJane wrote: "I listened to the audiobook, primarily narrated by British actor Ben Whishaw. At the end of each chapter, there is a recording of an original Q&A, with Hawking's answers delivered via speech synthesizer -- with an American accent."

I was wondering what the last part of each chapter was in the ebook! Makes a lot more sense as audio.

[Meg]

I also thought he was American until recently, TerryJane!

[Ilona]

I just finished chapter 3, it's been a slow read so far. Chapter 1 & 2 where meh for me, apart from not understanding all of it, Hawking repeatedly voices how his theories are better than those of his colleagues, which got a bit annoying.
I liked that Chapter 3, finally some biology!

[Sheila]

Halfway through and it’s getting to be struggle….

[Beth]

Couldn’t get through Kip Thorne’s intro.

I’ve finished chapter 1. A bit slow going.

I did laugh when a discovery was cited as named for Hawking (Hawking radiation, maybe others?)

Hawking voiced a twisted version of himself in a Futurama episode and takes credit multiple times for things.
— Fry: So then my chair tilted back and I almost fell into this freezer thingy.

Hawking: I call it a "Hawking Chamber".

— Nichols: Wait. I'm getting an idea. What if Fry was supposed to get frozen?

Hawking: Yes. Shove him in the tube. It was my idea.

— Nichols: It's about that rip in space-time that you saw.

Hawking: I call it a "Hawking Hole".

— https://comb.io/MHA1zC (Fry: Hey, Stephen Hawking. Aren't you that physicist that invented gravity? Hawking: Sure, why not?)

He was also on The Simpsons multiple times. Apparently he had quite the sense of humor. 😂

[Ilona]

Sheila wrote: "Halfway through and it’s getting to be struggle…."

I found that the second half of the book was easier to read that the first half.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I started this one today and got through the Introduction. It does require your attention - playing it in the background while you do other stuff doesn't seem to work with this book.

[Ciara]

Stephen Hawking really liked Elon Musk, huh? That's an exhausting bit of name-dropping that really didn't age well.