The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition

The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition
By Stephen William Hawking


Product Description
In the years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History Of Time has established itself as a landmark volume in scientific writing. It has become an international publishing phenomenon, translated into forty languages and selling over nine million copies. The book was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the nature of the universe, but since that time there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of macrocosmic worlds. These observations have confirmed many of Professor Hawkin's theoretical predictions in the first edition of his book, including the recent discoveries of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE), which probed back in time to within 300,000 years of the fabric of space-time that he had projected.

Eager to bring to his original text the new knowledge revealed by these many observations, as well as his recent research, for this expanded edition Professor Hawking has prepared a new introduction to the book, written an entirely new chapter on the fascinating subject of wormholes and time travel, and updated the original chapters.

In addition, to heighten understanding of complex concepts that readers may have found difficult to grasp despite the clarity and wit of Professor Hawking's writing, this edition is enhanced throughout with more than 240 full-color illustrations, including satellite images, photographs made made possible by spectacular technological advance such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and computer generated images of three and four-dimensional realities. Detailed captions clarify these illustrations, enable readers to experience the vastness of intergalactic space, the nature of black holes, and the microcosmic world of particle physics in which matters and antimatter collide.

A classic work that now brings to the reader the latest understanding of cosmology, A Brief History Of Time is the story of the ongoing search for t he tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.


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Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #54489 in Books
Published on: 1996
Released on: 1996-10-01
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
248 pages

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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help nonscientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to reveal these questions (and where we're looking for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God." --Therese Littleton

From Library Journal
A new edition?with pictures?for those who couldn't fathom the original.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"He can explain the complexities of cosmological physics with an engaging combination of clarity and wit—His is a brain of extraordinary power."—New York Review of Books

"Hawking has succeeded in writing two intertwined books, one a highly readable and popular account of the role of time in physics, the other an in-depth review—What makes all this so interesting is Hawking's ability to convoy the essential physics in words alone."—Physics Today

"In his first work of popular science, Stephen Hawking proves himself to be a master of vivid clarity—It's difficult to think of anyone else living who could have put these mathematically formidable subjects more clearly."—Chicago Tribune

"A masterful summary of what physicists now think the world is made of and how it got that way."—Wall Street journal

"This book marries a child's wonder to a genius's intellect. We journey into Hawking's universe while marvelling at his mind."—Sunday Times, London

"The famous theoretical physicist best known for his inquiries into the nature of black holes—turns out to be as skilled a popular writer as he is a mathematician—The result is probably the best single book on astrophysics for the common reader. Thank you, Dr. Hawking!"—Booklist

"Lively and provocative—Hawking clearly possesses a natural teacher's gift—easy, good-natured humor and an ability to illustrate highly complex propositions with analogies plucked from daily life."—New York Times

"Charming and lucid—gives the general reader an opportunity to learn some deep science directly from the source—[A book of] sunny brilliance."—New Yorker


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Customer Reviews
BUT TO KNOW THE MIND OF GOD
Stephen W. Hawking is a theoretical physicist who has held the post at Cambridge University once held by Isaac Newton. Hawking writes of attending a conference on cosmology at the Vatican in 1981. At the end of the conference the pope cautioned that scientists should not examine the moment of the creation of the universe because that was the work of God. In his book Stephen Hawking has not heeded the pope's advice. One of his conclusions is that we now have a picture of developments "to about one second after the Big Bang" (p. 118). For Hawking, scientific inquiry has moved from "what" questions right on through to "how" and is at the point of answering "why." As soon as theorists succeed in incorporating the law of gravity into a properly developed and tested grand unification theory (GUT) we will then "know the mind of God" (p. 175).

Hawking writes carefully for the non-specialist. He has taken the trouble to provide a glossary with page references. He has avoided mathematical formulas and has worked hard to find analogies for the abstractions of twentieth-century physics. The universe looks the same from all directions, "rather like a balloon with a number of spots painted on it, being steadily blown up. As the balloon expands, the distance between any two spots increases, but there is no spot that can be said to be the center of the expansion" (p. 42).

Any careful reader can use Hawking's little book (198 pages including introduction, glossary, index, and three excursi on Einstein, Galileo, and Newton) to participate in ongoing discussions about a number of questions that are asked these days primarily by children and physicists. What is nature, and where did it come from? What is time? Is it possible to move backward in time? Is there a beginning or a boundary to the universe? Will the universe come to an end, and what kind of end will it be? What did God do in the beginning, and what role does God play now in the physical world?

The answers to such questions, Hawking believes, are to be found in the inquiries of theoretical physicists. For Hawking, the core of modern physics is quantum mechanics, the development of theories having to do with the movement and the components of energy, as distinguished from classical physics, the study of the properties of matter. Hawking states that quantum physics underlies nearly all of modern science and development, including nuclear power and micro technology and asserts that quantum physics will eventually not only explain the origin of every thing but also predict the future.

A number of ideas compressed into this small book warrant further examination. Hawking writes of a "survival advantage" (p. 12) scientific discovery has conveyed to humankind that can be canceled by further discoveries that "may destroy us all" (p. 12). Life in our sector of the galaxies developed because of disorder in matter that disrupted the generally smooth character of the universe. Hawking suggests that intelligent beings can exist only in an expanding universe. The idea here is that scientific laws are predictable in only one direction through time and that a collapsing universe would cause a reversal of the "arrows of time" (pp. 143 f.) and would thus invalidate human comprehensibility. Hawking speculates about a notion called "the anthropic principle" (p. 124), which appears to mean that the universe is as it is because, if it were not, we would not be around to observe it. But if the anthropic principle is the bottom line then scientific cosmology has become anthropology, and why waste any more time with telescopes or particle accelerators? Hawking suggests that the universe (time and space taken together) is "finite yet without boundary" (p. 136). This is the most arresting and, as yet unprovable of Stephen Hawking's proposals, but he is willing to wait for further observations that may move this idea to a higher degree of probability.

In the midst of all this theorizing Hawking conveys something of the playfulness of many who are engaged in the quantum physics quest. There is mention of a now-discarded theory known as LGM 1-4, LGM standing for "little green men." The explosion that is supposed to have kicked off our expanding universe is commonly known as the Big Bang. The smallest known particles are called quarks and come in flavors; the uniform nature of collapsing stars goes by the maxim "black holes have no hair." (p. 92)

Because theoretical physics has turned very precisely toward the whys of life, theology and ethics will have to pay closer attention. I will give two examples. When did time begin? Hawking offers the idea of a "singularity," a unique event in time at which the laws of science break down and predictability disappears. The Big Bang, therefore, is a singularity, and it may be said that time began with creation itself. From this it follows that time will come to an end when the universe ceases its expansion, collapses into itself, and perhaps sets off another Big Bang. The singularity idea has many implications for the theological dimensions of eschatology as well as for cosmology.

An example of the importance of quantum physics for ethics might be the "uncertainty principle" of Werner Heisenberg (1926), which Hawking refers to as "a fundamental, inescapable property of the world" (p. 55). Briefly, the uncertainty principle asserts that the position and velocity of particles cannot be precisely predicted. Rather, particles exist in a quantum state, which is a combination of position and velocity and which suggests a range of possible locations where particles are likely to be found. This means that we do not live in a deterministic universe where definite results can be expected. This also suggests there is a limit to our capacity to know what is going on.

If results in science are subject to randomness, ought not this principle of uncertainty be recognized when we speak of "good" and "bad" behavior? Isn't it less pretentious and more helpful to think in terms of quantum ethics, which would allow for a range of appropriate actions? I think this kind of approach is in harmony with Jesus' comments about ethical behavior. When asked about the greatest of God's commands he cited the Shemah (Deut. 6:4) and added that "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:29-30). This admonition finds parallels in many traditions and leaves much room for intelligent, responsible reflection-action.

Theoretical physics awaits and accepts the judgment of the future, whose discoveries and experiments either prove, or dismiss earlier claims. The author cites many instances of this: even the supernovas of physics, Newton and Einstein, admitted earlier mistakes or had their ideas corrected by others. Most theological reflection, on the other hand, lacks any sort of empirical reference. In other words, theological speculations, disconnected as they are from a close reading of "secular" history, normally make predictions that do not have to agree with observation.

In the last ten years or so theoretical physics has turned cosmology into a subject for scientific discussion and discovery. Can theological speculation accept the challenge of quantum physics and adapt to the conceptual limits that are laid down? Are seminaries prepared to train pastors and teachers to pay attention to the quanta discussions? How might theocentric statements be tested and then sustained or discarded? These are a few of the questions that quantum physics has placed on the theological agenda.

This review has been published in a collection of reviews and articles, That's What I'm Talking About (Nativa 2008). THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT



Complex subject matter spelled out for the layman
Hawking does a commendable job presenting some very detailed and complicated topics while simultaneously exhibiting them in a manner permitting the layman to fully comprehend the material. He accomplished both the simplification of complicated content as well as the presentation of subject matters that might normally be tedious yet are found to be quite appealing as a result of his demeanor and writing style.

Hawking's use of analogies only makes the visualization of space and time all the more accessible to simpler minds such as myself. Frequently taking subjects that require intense imagination and focus and explaining them with everyday analogies perhaps speaks to Hawking's brilliance as much as his research. Never before have I been so easily able to comprehend the expansion of the universe until it was so eloquently equated with the spots on a balloon. This only represents a sampling of the useful correlations one will find in this work, as he scatters them throughout each chapter.

For those seeking to explore the mindset of the most prominent men of science and to discover the questions they are asking in their quest for answers, this book will not disappoint. If you have even a basic interest in astronomy or physics, this book should be an essential part of your library.


greates astrology book for all
just a great book, explain in a fun and easy way. I just love it