Stephen Hawking (1942–2018)

A friend of mine loves this book and has read it more than once. Reassuring, since like me, she doesn't hold a doctorate in the sciences! In fact, as someone who used to do a lot of science reading--I read many a astronomy book by Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan once upon a time--most of the concepts here were very familiar. Well, until we reached the very weird land of quantum mechanics and string theory and imaginary numbers, where I admit I was pretty lost.

Hawking gives the history of the show more science surrounding the ultimate questions of the universe starting from the arguments of Aristotle in 340 B.C. for a round earth to the very strange land of today's physics of quantum mechanics with its different colored quarks and antimatter on the micro level and the strange interstellar beasties of relativistic physics of dark matter, black holes, quasars, and neutron stars and the very weird string theory that might unite both. I do think his explanations are lucid and elegant. I can't remember a better description of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity by explaining its historic relationship to Newton and how the theory tried to answer questions about the relationship between space and time. And Hawking manages to explain some sophisticated concepts without loading the book with jargon or equations. Hawking was also great at explaining how the theory of Relativity fits--or rather doesn't fit--with Quantum Mechanics and the search for a theory that could unify them both. I'm not saying I understood everything in the book. The concepts are counter-intuitive and hard to digest, and there's only so far you can go in explaining difficult subjects in simple terms to people lacking the background. But I understood it better, and certainly got the implications Hawking spelled out.

About the only stylistic quirk I had an issue with was Hawking's refusal to use the B-word. (A Briticism?). I find it a lot easier to wrap my mind around ten billion than "ten thousand million." The edition I read was written in 1996, updated from the first edition from 1988 which was a enormous bestseller. In the Foreword to that revised edition, Hawking wrote he thought that "within a few years we should know whether we can believe that we live in a universe that is completely self-contained and without beginning or end." Hawking definitely leaves me wanting to read more to find out the verdict. Worth reading, although not always easy to grasp. show less

A light read, insofar as popular science books can be. However, this is less from any feat of writing (i.e. making difficult concepts accessible to the general reader) and more from the book's indulgence of Hawking's celebrity. In contrast to the enduringly astute bestseller A Brief History of Time, this posthumous offering – with the publisher's hand sometimes artlessly evident – is in thrall more to Stephen Hawking's status as a popular icon than to his genius achievements as a show more scientist.

We find this tonal dissonance right from the off, with Eddie Redmayne (the actor who played him in The Theory of Everything) providing a dorky and valueless Foreword. It is a mere pandering to celebrity, with Redmayne even talking about how he and Professor Hawking share the same star sign. The contrast to the more substantial Introduction – by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Kip Thorne – is marked.

As for the main body of text itself, Hawking is not at his best. Maybe it is because I read A Brief History of Time fairly recently (only a week or so before Hawking died, in fact), but I found that Brief Answers pales in comparison when it comes to the actual science. There's no in-depth discussion of his ideas, not even new initiatives like Breakthrough Starshot or his views on LIGO that he has not discussed in print before. He mentions these, but scarcely goes further than that. He mentions nuclear fusion as a potential saviour for mankind's energy problems, but doesn't explain how or why or what his wider thoughts on this topic might be. We get two or three sentences at most.

The truth is that Hawking's writing here is more polemical than suits him. Even leaving aside constant shallow digs at Brexit and Trump, the book is speculative ('should we colonise space?', 'are there aliens out there?', 'will artificial intelligence prove a threat?', etc.). His responses are grounded in science, of course, and it is interesting to get into Hawking's mind, but they are not answers that provide much in the way of new insight. In contrast to the excellent A Brief History of Time, the popular science market would not be all that poorer had Brief Answers not been published.

As a fairly keen reader of popular science, particularly astrophysics, I craved more substance. I craved expansion and insight from this, our last opportunity to engage with one of the finest scientific minds of the past century. Brief Answers is instead a sort of 'greatest hits' package, an interesting but obvious overview culled from other sources. It might draw new listeners to the band, so to speak, but if you actually want the best of Hawking you are much better off reading an updated edition of A Brief History of Time. show less

I have wanted to read this book for a long time. I understood well about the first 1/3 but then it got into quantum physics and I got lost at the donut shop. What's that? There is no donut shop? Well, no wonder I got lost. It is not Hawking's fault that I did not follow what he was saying. It's that I don't comprehend how to observe mathematics, particularly when it is mathematics for something an ordinary person can't see. I understood the book on and off. I did learn some new things so it show more ws not a total loss of time for me. I was startled every time I ran into an explanation point
What book covering physics ever has an explanation point!

All told, the book, while interesting in the parts I could understand, was mostly a giraffe book. You know, way over my head. show less

“A Mind-Bending Journey Through Space and Time” 5-Stars by Rebecca Raffle

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I first read A Brief History of Time in my twenties, during a period of intense curiosity about the universe and how everything fits together. Stephen Hawking didn’t just explain physics, he reshaped the way I think about reality itself.

This book is a masterclass in making the complex understandable. Hawking takes us through black holes, time warps, relativity, and the Big Bang, show more distilling some of the most profound discoveries in physics into something readable, even for non-scientists.

What makes it so compelling isn’t just the science, it’s Hawking’s ability to communicate a deep sense of wonder about the cosmos.

“If time travel is possible, where are the tourists from the future?”

That’s the charm of this book. It’s as playful as it is profound. Hawking never talks down to the reader, and even when the material gets dense, he encourages you to keep thinking, keep questioning, and keep exploring.

Why This Book Stands Out 🔥

✔️ Makes Physics Fascinating – Black holes, wormholes, the arrow of time—Hawking explains it all with clarity and wit.

✔️ Short Yet Deeply Impactful – It’s under 250 pages, but it packs a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and questions.

✔️ Leaves You Wondering – Hawking doesn’t just give answers—he leaves you with new questions to ponder long after you finish.

Who Should Read This?

✔️ Anyone Curious About the Universe – If you’ve ever wanted to understand space, time, and existence itself, this book is essential.

✔️ Readers Who Enjoy Books Like Cosmos or The Elegant Universe – If you love big ideas explained simply, you’ll love this.

✔️ Those Who Want to Understand Hawking’s Legacy – This book cemented his place as one of the greatest scientific minds of our time.

Final Thoughts 😍

I’m giving A Brief History of Time 5 stars because it’s a rare book that makes you feel smarter with every page. Hawking had a gift for explaining the inexplicable, and this book is proof.

If you’ve ever looked up at the stars and wondered about the nature of time, space, and the universe itself, this book will change the way you see everything.

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