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Cover of A Briefer History of Time

A Briefer History of Time

Stephen Hawking; Leonard Mlodinow

First published 2008 · 272 pages

A mind-expanding journey through the cosmos that makes the deepest mysteries of physics feel within your grasp.

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What it feels like

Reading this book feels like sitting down with a brilliant, patient teacher who desperately wants you to see the beauty of the universe. It moves at a steady, deliberate pace, carefully building your understanding of reality from the ground up. The mood is expansive and deeply illuminating, replacing the intimidation of quantum mechanics with a sense of profound, mind-bending awe. The prose is stripped of dense mathematics, relying instead on elegant analogies and clear, conversational language that makes the unimaginable suddenly click into place. It is an intellectual journey that arcs from simple curiosity to a dizzying appreciation of our place in the cosmos. This is the perfect read for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wanted to understand the rules that govern the stars, offering a deeply satisfying blend of scientific rigor and profound wonder.

Mood
  • expansive
  • mind-bending
  • illuminating
  • contemplative
Tone
  • accessible
  • engaging
  • authoritative
  • conversational
Pace
steady
Themes
the nature of reality · human curiosity · our place in the cosmos · the limits of knowledge
The writing
Clear, concise, and remarkably accessible, using helpful analogies to distill complex mathematics into plain language.
The arc
Moves from grounded curiosity to mind-expanding awe, ending with a profound sense of connection to the cosmos.
Who it's for
Curious minds who want to understand the fundamental workings of the universe without getting bogged down in dense equations.
Content notes
  • existential themes

About the book

The science classic made more accessible and more concise. Illustrated. Updated with new research.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 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.Thirty-eight full-colour illustrations enhance the text and make A Briefer History of Time an exhilarating addition in its own right to the literature of science.

Description from Open Library.

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