A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
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Book Reviews of A Brief History of Time
Book Review: Important but accessible classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is probably the most readable book on those mind-boggling questions of cosmology and theoretical physics that engage many of the top minds today. Hawking explains it all in easily understandable language, almost conversationally, and even then, sometimes the concepts are tough sledding. But overall, this is a readable and enjoyable trip along some of the high roads of contemporary physical thought by one of its greatest thinkers. It had been some years since I'd had the time to read much about astronomy and cosmology, and this little book was a great place to start reading up on the subject again.I usually try to do reviews that aren't simply a rehash of the material in the book, but I would like to mention one thing Hawking discusses since it was so ironic. I was taught, of course, about the Big Bang theory in college (and no, it's not about a hot party at Jimi Hendrix's place back in the 60's), and by that time it was pretty much accepted as an established fact. But Hawking points out that originally he had trouble convincing his fellow physicists that a singularity such as the big bang had actually occurred. His fellow physicists eventually came around to his view of things, but it took a while. However, Hawking discovered later that if certain quantum phenomena were brought into the picture, the necessity for a singularity disappeared--so he could have saved himself the trouble of the original controversy!
Overall, a great classic by a great scientist and teacher.
Book Review: A great theoretical physicist shows that he is also a great writer
Summary: 5 Stars
Universally hailed as the greatest theoretical physicist since Einstein, Dr. Hawking serves as both an intellectual and physical inspiration. His disability - Lou Gehrig's disease- serves to make his every endeavor a slow and tedious affair, and yet his professional output remains very high, both in quality and quantity. This book is no exception.
Written at the level of the layperson, it is clear, concise, and through. As the title suggests, he begins with the origin of the universe and progresses through the theoretical foundation for, and the evidence in favor of, the existence of black holes. Of particular interest is his thermodynamic analysis of black holes, showing that they too, obey the second law of thermodynamics. Combining the ideas of general relatively and quantum mechanics, he was able to show that a black hole is really not totally black; it does leak radiation at a rate inversely proportional to its mass. This debunking of the supposed "final fate of matter" once again shows that the universe "is stranger than we can possibly imagine."
The only sad note occurs in the acknowledgements when Dr. Hawking explains the lack of equations by stating that every equation that appears in a book will cut its sales in half. This is an unfortunate comment on the degree of intellectual sophistication of the reading public.
Published in School Science and Mathematics, reprinted with permission.
Book Review: Hawking's Brief History of Time
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the greatest living physicists, Stephen Hawking is also an amazing popularizer of science, a characteristic of many of the truly Creative Geniuses as opposed to the Follower Geniuses who are so abundant in science. I recommend that the reader consult parallel texts of slightly greater mathematical and physical difficulty to better understand what is going on, if necessary with the help of consultants or tutors. I have already remarked in other reviews for Amazon.com on the difficulty of understanding entropy, for example, which comes in many types not all of which are similar, and its relationship to probability, chaos, and so on is not quite settled at this time. The interested reader could consult Ruelle's book (I forget its date at the moment) for a readable and inspired account of entropy by one of its pioneers. There has also been some recent work indicating that more information can come out of a black hole than Hawking thought. I recommend that readers also read Roger Penrose's two books of the last 20 years, which are also popularized science which compare idealism and materialsm (the latter as represented by computer Ingenious Followers, in my terminology). Penrose and Hawking discovered many of their discoveries together.Book Review: Timeless
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently re read my old copy of this Hawking classic and was amazed at just what a timeless masterpiece Stephen Hawking managed to produce.
The current holder of Oxford's prestigious Lucasian chair (once held by Isaac Newton himself), Stephen Hawking distinguished himself in the early 1970s for helping to nail down proof that the universe arose from a singularity...John Wheeler's aptly dubbed "Big Bang." Additionally, Hawking shocked the physics community by proving that Black Holes radiate (shocking because their gravitational pull is so great it supposedly should prevent such radiation).
A dubious blessing of Hawkings status as a Lou Gehrig's Disease sufferer is that he has been forced to use a great deal of forethought in constructing his sentences...a quality obviously put to great use in this book which in oracular like fashion litterally explains the currrently understood mysteries of the universe.
It is also proper that in describing the state of cosmology -- from the Big Bang singularity at one of time to Black Hole singularities at the other end of time -- Hawking takes us to territory that from the confines of his wheelchair he has done so much to pioneer.
Still a highly recommended read!
Book Review: Many Different Angles
Summary: 5 Stars
Most people know that Hawking is a brilliant physicist, but after reading this book, one develops a respect for his other talents as well. Most noticeable is Stephen Hawking's ability to make very complicated ideas seem quite clear through good explanations, clear comparisons to real life events, and a soft humor. The organization of chapers mostly follows a chronological order, which gives a sense of history from Aristotle to present day, yet also establishes concepts in an order that builds on itself. One also realizes that A Brief History of Time was written by a writer, not a scientist who happened to put ideas to paper. This makes a big difference in the enjoyment of a book, since good information in a dry, dull form can be difficult to read (remember trying to keep your eyes open while reading a dull textbook in a subject of interest?). On the other hand, interesting information presented in an interesting manner make A Brief History of Time as much of a 'page-turner' as physics can be. In summary, a fountain of information from galaxies and black holes to quantum mechanics presented in such a way that is not only as easy to understand as it can be, but is an enjoyable experience to read.