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Loading... The Grand Design (original 2010; edition 2012)by Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow
Work detailsThe Grand Design by Stephen Hawking (2010)
On Kindle. Needs a re-read to fully grasp. (  )  SChant | Apr 26, 2013 |  I'm not going to rate this because I honestly had no idea what was going on. Theoretical physics will never be my thing. But the narrator has a super sexy voice so you know, sometimes you just want to listen to a sexy voice talk about string theory and anti-matter. It's cool. akmargie | Apr 4, 2013 | Hawking is a terrific self-promoter, and he managed to grab a lot of headlines for this book by claiming he'd killed God or whatever, but the truth is there's very little in this book that Brian Greene didn't cover - and cover better - [b:ten years ago.|771|The Elegant Universe Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory|Brian Greene|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266447922s/771.jpg|907243] In fact, a lot of this is stuff Hawking himself has covered in [b:A Brief History of Time.|3869|A Brief History of Time|Stephen W. Hawking|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255568961s/3869.jpg|2192250] In the last chapter he brings up Conway and Turing and things get significantly more interesting, but it's too late by that time, since Hawking apparently feels he can't publish a book of more than 200 pages. I felt like we were at the start of something interesting there; I would've liked to hear more about it. In general, this confirms that I'm not a big fan of Hawking. He bills himself as "science explained for the masses," but he doesn't actually explain things all that well - or, at least, there are folks who can explain it better. And in trying to cover so much in his books, he ends up covering nothing well enough. (  ) AlCracka | Apr 2, 2013 | This was waaaay more accessible than I thought it would be. I remember the embolism I had trying to read A Brief History of Time years ago (still need to finish that), so it was quite a pleasant surprise to be able to read this and not cry (the extent of my scientific knowledge is that Caesium does groovy things in a bowl of water and makes science teachers nervous when children instantly become incredibly feral on noticing this wonderful attribute). Also, this was a very short and quick read, so I wonder if I actually read it at all... I suppose, the gist of it is that the universe is filled with many things that can't be seen, are hard to measure and might not actually exist at all, but in order to theorise about our universe, we need to believe they are there and can be found wherever they are hiding... Maybe I was reading a book on another subject... In any case, it's a small mind that isn't completely blown away by the fact that we exist at all, for what seems to be no real reason. Somewhere a spark was lit, a chain reaction happened and like mold on an orange, here we are. It's as amazing as it is terrifying. Mostly amazing. ( ) h_d | Mar 31, 2013 | Too basic, this book is only for people who know absolutely nothing about the subject. Even then, there are better books to read that explain far more. Hawking fails to clearly define M-theory, instead preferring to discuss the history of how the field of theoretical physics developed, with not enough on the science behind it. A very disappointing read. ( ) serrulatae | Mar 31, 2013 |
 It is all entertaining stuff, skilfully assembled and described in a fairly droll manner. The wave-particle duality of particles is described as being as foreign as drinking a chunk of sandstone, for example. The book is also commendably brief and by and large illuminating about the complexities of modern cosmology.  It is all entertaining stuff, skilfully assembled and described in a fairly droll manner. The wave-particle duality of particles is described as being as foreign as drinking a chunk of sandstone, for example. The book is also commendably brief and by and large illuminating about the complexities of modern cosmology. So read it to understand the universe. But if it is God you are after, my advice is to steer clear.  The real news about “The Grand Design,” however, isn’t Mr. Hawking’s supposed jettisoning of God, information that will surprise no one who has followed his work closely. The real news about “The Grand Design” is how disappointingly tinny and inelegant it is. The spare and earnest voice that Mr. Hawking employed with such appeal in “A Brief History of Time” has been replaced here by one that is alternately condescending, as if he were Mr. Rogers explaining rain clouds to toddlers, and impenetrable.
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Along with Caltech physicist Mlodinow (The Drunkard's Walk), University of Cambridge cosmologist Hawking (A Brief History of Time)deftly mixes cutting-edge physics to answer three key questions--Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do we exist? Why this particular set of laws and not some other?--and explains that scientists are approaching what is called "M-theory," a collection of overlapping theories (including string theory) that fill in many (but not all) the blank spots in quantum physics; this collection is known as the "Grand Unified Field Theories."… (more)
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