A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...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 ...
...I now attend university on a Computer Science degree - all the problem solving of "science" without the tedious maths of physics or equations of chemistry). I'd heard about A Brief History of Time ages ago from the friend of an ex-girlfriend of mine, and I really thought it was something that I should have a look at, given my interest in the subject. One day, a few years ago, when I was feeling flush, I bought it on a semi-impulse buy and thoroughly ...

TheDuke 19.03.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...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 ...
...Bang to the possibility of a Big Crunch. And, as if all that isn't enough he still has time to write great books! A Brief History of Time has been his best seller, it is sold world-wide and still captures the imagination of many people! ~ So whats the book about? ~ Well as i'm sure you'll already know, A Brief History of Time is about physics! Although, unlike many books covering physics, Hawking wrote this for the layman. (This doesn't mean its ...

Sarah_Louise 13.09.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...thrives, despite the confines of a wheelchair, and famously communicates through his robotic-sounding speech synthesis program. The book First off, there is no maths in this book. In principle, this means that anyone can delve into the book without fear of being swamped by equations. In practice, however, despite Hawking's best efforts, this book is not readily accessible. The fact remains that, to pick two examples of subjects discussed, quantum ...
...The style - Hawking has a strange style. Fortunately, the simple sentences he constructs are ideal for simplifying the physics. He has a wonderfully dry wit: "[The sun] would either fall apart or collapse to form a black hole. In either case, it would not be of much use as a source or light for life on earth." The topics - A few of the things discussed are: relativity, quantum theory, grand unified theories, black holes, string theory, the beginning ...

JaySee 24.06.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

The mark of a true educator, which Stephen Hawking certainly is, is that he would take time (very valuable time, in his case) away from research and contemplation of the great mysteries of the universe to write a piece that would serve to help explain to the greater number of less-scientifically-adept persons the fruits and implications of modern scientific research from the cutting edge of physics. Hawking is ranked in popular and scientific thinking ...
...of space and time as a relatively new concept in thinking of the universe, and the way the universe ‘acts’ (cosmological dynamics). From there, he explores the universe at a very basic level, as elementary particles and forces of nature, introducing quarks. 'There are a number of different varieties of quarks: there are thought to be at least six ‘flavours’, which we call up, down, strange, charmed, bottom and top. Each flavour comes in three ‘colours’, ...

frkurt 19.01.2003 (08.02.2004) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...I picked it up at a time when I was losing interest in my hobbies, the doldrums had set it and I found entertainment in little. Then along came this book I found whilst browsing Amazon to pass the time of day, and it has urged me to keep learning more - about *anything*. I was amazed how how intriguing space really is - the number of unanswered questions there still are and the number of people dedicating their lives to finding them, regardless ...
...the universe was created in a way we could live in it. Once I finished the book, I emailed Stephen Hawking to congratulate him on his genius. Something I have never done before. I would urge anybody with even the slightest intelligence to read this book as it could change your views on many aspects of life. Like where we really come from. Since then, I have read books on mathematics, DNA and navigation - subjects I could look back on my school ...

simonsta 10.02.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...Stephen Hawking. He has made a guest appearance in the Simpsons I believe, but that is beside the point, because in this book the reader can uncover the amazing powers of his mind, and the way in which he like no other scientist perceives the world in which we live. While many have heard of the book, I wonder how many have actually read it? It has the reputation of being a very difficult book to follow and to understand, but then how can a book that ...
...everything around us) not be a little complex in places? It’s a shame that it has the reputation, because you need to knowledge or qualification to understand what Hawking is talking about. All you need is an interest. So while this book may not be the light reading that many enjoy, I hereby encourage you to go out and try in…who knows, you may even enjoy it. Right, onto the review. Hawking starts by introducing us to previous ideas about the universe ...

Jaxle 02.08.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...is about string theory. I'm a Y13 physisist, hoping to go on and study physics at degree level. Right now my project for 15% of my A level is a swinging pendulum. This is amazingly uninteresting, boring and stupid. Somehow I don't find string theory boring, I find it intreguing, it's the sort of physics I want to do. This book is good at explaining string thoery, but I could only understand it after reading another book on string theory and knowing ...
...travel. In "the universe in a nutshell" (another of his books based around string theory) he postulates that time travel may not be possible and then states "you may wonder if this chapter is a secret government cover up on time travel. You may be right," It is because of these witty comments that you don't get so bored reading the book. Don't be mistaken though, it's still incredibly difficult physics and still somewhat scary. I've read three books ...

C_W_Monkey 03.02.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

This book is a very interesting and good read. Stephen hawkings makes this complicated subjuect on space and time, easier for someone like me to comprehend. Though some bits still do not make much sense to me, I just take his word for it, the theories on space and time are very interesting. Stephen Hawkings uses diagrams and text in this book to explain theories. It is quite interesting, and some of these theories I have never heard of. It is a ...

robertliu84 09.08.2000 (22.03.2001) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...Hawking, despite being confined to a wheelchair with motor neurone disease, is probably one of the world's leading cosmologists and theoretical physicists. Hawking wrote "A Brief History of Time" for the layman to be able to follow. The book explores the nature of time and space in a way that most people can read and understand and serves as an introduction to today's important theories on the cosmos, and is a unique chance to experience one of today's ...

Belgarath_02 12.07.2000 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

...long and complicated words a glossary is included that also gives page number references for more detailed explanations. An index is also incorporated. Whether you are an astrophysicist or someone who watches Star Trek occasionally, this book is guaranteed to make wonder about the big picture we all live in. ...

gregrobson 29.07.2000 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking