A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
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Book Reviews of A Brief History of Time
Book Review: How does each electron pass through two slits at the same time? It must move discontinuously...
Summary: 5 Stars
It is a pity that Hawking only used several pages to explain the mysterious quantum world. Especially, his explanation of Feynman's path integral approach was misleading. The paths in Feynman's approach are not classical continuous paths at all, as Hawking depicted in his book. They are also quantum states.
However, Hawking's claim that each single electron must pass through two slits at the same time is right. But how does a single electron pass through two slits at the same time? It is well known that Hawking preferred many worlds theory, but he didn't refer to it in the book. In fact, it seems evident that the single electron can only pass through the two slits at the same time in a discontinuous way. Therefore, its motion must be not continuous but discontinuous. Such discontinuous motion is imaginable and comprehensible. It has actually been lucidly expounded in a recent book Quantum Motion - Unveiling the Mysterious Quantum World. A more popular introduction can be found at [..]
Once we realize that motion is discontinuous and random in reality, we may finally understand the mysterious quantum world, where an electron can pass through two slits at the same time.
Book Review: a brief classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Many readable introductions to the concepts and issues of modern physical theory have been offered over the last few decades. I have enjoyed many of them. With the publication of The Grand Design by Hawking and Mlodinow, I decided to revisit Hawking's A Brief History of Time.
After two decades, this remains the most succinct, parsimonious and carefully written introduction for the non-specialist that I have read. He passes over bits ( a whole Newtonian law of motion) for brevity and clarity, and pads it out for relevance, all appropriately. For example, introducing quantum theory through black body radiation and the uncertainty principle is a common approach, but Hawking is lucid and direct, inspiring a "wow, that was easy" moment. Many books roll out phenomena and theories, duality, tunnelling, entanglement etc, and while these are excellent for learning about elements of quantum theory, a clear take-home message is usually elusive. Rolling this, black whole theory, anthropic principles, no boundary condition, string theory and the unification of physics all together is a singular achievement for this classic. What an inspiration to tackle the maths and learn more.
Book Review: Essential Reading For The Curious Joe
Summary: 5 Stars
I would recommend this as essential reading for the average person who is interested in such things as Physics, the history and eventual fate of the universe, and Man's place in it, whether or not they have a scientific background. I myself have a basic understanding of the foundation of the sciences, but am by no stretch of the imagination an expert in any field, and I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Questsions of such heavy implications that they are downright dizzying, i.e., Does the Universe have a beginning? If so, what happened before that? Does it have an end? How do we know?, etc., are explained in an enlightening but generally non-technical way. I think this book can be useful for those already enlightened in such matters, an those who are not. Most of the book I found to be very readable and I feel that I have learned something from it. There were a few parts, indeed, that I can't claim to have understood fully, but many things (such as the theory of relativity, which I have looked up in many sources before) I now have a grasp on because of this book. I think just about anyone can learn from this book. It takes not only a great physicist, but a great WRITER to pull that off.Book Review: Updated Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
A Brief History of Time has had a tremendous impact on scientific thought since its initial publication in 1988. The Big Bang and Black Holes have become parts of our common vocabulary. Why review this book now? Perhaps some readers are not aware of a special Commemorative Edition of this book that was issued as an "Updated Edition" on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of its initial publication. In the "Acknowledgements" at the beginning of the book, Hawking gives great credit to his editors and friends who have helped him improve the book "considerably" in revising the text. In this Edition, Hawking states "I have taken the opportunity to update the book and include new theoretical and observational results obtained since the book was first published. I have included a new chapter on wormholes and time travel. I also describe the progress that has been made recently in finding dualities or correspondences between apparently different theories of physics." A discussion of the significance of cosmic microwave background and its fluctuations is included. These are great reasons to reread this classic work, which has to be one of the finest in the history of science.Book Review: A Brief History of Time - Educational and Informative
Summary: 5 Stars
When I started to read Stphen Hawking's "A Brief Hisotry of Time", I didn't expect to get much out of it. My past experience with technical books has not been very encouraging. However, as I finished the first chapter, I was surprised to realize that I understood every single word and concept presented by Mr. Hawking. As I got deeper into the book, Mr. Hawking's fanscinating writing amazed me. I never expected a brilliant scientist can write brilliantly as well. Not only I was deeply amazed by the information and knowledge brought forth by the book, I was also taken by Mr. Hawking's good natured humor and easy use of common language throughout the book. He frequently used simple examples of daily experiences to explain complex physical and astronomical concepts, which made the reading much easier and more fun.
If you are curious about the origin and fate of our universe, time travel, and the basic laws governing the behavior of our existence, I strongly recommend this book. Anyone with high school physics would thoroughly enjoy this book. Stephen Hawking is indeed a brilliant scientist, and writer.
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