A Briefer History of Time | 
 enlarge | Authors: Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
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Rating:  62 reviews
Sales Rank: 2257
Media: Paperback
Pages: 176
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6
ISBN: 0553385461
Dewey Decimal Number: 523.1
EAN: 9780553385465
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
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Product Description
Stephen Hawking’s worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its author’s engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he addresses is another: the nature of space and time, the role of God in creation, the history and future of the universe. But it is also true that in the years since its publication, readers have repeatedly told Professor Hawking of their great difficulty in understanding some of the book’s most important concepts.
This is the origin of and the reason for A Briefer History of Time: its author’s wish to make its content more accessible to readers—as well as to bring it up-to-date with the latest scientific observations and findings.
Although this book is literally somewhat “briefer,” it actually expands on the great subjects of the original. Purely technical concepts, such as the mathematics of chaotic boundary conditions, are gone. Conversely, subjects of wide interest that were difficult to follow because they were interspersed throughout the book have now been given entire chapters of their own, including relativity, curved space, and quantum theory.
This reorganization has allowed the authors to expand areas of special interest and recent progress, from the latest developments in string theory to exciting developments in the search for a complete unified theory of all the forces of physics. Like prior editions of the book—but even more so—A Briefer History of Time will guide nonscientists everywhere in the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 57 more reviews...
 Interesting and enlightening December 15, 2005
Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA)
67 out of 72 found this review helpful
I clearly remember when Stephen Hawking's first book, A Brief History of Time, came out in 1988. It was a great book that explained modern scientific cosmology in a way that I could really understand. That book became a worldwide bestseller, and with good reason! I still have my copy to this day.
And now, some seventeen years later, Stephen Hawking is back with this new book. A Briefer History of Time brings the reader up to date, and makes the narrative even easier to understand.
Even though I am a non-science-type guy, I found this book understandable. But even more so, I found it to be a very enjoyable read! I loved the way that the authors unfold scientific cosmology through the use of a historical narrative, explaining how man's knowledge of the universe expanded and changed, until we reach the modern theories. I found this book to be both interesting and enlightening, and expect it to do as well as the original.
If there is one book that you simply *must* pick up and read this year, it is A Briefer History of Time. Get it today!
Physics is fun, well at least it used to be. January 30, 2006
Robert Lipsitz (Washington D.C.)
17 out of 20 found this review helpful
I listened to the audio version which is well produced and well read.
Book vs. CD the material is the same (the audio version has text illustrations available on the last disk).
Physics used to be a science that mere mortals such as you and I, could aspire too. Certainly you needed mathematical skill, but with hard work and a creative mind you could understand and study the physical world around you. This was the case until early in the 20th century when Relativity and Quantum theories arose. At this point the mathematics involved truly become difficult and esoteric to the point were only a relative handful of people proficient in such mathematics could understand and develop further theories. Additionally, as our knowledge expanded, sub-specialization in physics created a further segregation of the material where even only a smaller few could understood the nuance and intricacies of their specific field.
In this milieu of high math and super specialization what is the curious lay person to do?
Read Stephen Hawking!
In his casual manner and efficient eloquent prose, he presents the current status of physics and cosmology such that you and I can actually understand the principles and theories. I will never understand the derivation of the theories but as Hawking explains I don't need to, through this book we do not become PhD students, simply guests at his dinner table discussing what he is thinking. What great minds like Hawking are thinking is infinitely more interesting than most other topics which come up at the average dinner table.
Somehow just understanding what these giants are working on makes me comfortable in my relative ignorance, while I can never understand how they know, I can understand what they know.
When I read the A Brief History of Time in 1988 I felt the same way and must admit at that time worried that Dr. Hawking would not live much longer due to the severity of his illness. It is very comforting that he and his mind and his desire to include and share with us his intimate yet wonderful knowledge of physics. He is among the select few that have the skill to educate the masses in science. Hawking, Sagan and Feynman benefit mankind not only with their science but with their dedication to teaching humanity.
The brief bios on Einstein, Galileo and Newton were an unexpected bonus.
This book really makes you think October 20, 2005
C. Montgomery Burns (Jamaica Plain, MA, USA)
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
This book takes on a nearly impossible task: explaining some of the most challenging questions facing theoretical physics--not to mention philosophers and theologians--today in a manner that everyone can understand. I'll admit that as a "non-science" type, some of this book went over my head. But it wasn't due to a lack of effort by the authors to keep things clear. In fact, the concepts that I found most difficult to follow were the most recent, least developed theories
What I found most interesting about this book is that it leaves you thinking about how small a part of this universe we are and how improbable our existence is. This book inspires many more questions about our universe than it tries to answer. This is a great book to read and discuss with others as a result.
A Science Classic Now made Accessible to Everyone!! December 9, 2005
Stephen Pletko (London, Ontario, Canada)
22 out of 26 found this review helpful
+++++
"In this book are lucid revelations on the frontiers of physics, astronomy, cosmology [the study of the universe as a whole], and courage [Dr. Stephen Hawking has ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neuron disease contracted when he was young and now is wheelchair bound]. This is also a book about God...or perhaps about the absence of God. The word God fills these pages. Hawking embarks on a quest to answer Einstein's famous question about whether God had any choice in creating the universe. Hawking is attempting, as he explicitly states, to understand the mind of God. And this makes all the more unexpected the conclusion of the effort, at least so far: a universe with no edge in space, no beginning or end in time, and nothing for a Creator to do."
These are the words in the last paragraph of the introduction to Hawking's very first or original book "A Brief History of Time" (1988). These words were written by the late, great Dr. Carl Sagan. (In his introduction, Sagan calls Hawking a "legend.")
Nothing has changed with this new book with respect to what Sagan says above. But as a reader of Hawking's first book, I did notice welcome changes.
First, this new book is more concise. This does not mean this book is drastically shorter than the original. This new book is about twenty pages less than the original. Also this new book contains one more chapter than the original! What this book does is cut out extraneous technical detail from the original and focuses only on the most important concepts but still maintains the essence of the original. Thus, the book seems much more concise.
Next, and this is very important, this book is more accessible. The important concepts mentioned above, I found, are explained much more clearly thus increasing this book's readability in order to achieve Hawking's (and collaborator Leonard Mlodinow's) goal: "to share some of the excitement of...[scientific] discoveries, and the new picture of reality that is emerging as a result."
Third, this book is illustrated throughout with color illustrations. Actually, the original book was also illustrated but the new illustrations are, I feel, more easier to grasp. (I only have a complaint with the first illustration in this new book because it doesn't illustrate the point it's trying to make.)
Finally, this book is actually updated with respect to the latest theoretical and observational results! For example, this book describes recent progress that's been made in finding a complete unified theory of all the forces of physics and describes the progress made in string theory (technically called superstring theory). Observational material comes from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite and by the Hubble Space Telescope. Thus, even though I read the original book, I still learned much from this book.
As with the original book, this book contains a helpful glossary and an appendix briefly outlining the lives of Albert Einstein (1879 to 1955), Galileo (1564 to 1642), and Sir Isaac Newton (1642 to 1727). (Notice that Newton was born in the same year Galileo died. Hawking was born in 1942, three hundred years after the death of Galileo.)
Here are the names of the chapter titles:
(1) Thinking about the universe.
(2) Our evolving picture of the universe (Discussion of Galileo starts here.)
(3) The nature of scientific theory.
(4) Newton's universe.
(5) Relativity. (Discussion of Einstein starts here.)
(6) Curved space.
(7) The expanding universe.
(8) The Big Bang, black holes, and the evolution of the universe. (It is thought that the Big Bang is how the universe began. A black hole is a region of space or more correctly space-time, where nothing, not even light can escape, because gravity is so strong.)
(9) Quantum Gravity. (This is a theory that merges quantum mechanics that is a theory that deals with the very small with general relativity that is a theory of the very large and that incorporates gravity.)
(10) Wormholes and time travel. (A wormhole is theoretically a thin tube of space or space-time connecting distant regions of the universe.)
(11) The forces of nature and the unification of gravity. (The forces of nature are electromagnetism, the weak force of radioactivity, the strong force that binds the atomic nucleus together, and gravity. The first three forces can be combined or unified but gravity seems to stand on its own.)
(12) Conclusion. (Last words in this chapter: "then we would know the mind of God.")
Finally, this book is not referenced. However since Hawking is Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post once held by Newton and Sagan witnessed his accepting this position in 1974, I think I can safely take Hawking at his word.
In conclusion, this book is a reorganized version of a science classic that is now more accessible, more concise, better illustrated, and updated with the latest research. It is not to be missed!!
(first published 2005; acknowledgements; forward; 12 chapters; main narrative 160 pages; appendix; glossary; index)
+++++
An Introduction to Science... February 23, 2006
JR Pinto (New Jersey)
7 out of 14 found this review helpful
I bought the book A Brief History of Time back when it was knew to paperback - everybody did. I never actually got around to reading it and neither did everybody else. After a while, I just figured that it was outdated, so I didn't bother. Now that A Briefer History of Time is out, I bought it on audiobook and listened to it in my car. I figured I had better do it before it too becomes outdated.
Like many adults, I have let my scientific knowledge slip. This book is written for us. Now that is not to say that I understand all the concepts in it. Actually, I have just finished listening to it for the first time. I figure that, if I keep on listening to it, it will sink in. Equations are kept to a minimum and everything is explained as simply as possible - which, in some cases, is still quite complicated.
This is a good introduction to the state of science as it is now. One of the things that surprised me most - something that most scientists don't like to admit to - is how much we DON'T know. In fact, some of our most important theories (Newton's and Darwin's) are in direct conflict, and yet we use them both.
I wouldn't say that this book tells you everything you need to know about science. What it does is get you to a place where you can understand the concepts and begin to do some research on your own. If you are not an expert, don't worry about it. One of the most fascinating points the book makes is that - since the eighteenth century - it has been impossible for one man to have a thorough working knowledge of science. There is just too much. Scientists must all specialize in one narrow, limited field to become an expert at anything. That makes me feel better about myself.
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