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| ISBN-10 | 0739321870 |
| ISBN-13 | 9780739321874 |
| Authors | Stephen Hawking,Leonard Mlodinow |
| Publisher | Random House Audio |
| Publication Date | 2005-09-27 |
| Dewey Decimal | 523.1 |
| Rating | 4.50 |
| Categories | |
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.
***
Stephen Hawking will be lecturing at the following locations:
11/7/05: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 408 Alamden Blvd., San Jose, CA, 95110, (408) 277-5277
11/10/05: Paramount Theater of the Arts, 2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA, 94612, (510) 465-6400
11/16/05: The Paramount Theater, 911 Pine Street, Seattle, WA, 98101, (206) 467-5510
Tickets for "The Origins of the Universe with Dr.Stephen Hawking" are available through Ticketmaster.
From the Hardcover edition.
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.
***
Stephen Hawking will be lecturing at the following locations:
11/7/05: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 408 Alamden Blvd., San Jose, CA, 95110, (408) 277-5277
11/10/05: Paramount Theater of the Arts, 2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA, 94612, (510) 465-6400
11/16/05: The Paramount Theater, 911 Pine Street, Seattle, WA, 98101, (206) 467-5510
Tickets for "The Origins of the Universe with Dr.Stephen Hawking" are available through Ticketmaster.
From the Hardcover edition.
Half confused, half amazed
For as simple as Hawking was supposed to present the complicated theoretical physics concepts, at times I still found myself as confused as Adam on Mother's Day. Dr. Hawking's work is caught between a rock and a hard place in "A Brief History of Time" and the subsequent "The Universe in a Nutshell"; he provides neither the technical language to satisfy the experienced readers, nor the sufficiently simplified rhetoric to appeal to the uninitiated. Not to worry as the theories and supporting arguments in both books can still satisfy the curiosity of the inexperienced, and his celebrity status in the world of physics keeps the experienced audience engaged.There is one update to this book not mentioned, and that is, Hawking eventually admits that he was wrong about his theory of loss of information in black holes. This idea of his had put him at odds with many theoretical physicists. Instead, he puts forth the unproven theory that information in a black hole is transferred to a parallel universe. Unfortunately, time may not permit Hawking to complete his work on the proof or supporting evidence of this important theory. His terminal illness appears to be finally catching up to him. I wish him well and thank him for his important contributions to the science of understanding the universe.
Despite its shortcomings, A Brief History of Time succeeds in shedding light on the mysteries of the creation of the universe at the point of singularity, what happened subsequently, and what may or may not transpire in the future. Hawking discusses in length Einstein's general theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and the attempt to combine these into a grand unified theory, a lofty goal that has eluded theoretical physicists to date.