A Briefer History of Time: Stephen Hawking

I left school a few weeks before my 16th birthday, with no qualifications. I have always been a reader though and made my way to university in my 30s. I have never studied physics though but of course I am interested in the how and why of existence, partly because of my religious beliefs. This book is wonderful, it opens up questions that have been partially answered and discovered more to be asked. I would love to see what resolutions will come on the future, but we need another Stephen Hawking to move that forward, but, more importantly, to keep the ordinary people engaged and excited.

As its name suggests, this is a shorter, and less technical, version of the great scientist's most famous work, which I have read to mark his recent passing. It covers in fairly crisp form the main historical developments in our understanding of the history of the universe, and the nature of time and space, and sub-atomic physics. In places, it still got a bit too technical for a lay reader like me, but for the most part offered a fairly easily digestible summary of some mind-blowing theories and chains of reasoning. This is mind-expanding stuff, that puts our concerns on planet Earth into a unique perspective. The diagrams I thought were not very good, though.

I do have a grasp of all things space but this book is blowing my mind. I tried reading the original but this one is easier to read. Highly recommend if you are into physics on a rudimentary level.

The intellect and the presentation of such complex of issues beyond much of normal understanding is breathtaking. Yes, of course there are aspects which challenge your own IQ to be able to follow. But this is a book to read. Don't approach it like a thriller where you can skim along and follow the twists and turns of the plot relatively easily, a page turner. There are parts of this book where you can get caught up in the sheer grandeur of the discoveries and propositions. You read quicker. But take time to absorb the concepts and keep it as a book to return to over time, and marvel at the minds, of those who wrote it and those whose earlier work, often with primitive tools, laid the foundation for the discoveries it lays before you. Heck! I even understand the significance of E=Mc2 and how nothing can go faster than light - me!

Hawking & Mlodinow's attempt at making complex chemistry, cosmology and quantum physics, slightly more approachable to the lay person with little background in the subjects, is a complete educational success. Easier to digest than its predecessor, but certainly not basic. You do not have to be versed in the science to gain from this book, although if your coming from a Hollywood background in time travel, or quantum physics you might find it a bit of a challenge, that said, a little perseverance and possibly more than the occasional recourse to the internet (or it was in my case) will help you get a decent grip on most of the concepts and a general handle on the science. Avoiding the complicated maths Hawking & Mlodinow are able to feed into the concepts of big bang, particle theory, gravity, light, black holes and the expanding universe, and completely succeed in educating. If you want to get a handle on the major concepts of our present understanding of the universe this is a place to start. Not for the faint hearted but not beyond comprehension either .... Recommend this for anyone who wants to learn and follow the cosmic adventure.

This book was, for me, fairly interesting but ultimately disappointing. Though I respect the sciences and the important work of physicists, I cannot help but feel that this attempt to explain this work to the 'average reader' has been slightly misjudged. That is not to say that, for the most part, the book or its explanations are unhelpful or uninteresting, but that they could be more helpful and interesting with a little more consideration. For instance, I found the book's prose not only to be a somewhat inelegant, but, with occasional jumps and half-finished metaphors and allusions, to tend to get in the way of its explanations. Similarly, and not withstanding the title, those explanations themselves sometimes felt rushed and half-formed - the discussion of string theory felt particularly squashed and unintegrated. Most specifically, I found the book's regular mention of 'God' (as an 'He'), and the misjudged and casually sexist visual explanation of gravitational attraction outright annoying. Perhaps I am not the intended audience, perhaps my initial knowledge was a little further advanced than that of the ideal reader (though, only by a vague interest in sciences as informed by the general media and the occasional popular science magazine or web search); certainly, I am looking for a more literary and elegantly postulated discussion and explanation of ideas. As such, I find it difficult to judge this book. I think it is safe to say that I do understand, at least in broad terms, a fraction more of the book's subjects than I did at the outset, but I think that the following is revealing: what I found most interesting was the discussion not of the theories and their implications, but of the historical progression from one theory to the next, and learning that sometimes an older theory might be used in calculations for the sake of simplicity. So. Mixed feelings.

I liked the writing style. For the first time i was able to grasp the full range of information given. I would commend this to all.

The book really does go for a briefer summary of Hawking's views and explanations. If you struggled with a Brief History of Time you should find this easier to understand, having read them in chronological order, I have found myself remembering parts of the previous edition. I am an A Level Student, second year, consistently getting high grades in Maths, Physics and Chemistry. This is a big factor in my understanding of either book, so I recommend a better than average understanding of at least physics if you are hoping to read this book. Though do not let this halt you, you have to start somewhere! This book is published to the highest standard I've seen for a scientific book, it includes useful pictures with a glossy finish. The book is something of a 'show-off' item. If you read this you will learn a detailed history of physics and you will realise why Einstein is famous and understand the equation that comes with his name. You will also be given a great description of the development of the physics from Aristotle to Newton. A definite buy! I would also recommend: - Simon Singh (Fermat's Last Theorem) - Richard Feynman (Six Easy Pieces, Six Not-so-easy Pieces, Character of Physical Law, QED, The Meaning of it all) - Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time, The Grand Design) - Brian Cox (Everything that can happen does happen, Why does E=mc^2)