Amazon.com
In Ptolemy's The Almagest, the earth is placed at the center of the universe and the planets move in crystal spheres against a backdrop of fixed stars. While these ideas have been swept away since the scientific revolution, Ptolemy's influence on astronomy was profound and long--we'll be dealing with the Y3K problem before Copernicus's time of influence catches up.

James Evans, historian and astronomer at the University of Puget Sound, believes that "staying close to the practice of astronomy means explaining a subject in enough detail for the reader to understand what the ancient astronomers actually did." As this unique book teaches you to do astronomy the old-fashioned way, you gain a profoundly deeper understanding of what the Greeks and their successors thought and did. "There is all the difference in the world between knowing about and knowing how to do," says Evans. The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy is truly hands-on history, and deserves to be widely imitated. --Mary Ellen Curtin Book Description
The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy combines new scholarship with hands-on science to bring readers into direct contact with the work of ancient astronomers. While tracing ideas from ancient Babylon to sixteenth-century Europe, the book places its greatest emphasis on the Greek period, when astronomers developed the geometric and philosophical ideas that have determined the subsequent character of Western astronomy. The author approaches this history through the concrete details of ancient astronomical practice. Carefully organized and generously illustrated, the book can teach readers how to do real astronomy using the methods of ancient astronomers. For example, readers will learn to predict the next retrograde motion of Jupiter using either the arithmetical methods of the Babylonians or the geometric methods of Ptolemy. They will learn how to use an astrolabe and how to design sundials using Greek and Roman techniques. The book also contains supplementary exercises and patterns for making some working astronomical instruments, including an astrolabe and an equatorium. More than a presentation of astronomical methods, the book provides a critical look at the evidence used to reconstruct ancient astronomy. It includes extensive excerpts from ancient texts, meticulous documentation, and lively discussions of the role of astronomy in the various cultures. Accessible to a wide audience, this book will appeal to anyone interested in how our understanding of our place in the universe has changed and developed, from ancient times through the Renaissance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Just great!
Upon receipt of this book, I just read it from cover to cover. It's easily one of the most interesting and illuminating astronomy books that I own.
James Evans explains very clearly how ancient astronomers obtained such a vast amount of data with very simple instruments.

An amazing book
Not only is the layout and presentation of this book beautiful, the writing is lucid and engaging.I have already learned a tremendous amount from this book and I have only read the first 30 pages.

Great Book, took the class from the author
This is great book.I got to take the class for which the book was the class book, and the author was the professor.Class time was used for discussing the history and practice of the ancient astronomers from the babylonians to copernicus.We then were able to take a lab time to go through the well written excerisize to actually do the astronomy as, say, the ancient greeks did it.You can learn how the ancient greeks were able to predict the position of the stars and planets using the principle that the earth is the center of the universe. I took the class 2 years ago, and every once and awhile i pull out the book just to read through or make a new astrolobe plate.

Fantastic!
The big problem when writing a book about history of science, is how much background to include. If you don't include any background, the ordinary reader will not really get what's going on. Evans has instead written whatcan best be described as a two-fold book. It's both an introduction toastronomy and an introduction to history of astronomy! His explanations,and particularly his illustrations, are excellent. Both his scholarship andhis writing are exceptional! Read it!

A great work of scholarship--and great fun
An impressive compendium of thousands of years of astronomy--from Babylon to Copernicus. In tracing the history of star-gazing,Evans traces the history of science, showing how ideas arose, migrated, stood up or failedunder testing, and were passed down through the centuries. One learns adeep respect for ancient astronomers. Almost 2,000 years before Columbus,Greek scientists had figured out that the world was round, and had evendetermined that the Earth was miniscule compared to the size of theuniverse. Evans is committed to the idea of learning by doing, so he givesdetailed instructions on how to construct every instrument that ancientastronomers used--from sundials to astrolabes.The book is full of greatscience projects. I would strongly recommend this book for those interestedin the history of science, ancient and medieval thought, backyardastronomy... even astrologers would benefit greatly from this book. ... Read more

Book Description
Expertly written and lavishly illustrated, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy offers a unique account of astronomical theory and practice from antiquity to the present day. How did Moslems of the Middle Ages use astronomy to calculate the direction of Mecca from far-flung corners of the Islamic world? Who was the only ancient Greek to suspect that the earth might revolve around the sun? How did Christopher Columbus abuse his knowledge of a lunar eclipse predicted by an astronomical almanac? Packed with anecdotes and intriguing detail, this book describes how we observed the sky and interpreted what we saw at different periods of history; how this influenced our beliefs and mythology; and how great astronomers contributed to what we now know. The result is a lively and highly visual history of astronomy - a compelling read for specialists and non-specialists alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not a Finer History of Astronomy Available
Like other works in this series, the Cambridge 'Illustrated History of Astronomy' is both a useful reference work and a visually entertaining table-top book. Combined, those two elements make for an excellent history of the science of astronomy.

The scholarship is top-notch: Michael Hoskin is the editor and a contributor, and other contributors include J.A. Bennett, Owen Gingerich, Clive Ruggles, Christopher Cullen and David Dewhirst--superb scholars all. They cover the history of astronomy from prehistory, through the invention of the telescope and the scientific revolution, to the rise of astrophysics and beyond. Astronomy in non-western cultures (China, India, Islam) is also covered, and makes a welcome addition to the traditional Euro-centric story.

But the illustrations (many in color) really make the book: pictures, graphs, sidebars, frontispieces, manuscript pages, newspaper clippings, paintings, etc. enhance the written portion and make it that much more informative.

In sum, this may be the most useful and enjoyable book on the history of astronomy in print.

Masterpice!
When you see a "coffee table" book like this, you sometimes wonder about whether the writing is going to match the pictures, but with people like Michael Hoskin, Christopher Cullen and Owen Gingerich writing the text, you know that this one is going to be a winner even before you open it. Let me just say that the pictures and the desing in fantastic, and that the writing is at a level suitable for the general public without being "dumbed down". Trust me, you're going to enjoy this one!

Beautifully written and illustrated
This is the single best history of astronomy I've ever encountered. Not only is the narrative interesting, the pictures--from William Herschel's journal pages describing his discovery of Uranus to full-page illuminations of the Cartesian cosmology--enhance the experience even more than one mightexpect. At less than ( ), this book is a must for any astronomy buff.

Comprehensive coverage of the history of astronomy
An excellent survey with both breadth and depth, covering non-European astronomy (for example the Dresden Codex - a Mayan calendar), the difficulties of the Geo-centric model, the development of the telescope,modern astrophysics, up to the Hubble Space Telescope. Includes a greatmany sidebars with much peripheral information (I did not know thatHerschel was an organist by trade). ... Read more

Book Description

Packed with color photographs, this compelling volume chronicles the history of astronomy.

This extraordinary book traces the stories of humans interacting with the endless wonders of the night sky, beginning with the earliest superstitions and continuing through to the birth and development of the science of astronomy.

The authors, both expert astronomers, researched 29 locations worldwide, from Beijing's ancient observatory to the observatory in Puerto Rico that searches for alien radio signals. They also interviewed 26 of the world's most esteemed astronomers, including Stephen Hawking.

Comprehensive in scope, The History of Astronomy covers such areas as:

• Australian Aborigines, Stonehenge, Polynesian navigators
• Egyptian, Chinese and Babylonian astronomers, the Star of Bethlehem
• Greek astronomers, early concepts of the Earth's shape and orbit
• Galileo, Copernicus, the far Universe
• The Solar System and the movements of the planets
• Newton, gravity, Halley
• Discovery of Uranus and Neptune, discovery and demotion of Pluto
• What stars are made of and why they shine
• Hubble, the Cosmos, new galaxies, the Big Bang
• Pulsars, quasars and black holes
• Are we alone?

Through its engaging narrative and stunning full-color photography, The History of Astronomy tells a remarkable story of a subject that continues to test the limits of imagination and exploration.

Customer Reviews (1)

great book
Gave this as a gift this past Chrristmas and was very well recieved.I paged thru it both before and after I gave it and was very impressed with its history and pictures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great book
Gave this as a gift this past Chrristmas and was very well recieved.I paged thru it both before and after I gave it and was very impressed with its history and pictures. ... Read more

Book Description

A History of Arabic Astronomy is a comprehensive survey of Arabic planetary theories from the eleventh century to the fifteenth century based on recent manuscript discoveries. George Saliba argues that the medieval period, often called a period of decline in Islamic intellectual history, was scientifically speaking, a very productive period in which astronomical theories of the highest order were produced.

Based on the most recent manuscript discoveries, this book broadly surveys developments in Arabic planetary theories from the eleventh century to the fifteenth.Taken together, the primary texts and essays assembled in this book reverse traditional beliefs about the rise and fall of Arabic science, demonstrating how the traditional "age of decline" in Arabic science was indeed a "Golden Age" as far as astronomy was concerned.

Some of the techniques and mathematical theorems developed during this period were identical to those which were employed by Copernicus in developing his own non-Ptolemaic astronomy.Significantly, this volume will shed much-needed light on the conditions under which such theories were developed in medieval Islam.Itclearly demonstrates the distinction that was drawn between astronomical activities and astrological ones, and reveals, contrary to common perceptions about medieval Islam, the accommodation that was obviously reached between religion and astronomy, and the degree to which astronomical planetary theories were supported, and at times even financed, by the religious community itself.This in stark contrast to the systematic attacks leveled by the same religious community against astrology.

To students of European intellectual history, the book reveals the technical relationship between the astronomy of the Arabs and that of Copernicus.Saliba's definitive work will be of particular interest to historians of Arabic science as well as to historians of medieval and Renaissance European science.

Book Description
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences, and one which has repeatedly led to fundamental changes in our view of the world. This book covers the history of our study of the cosmos from prehistory to a survey of modern astronomy and astrophysics. It does not attempt to cover everything, but deliberately concentrates on the important themes and topics, including stellar astronomy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries--the source of many important concepts in modern astronomy--and the Copernican revolution, which led to the challenge of ancient authorities in many areas other than astronomy. This is an essential text for students of the history of science and for students of astronomy who require a historical background to their studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A status-quo history
I was disappointed greatly with the contents of the book. Hoskin and Gingerich peddle the old Eurocentric view of astronomy. Short shrift is given to the views of scholars such as R.R. Newton and Dennis Rawlins. The presentation of material is very shallow, and the tangled web behind the advances of Kepler and others is not presented. It is like whitewash.

Excellent scientific history
Although this appears to be in a coffee-table format, this book coversboth history and technical aspects of the subject withoutoversimplification.Side issues are explained in detail.Illustrationsare well-presented, clear and in color when appropriate; very useful inthis largely visual subject.The very best history of astronomy I havefound. ... Read more

Book Description
Part B of Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the Rise of Astrophysics continues the history of celestial mechanics and observational discovery through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It provides a synoptic view of the main developments and furnishes details about the lives, ideas, and interactions of the various astronomers involved.Twelve different authors have contributed their expertise to this book that begins with the reception of Newton's inverse-square law. In the remainder, a large place is given to the development of the mathematical theory of celestial mechanics from Clairaut and Euler to LeVerrier, Newcomb, Hill, andPoincaré. This emphasis is balanced by other chapters on observational discoveries and the rapprochement of observation and theory (for instance, the discovery of Uranus and the asteroids, use of Venus transits to refine solar parallax, introduction of the method of least squares, and the development of planetary and satellite ephemerides). Lists of "Further Reading" provide entrée to the literature of the several topics. This book will be of great interest to historians of science and astronomers. ... Read more

Book Description
The author does not attempt to give a general survey of early astronomy; rather, he chooses to present a few "episodes" and treats them in detail.However, first he provides the necessary astronomical background in his descriptive account of what you can see when you look at the sky with the naked eye, unblinkered by received knowledge, but with curiosity and wit. Chapter 1 deals with the arithmetical astronomy of ancient Mesopotamia where astronomy first was made an exact science.Next are treated Greek geometrical models for planetary motion, culminating in Ptolemy's equant models in his Almagest.Ptolemy does not assign them absolute size in this work, but, as is shown here, if we scale the models properly, they will yield good values, not only of the directions to the planets, but of the distances to them, as well.Thus one can immediately find the dimensions of the Copernican System from parameters in the Almagest - we have evidence that Copernicus did just that.Further, Islamic astronomers' modifications of Ptolemy's models by devices using only uniform circular motion are discussed, as are Copernicus's adoption of some of them.finally, it is made precise which bothersome problem was resolved by the heliocentric hypothesis, as it was by the Tychonic arrangement. Next, the Ptolemaic System, the first cosmological scheme to incorporate quantitative models, is described as Ptolemy himself did it in a recenlty recovered passage from his Planetary Hypotheses.Here he does assign absolute size to his models in order to fit them into the snugly nested spherical shells that made up his universe.This much maligned system was, in fact, a harmonious construct that remained the basis for how educated people thought of their world for a millennium and a half. Finally, after a brief review of the geometry of the ellipse, the author gives an elementary derivation of Kepler's equation, and shows how Kepler solved it, and further proves that a planet moves very nearly uniformly around the empty focus of its orbit.Thus an eccentric circular orbit with the empty "focus" as the equant point gives a good approximation to Kepler motions.The result of combining two such motions is then shown to be close to Ptolemy's planetary model.This book provides a fascinating look at the night sky and the techniques that early civilizations, particularly Babylonian and Greek, used to model planetary motions¿Aaboe does a masterful job of covering a wide array of intriguing topics in a relatively short book, and any effort expended on reading it will be well rewarded¿ talented students at the high school age and college students who are interested in these topics would likely find this book very enjoyable and enriching book is fascinating to read for several reasons, including its observational astronomical viewpoint, its rich historical and cultural content, and, of course, its exposition and explanation of ancient techniques of celestial predictions and modeling. ?MAA ONLINE ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A superb resource
Relevant today as 100 years ago when this edition was first published.
Astrophysics described from its infancy. ... Read more

Product Description
The book contains a translation and study of Euclid's Phaenomena, a work which once formed part of the mathematical training of astronomers from Central Asia to Western Europe. Included is an introduction that sets Euclid's geometry of the celestial sphere, and its application to the astronomy of his day, into its historical context for readers not already familiar with it. So no knowledge of astronomy or advanced mathematics is necessary for an understanding of the work. The book shows mathematical astronomy shortly before the invention of trigonometry, which allowed the calculation of exact results and the subsequent composition of Ptolemy's Almagest.The Phaenomena itself begins with an introduction (possibly not by Euclid) followed by eighteen propositions set out in geometrical style about how arcs of the zodiacal circle move across the sky. The astronomical application is to the small arc of that circle occupied by the Sun, but the Sun is not mentioned. This work and the (roughly) contemporaneous treatises of Autolycus and Aristarchos form a corpus of the oldest extant works on mathematical astronomy. Together with Euclid's Optics one has the beginnings of the history of science as an application of mathematics.Copublished with the London Mathematical Society beginning with Volume 4. ... Read more

Book Description
SOME CONCEPTUAL PRELIMINARIES. ... Read more

Book Description
Astronomy, perhaps the first of the sciences, was already well developed by the time of Christ.Seventeen centuries later, afterNewton showed that the movements of the planets could be explained in terms of gravitation, it became the paradigm for the mathematical sciences.In the nineteenth century the analysis of star-light allowed astrophysicists to determine both the chemical composition and the radial velocities of celestial bodies, while the development of photography enabled distant objects invisible to the human eye, to be studied and measured in comfort.Technical developments during and since the Second World War have greatly enlarged the scope of the science by permitting the study of radiation.This is a fascinating introduction to the history of Western astronomy, from prehistoric times to the origins of astrophysics in the mid-nineteenth century. Historical records are first found in Babylon and Egypt, and after two millennia the arithmetical astronomy of the Babylonians merged with the Greek geometrical approach to culminate in the Almagest of Ptolemy. This legacy was transmitted to the Latin West via Islam, and led toCopernicus's claim that the Earth is in motion. In justifying this Kepler converted astronomy into a branch of dynamics, leading to Newton's universal law of gravity. The book concludes with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century applications of Newton's law, and the first explorations of the universe of stars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A lucid overview
Lucid overview of the development of astronomy as a science, from ancient times till the mid-19th century.

Centuries of Astronomy in 123 Pages
This is an excellent short history of developments in astronomy from prehistory to the 19th century. And there is perhaps no one better suited than Michael Hoskin to write it: he is the editor of the `Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy'; he has also been the long-standing editor of the `Journal for the History of Astronomy.' He if anyone can distill millennia of stargazing to under 125 pages.

The six short chapters cover the sky in prehistory, astronomy in antiquity, astronomy in the middle ages, the Copernican revolution, astronomy in the age of Newton, and developments in stellar and nebular astronomy (looking beyond our solar system). The book also provides a number of useful illustrations.

This is a great primer, a perfect pocket introduction to the history of astronomy. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
With over 150 alphabetically arranged entries about key scientists, concepts, discoveries, technological innovations, and learned institutions, the Oxford Guide to Physics and Astronomy traces the history of physics and astronomy from the Renaissance to the present. For students, teachers, historians, scientists, and readers of popular science books such as Galileo's Daughter, this guide deciphers the methods and philosophies of physics and astronomy as well as the historical periods from which they emerged. Meant to serve the lay reader and the professional alike, this book can be turned to for the answer to how scientists learned to measure the speed of light, or consulted for neat, careful summaries of topics as complicated as quantum field theory and as vast as the universe.The entries, each written by a noted scholar and edited by J. L. Heilbron, Professor of History and Vice Chancellor, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, reflect the most up-to-date research and discuss the applications of the scientific disciplines to the wider world of religion, law, war, art and literature. No other source on these two branches of science is as informative or as inviting. Thoroughly cross-referenced and accented by dozens of black and white illustrations, the Oxford Guide to Physics and Astronomy is the source to turn to for anyone looking for a quick explanation of alchemy, x-rays and any type of matter or energy in between. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Well Rounded Overview
I saw this book while browsing at Borders. I've been finding that I need more reference material in my home library, especially with a renewed interest in Anstronomy and a sudden curiousitywith Physics. I find the book as much entertaining as it is informative. And, its become a real pleasure to sit down with it for 30 minutes at a time and read about the human as well as the mechanical aspects of these two fascinating subjects.

Stars in my eyes
'The Oxford Guide to the History of Physics and Astronomy', edited by John Heilbron, is a wonderful reference resource, but also an interesting book to read.It is organised as an encyclopedic dictionary, with over 200 entries that range in size from half a page to several pages in length.This covers history from the a little past the Renaissance to the present (with occasional references to earlier discoveries and events), including entries in other sciences such as geography and oceanography and how they relate to the issues in physics and astronomy.

Entries include topics, biographies, short essays, inventions and concepts.The biographical entries are generally paired - figures such as Einstein and Newton warrant their own entries (as does Benjamin Franklin for some inexplicable reason), but sometimes the pairings don't quite seem to fit (Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, for example, are both popularisers of physics and astronomy, but perhaps deserve somewhat better pairings).For the concept of the pairings, inspiration seems drawn from Plutarch, whose magnum opus 'Lives' paired biographies of notable figures.

The overall organisation is alphabetical, but there is also a complex hierarchy of entries as well that includes primary articles for comprehensive disciplines, principle subdivisions within the disciplines, and third level entries on specific items within the subdivisions (including biographies).There are extensive cross-references as well, in addition to supplemental reading lists.

In some ways, this book is a subset of the greater work, 'The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science' - there is a complete listing of entries for that work included in this text, to show how this area of science fits within the greater whole (for one thing).

One thing I found about this book, however,is that it is a compelling read.When I first received the book, I stopped to look up a few items, and found myself still reading through articles and following the cross-references more than an hour later.Despite being a reference book, it is an accessible and inviting text to for the reader, which is the mark of a good history text.For anyone interested in physics, astronomy, or the history of science, this is a text to be prized.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

An Imaginative Time Journey thru the Ages
As a general reader, I liked the author's poetical, appreciative and sometimes fascinatingly historical, journey thru the months of the year, from antique times onward. Beneath the simplicity of style lies the author's spirit, wisdom and humor - and I think you can't get all the information on the first reading. Besides the months & seasons, there'sthe holidaze celebrations. In all, this is an imaginative book.

Florid style covers up any actual information book may or may not contain
When I got this book, I expected a history of our calendar and its links to the ancient world written for regular people as opposed to scholars.The writing is fluid, but so florid that it's hard to get actual information out of it.The writing is so self-indulgently flowery that it disguises the message rather than delivering it.Since the subject matter is in fact nonfiction, this is not a particularly effective style.

There are a lot of books out there on the history of the calendar that ARE readable, even to the non-academic.This one is not worth buying.

Not What it Seems To Be
I came across this little paperback tucked in between more impressive-looking tomes at the bookstore in the European History section.If not for the subtitle, "A Miscellany of History and Myth, Religion and Astronomy, Festivals and Feast Days," I'd never have bought it, because the title proper does not satisfactorily describe the content.I am not interested in TIME, per se, but I did write a master's thesis in folkart and am very interested in all kinds of folklore, genealogy, ritual, and comparative religion.So I bought it and have loved it...great bedside companion on these wintry nights.A huge bonus is the beautiful writing style of Mr. Judge - he makes pictures in my head - the highest praise of this artist/folklorist. The book justifies the deep human yearning to celebrate the cycles of the natural world without having to deny one's more conventional religious upbringing (no doubt a growing concern since paganism is one of the fastest growing religions).Comforting.

Not meant to be a thorough exploration of the calendar
It's a little disconcerting writing a review of a book when you know the author himself reads them!

The key word in the title of this book is "miscelleny".I think I was hoping for a more comprehensive and studious tour through the wilds of the history of our calendar and how it came to be what it is today. Although it's clear that research was done and a history of how the calendar came to be is indeed tackled, it's all a bit... well, flowery, for my tastes.

Here's a small sampling of what I mean:
"...Deneb glittering in her beak like a diamond she's plucked from an Eastern treasure horde.High above both, ruby-red Arcturus marks the heel of the kindly shepherd Bootes, who drives the stars of spring across the sky.Orion flees, humbled, below the western horizon..."

It's all well and good, it's just not for me.I'd guess that references to "lovemaking" and related terms are actually used more often than references to the word "calendar".If you enjoy stories and myths from Greek and Roman times, with a smattering from the Celts, Germans, and other "westerners", told somewhat floridly, you'll like this.

One thing that sticks with me is the disturbing story of the Wicker Man.It, and some of the other tales, made me want to know more (how long did this go on, how wide-spread was it, who was chosen to be the victims, etc.), but I kept coming back to that word "miscellany"... it's not MEANT to be thorough.

So to sum up I'd say the book delivers what the title promises, but didn't satisfy my curiosity about the subject!

Beautiful Book For A Long Wintry Night
This is actually the wife of the Amazon member. I bought this back in the summer, at the solstice. How quickly i found myself at another, albeit more starkly beautiful solstice ..... The depth of knowledge and the beauty of the prose is outstanding. As one familiar with world religions, anthropology, mythology and the like, i found this book to be a refreshing change from so much of what is currenty available through the new age/earth religion venue: this book is absolutey stunning and will pass the test of time. I brought it to work with me, and it is my companion for this year's quiet, solitary solstice. Such a balm for the spirit, and a comfort ......highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
Since humans first looked towards the heavens, they have attempted to predict and explain the motions of the sun, moon, and planets. This book describes the theories of planetary motion that have been developed through the ages, from the homocentric spheres of Eudoxus to Einstein's general theory of relativity. It emphasizes the interaction between progress in astronomy and in mathematics, demonstrating how the two have been inextricably linked since Babylonian times. ... Read more

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 LittletonBook Description
A Brief History of Time, published in 1988, was a landmark volume in science writing and in world-wide acclaim and popularity, with more than 9 million copies in print globally. The original edition was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the origins and nature of the universe. But the ensuing years have seen extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro—and the macrocosmic world—observations that have confirmed many of Hawking's theoretical predictions in the first edition of his book.

Now a decade later, this edition updates the chapters throughout to document those advances, and also includes an entirely new chapter on Wormholes and Time Travel and a new introduction. It make vividly clear why A Brief History of Time has transformed our view of the universe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (335)

Do I need to talk about this book
This is a fine book for people who love physics of those who are curious about the universe they are in. A great book by a great scientist.

a pleasure to read
Many years after its initial release, this book is still a great pleasure to read.Written in a conversational tone, much of it is probably readily understandable to most readers.However, some parts of it, especially toward the end, aren't exactly simple by any means.Any curious reader, even if not particularly interested in physics or astronomy, will find this little book to be a gem.An extra treat is a few pages at the end describing prominent events from the lives of Einstein, Galileo, and Newton.Highly recommended read.Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.

Bumpy RIDE!!!!!!!
Hawkins may provide amazing insight into Astrophysics and have a Brillant Mind. However, he does a medicore job in explaining things and his writting style is often "choppy" and hard to read. He just does not expand on things well. The concepts in the book can be hard to grasp and the writting can make it very hard to stay focus.
I find other authors to be a much better selection like Neil Tyson with equal insight for the layman.

The book does provide alot of amazing insight into things like Black Holes, Time Travel, Entropy, Relativity and other cosmic delights.

An excellent overview of modern physics.
If you can find it, I recommend this version over the original "Brief History of Time".This version was written about 8 years later and as such incorporates much that has been learned over the intervening years.In addition, the illustrations greatly enhance the text.They are not only a joy to look at, but actually make the book more understandable.The original work has been characterized as one of the most popular, but unread books of all time.Much of the unread characterization stems from the fact that this is a difficult book unless one has had some minimal understanding of physics.Minimal is, however, the appropriate word as one need not be a physicist to get a lot from this book, but one should not be put off by a discussion of quarks, gluons, gravitons, wormholes or string theory.

The first chapters deal with the classical view of physics and the universe.This is followed by discussions of the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.It is important to note that these are not rigorous discussions, indeed no mathematics is used and the discussion is entirely devoted to the basic ideas and implications of these theories.At least one reviewer has criticized the fact that these subjects have not been developed in any detail, but rather are just expounded.I think that this misses the point.This is not a physics text; rather it tries (I think very successfully) to show the reader the beauty and implications of modern physics.I found the discussion of modern particle physics to be one of the best very elementary treatments that I have ever read.Next he discusses black holes and the origin of the universe.Again, I found his discussion of black holes to be one of the best very elementary treatments that I have ever read.The last chapters on wormholes, time travel and grand unified theories are more speculative than the preceding chapters, but the reader is clearly forewarned that this is the case.(The most speculative, and in my opinion least clear chapter, was the one on wormholes and time travel, which was not in the original version of "A brief History of Time".)

I liked this book a lot and do not agree with those who found it to be unclear and very difficult to follow, but I can see how those with no physics background at all would find it too difficult to finish.This version has the virtue of pictures which make following Hawking's text a bit easier to follow and as he states in the forward "Even if you only look at the pictures and their captions you should get some idea of what is going on."

This book is a fake!
As a physicist I am flabbergasted and slightly depressed by the success of this book. First of all this book presents as if they were equally certain some pieces of orthodox science together with some of the author's dubious speculations. The lay reader is not told which are which. Secondly, the author obviously has no knowledge of the actual history of physics and yet he shamelessly "describes" it to the reader.

Hawking seems to have gathered together all the bad cliches about various physical issues and has taken out all the valuable ideas. He explains nothing, he just asserts that "we physicists know that..., we physicists have demonstrated that...". I cannot see how anyone can actually learn anything about physics from this book, about why we know what we know. And yet, judging from the amount of praise this book receives, it seems that quite a lot of people have fallen under the spell that they have been allowed access to some secret. They haven't and I find this trickery immoral.

Quantum physics and astrophysics are really interesting. They don't deserve to be thrashed in this unashamed manner. If you want to learn something about physics, there are other books which do a much better job, for example Asimov's Atom: Journey Across the Subatomic Cosmos. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Dry but informative.
This is more of a reference book than something you would sit down and read. The chapters on early Assyrian, Chaldean, Greek and Chinese astronomy are comprehensive and well-researched. If want an exciting read, I would recommend anything by E.C.Krupp (Echoes of the Ancient Skies) or Dava Sobel (Longitude) instead.

A wonderful survey of astronomy through the ages
Although published in 1961, this book provides a lucid, engaging, and comprehensive review of the history and practice of astronomy from the pre-Babylonian era to the early 20th century. While lacking in depth due to the survey nature of the work, the information presented is relevant, insightful, and interesting. The flavor of the different eras when astronomy was practiced is certainly tasted as well as insights into the people who viewed the skies above. A great book for a survey of the history of astronomy. A useful project would be to append the book with the astronomical knowledge gleaned in the past century, which would show just how rapidly our knowledge of the universe has been expanding in the recent past.

Terrific
The only reason I don't give this five stars is that some of the historical ideas in here have a sort of outdated feel.still it's beatifully written, and the professor who wrote it obviously really came alive while talking about astronomy.Look at some selections from the table of contents, and see if it whets your appetite.Old Babylonian Sky Lore...Assyrian Astrology...Chaldaean Tables (of the stars)...Gree Poets and Philosophers...Arabian Astronomy...Copernicus...Kepler...Newton...

If this is the kind of thing that floats your proverbial boat, you could do a lot worse than this book.It really is very beautifully written, too -- if you happen to be familiar with, and enjoy, Olaf Stapledon's writing style, you'll find this to be very pleasing.You might want to keep a dictionary of astronomical terms handy, if you are someone who loves the drama of the historical clash of Science versus Dogma, but aren't necessarily that familiar with words like "azimuth", "declination", etc.Also, if you like this, you may want to seek out the jourrnal "Isis", which specializes in the study of the history of science. ... Read more