A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

Sheesh, thats fast! So, whats the title mean? Well I assume you have not read A Brief History of Time by Prof. Steven W. Hawking then?! If you had have done [and actually understood it!] then you'd know what 0.000000003335640952 seconds stands for! Well let me enlighten you a little [no pun intended!] 0.000000003335640952 seconds is actually the time it takes for light to travel a distance of only 1 metre. As i'm sure everyone will know, Prof. Steven Hawking is bound to a wheelchair suffering from motor neurone disease. However this has never stopped him being one of Britains leading scientists. He has 12 honorary degree's and was awarded ...  Read the complete review

A Brief History of Time is, of course, written by Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the most eminent scientists of our age. Hawking has been at the forefront of scientific discovery for decades and has contributed significantly to progress in cosmology (he even has a type of radiation named after him; Hawking radiation). The book was Professor Hawking's first attempt at a 'popular' science volume, after publishing many scientific papers over the years. The book's aim is to bring the scientists' understanding of the origins of the universe, to a popular audience. This was not a small undertaking, and one unlikely to be successful. On the surface, ...  Read the complete review

Science is great. I love science, me. I don’t know why this is, but I’ve always been fascinated with puzzles and things that are science based. I remember one day, in my final year in primary school, a friend and myself were handed an aerial photograph of Belfast, and asked to “suggest” what time of day the photograph was taken. A few weeks later, we were given a small toy tank (the type that fired those red missile thingies) and asked to show what difference barrel elevation had to do with range. While the first problem isn’t necessarily a science-based thing, but rather a combination of local knowledge and logical thinking, these ...  Read the complete review

There are likely to be two reactions on the face of a layman when they are told that they really SHOULD read 'A Brief History Of Time.' The first is stupefied horror that they could even hope to understand such a complex subject by such an eminent scientific figure. Why you might as well suggest they develop their OWN theory of cosmic creation! The other is likely to be a snort of derision for anyone presuming they could write a history of the whole of time in what is, let us be honest, a relatively slim volume. Both opinions are really all so much tommyrot. This book is an absolute gem. The subject matter is, despite the title, not so much a ...  Read the complete review

This book is compelling reading for anyone with a passing interest in physics. Hawking has done the world a tremendous service by bringing the physics of the late twentieth century to a broad audience. For that alone he deserves enormous recognition. Re-reading the book, ten years after publication, is a worthwhile effort. He has added material, with a fuller (and more up to date) discussion of string theory and wormholes in space. In fact Hawking never misses an opportunity to refer to Star Trek - though this is no bad thing. Still, the book does miss the mark in a few ways. It is tremendously ambitious in scope, attempting as it does to encompass all ...  Read the complete review