Product Description
Describes the life of the renowned theoretical physicist who has taken the study of cosmology further than most in his field, despite his need for wheelchair and computer to travel and communicate. ... Read more

Product Description
Based on a documentary film on Hawking and his work, this reader's companion features candid personal interviews with Hawking's family and friends, personal photographs, and illustrations of his theories. 250,000 first printing. $250,000 ad/promo. Movie tie-in. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

SIMPLY SUPERB!!
This is the BEST book I have ever read.I had never ever known astronomy in such a detail.I was able to impress my physics teacher by asking questions that brought even her in utter chaos and by answering some questions that were meant for 12th grader and above.You will start digesting astronomy after readin it!

Absolutely wonderful!
I'm only sixteen and before I read this book I knew very little about space. With this book I was even able to prove my chemistry teacher wrong on several occasions, one dealing with nuclear force. This book isexcellent for anyone looking to expand their knowledge on how we came tobe.

It made me think on higher levels about the universe...
Stephen Hawking's a Brief History of Time: A Reader's Companion was a time stoppingly good book.It made me think on a higher level about the universe, black holes, and time.Much of this information, like the factthat black holes give off radiation, I had not yet begun to comprehend inthe far reaches of my younge mind.Stephen Hawking, unlike most people ofhis brain power (if there are any people with brain power equal to his),made his words in a form that even the most common of Joes could understandevery atom of what he was trying to say.I recommend this book to anyonewho wants to learn more about time and how it effects the universe and itsblack holes.I hope everyone likes it as muck as I do. Thank you and,Stephen, keep up the good work. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of one of the most remarkable figures in theoretical physics since Einstein describes Hawking's childhood, Cambridge days, and battle with his illness and discusses his theories. Reprint. AB. K. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Good Hawking Primer
I was really surprised to see all the mediocre reviews for this book.I think its a well written "Hawking Primer."I've noticed two primary complaints: that it is hard to digest and it doesn't succeed as a biography.

On the second count, the author explains Hawking's discomfort and self-consciousness with a straight biographical account; that he would rather a reader hear his ideas than get a lot of detailed information about himself.In a sense, you're learning more about the man with statements like this than with pages and pages about his development and daily existence.Such an attitude communicates a great deal about his humility, and in a way you'd probably never perceive if someone had just given you a book of facts about "Stephen Hawking."At any rate, it appears that the author worked closely with Hawking while she wrote, and she simply honored his request to keep the biographical information minimal.

Regarding the first count, there were a few ideas in chapter seven (if I remember correctly), concepts regarding the mathematics of movement in space-time, that I had trouble with.At the same time, the author plainly states that these ideas are not integral to understanding the broader themes and let's the reader off the hook, saying, "You can skim this if you want...its not essential that you understand it, just more interesting if you do."My background is in political science, so this stuff is completely outside my scope.If I can understand 98% of it, any reader should be able to.The 2% I didn't understand, I was told by the author not to worry about.What more do you want in an introduction to Hawking's ideas?

Another fantastic thing about the book is that it is very short.You can read the thing in one sitting if you have a mind to.It's been a long time since I felt I was investing in learning something important without also feeling like I was putting my life on hold for it.Ferguson makes one conversant in Hawking's theories and discoveries without bogging them down, making them feel like they have bitten off more than they can chew, or presenting science and mathematics in a book so large one wonders if it will ever end.

Excellent... at deceiving

I felt that Ferguson achieved a nice balance by intermingling Hawking's biography with introduction to his theories. It allows your brain to alternate between working on science and returning "back to earth" to meet an interesting human being with all his problems and victories. The science part is very layman-friendly, and at the same time is not too slow for the scientifically-minded (just a bit too politically correct, but it's understandable). The biography part is tactful, and with just the right amount of detail. The book is clear and inspiring, and she convinced me to read Hawking's "A brief history of time".

Strangely enough, Hawking's book turned out to be not as clear and inspiring as Ferguson's book. She painted him as the king of clarity, conciseness, and humor, but I don't get such an impression at all from reading his book. So now I have mixed feelings: I respect Ferguson for being good at writing and teaching (better than Hawking at both), but I'm annoyed with her for the false advertisement.

Interesting if you understand it already
After reading A Brief History of Time I decided that I wanted to learn more about Stephen Hawkings himself and how he became who he is today. I picked up this book written by Kitty Ferguson, which is claimed to be a biography and started reading it. After about twenty pages she was done talking about his life and started talking about his theories. This was disappointing to me because I thought the book was a biography.

As I continued reading I became somewhat confused while she told about Hawkings discoveries. The explanations were little or none in trying to get the reader to understand the ideas. It did not help that there were very few small illustrations that were in the book to go along with her explanations. If there were highly detailed color illustrations such as those in A Brief History In Time, it might have been much easier to understand.

I did enjoy the beginning of the book where Kitty goes into detail about the beginning of Hawkings life but I feel like it was just an overview of how he became who he is today. I would not recommend this book, instead I would recommend A Brief History In Time because it is much easier to understand because it has great illustrations and is not so mathematical.

Interesting book, but also very tedious at times!
I really liked this book at times, but found Kitty tries to hard to explain Hawking's theories. If you are not one of the Mensa crowd then it gets a little meaningless like similar to reading Greek, can you speak or read Greek? not me! Some of Hawking's theories are explained well and are pretty straight forward, such as the singularity theory and how many believe the universe has expanded and then retracted back to a singularity and then expanded and retracted over and over. Also it goes into detail about his belief that particles can escape black holes, once it reaches the event horizon it splits the negative may fall directly into the black hole past the even horizon and the positive falls away from the event horizon freeing it.This aside what I really wanted to read more about was the man Hawking himself. I mean come on, I've already read "A brief history of time". In short this book is short on explaining much about Stephen and tries to hard to explain some of his many theories.

Interesting Book
Kitty Ferguson gives a lot of info on Stephen Hawking's life and works, being a small book in size it is full of interesting theories on Universe and Black Holes. It is purely scientific book thus it tries to explain everything scientifically, eventhough Stephen Hawking sometimes accepts that science cannot prove some things that are beyond our reach, nevertheless he does not accept that the whole universe is a God's creation.

"The Creation of the Universe" by Hârun Yahya is an excellent book which explains scientifically how God has created the Universe. ... Read more

Product Description
George is heartbroken when he learns that his friend Annie and her father are moving to the US. Eric has a new job working for the space program, looking for signs of life in the Universe. Eric leaves George with a gift—a book called The User’s Guide to the Universe. But Annie and Eric haven’t been gone for very long when Annie believes that she is being contacted by aliens, who have a terrible warning for her. George joins her in the US to help her with her quest—and before he knows it, he, Annie, Cosmos, and Annie’s annoying cousin Emmett have been swept up in a cosmic treasure hunt, spanning the whole galaxy and beyond.

Lucy Hawking's own experiences in zero-gravity flight and interviews with astronauts at Cape Kennedy and the Johnson Space Center lend the book a sense of realism and excitement that is sure to fire up imaginations. The book includes essays written by Professor Hawking and his colleagues, in which they provide the latest thoughts on space travel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

George's Awesome Book
My son loves science and he absolutely loved this book.Anything to encourage reading is great!!

good read
I enjoyed reading this, the story gives actual facts, along with the 'asides' of planet information. Excellent for children as well as adults preparing to read "A Briefer History of Time."

wonderful adventure!
I have 2 boys, ages 7 & 10.Even though my boys can read themselves, we found great pleasure in reading this series out loud together.The boys were mesmerized with the adventure side of the story, and I was absolutely impressed by the clear detail in the facts presented about the universe.I highly recommend this book.We love giving it as a gift to their friends.It is a sweet adventure story written by brilliant individuals.I highly recommend both book in the series.

George's Adventures
I read this to my 5 year old along with the previous book in the series.He loved it.The inset pages with astronomical facts were sometimes beyond him especially the speed and distances, so I skimmed those and read what I thought he could understand.The inset facts are not part of the story other than that they pertain to something already discussed.He loves the stories and cannot wait for the next book in the series.

Doesn't get any better than these books...
My seven year old loves anything to do with science, but did not love reading.I bought these two books hoping that he would enjoy me reading them to him.He loved them!!!I did too actually.They were so interesting and fun.I wish there were more of them or other books as good.
... Read more

Product Description
Where did the universe begin? Are black holes real? You'll get a big bang out of superstar cosmologist Stephen Hawking! His mind-boggling theories about the origins of our universe are out of this world! ... Read more

Product Description
At the beginning of the 21^st century, physics is being driven to very unfamiliar territory--the domain of the incredibly small and the incredibly heavy. The new world is a world in which both quantum mechanics and gravity are equally important. But mysteries remain. One of the biggest involved black holes. Famed physicist Stephen Hawking claimed that anything sucked in a black hole was lost forever. For three decades, Leonard Susskind and Hawking clashed over the answer to this problem. Finally, in 2004, Hawking conceded.

THE BLACK HOLE WAR will explain the mind-blowing science that finally won out, and the emergence of a new paradigm that argues the world--this catalog, your home, your breakfast, you--is actually a hologram projected from the edges of space.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (52)

A Bet Not a Battle
Since I am not a physicist of any kind I don't feel entitled to render any technical opinion with regard to Leonard Susskind's latest, "The Black Hole War", and his historical recounting of his debate with Stephen Hawking over the loss of information when it passes into a black hole.I am also not a mathematician and am therefore unable to comment on the math that makes string theory, for instance, necessary to describe his side of the debate.I am, however, an engineer and practically speaking the idea that as an object approaches a frontier it can never pass that frontier because with each step it moves it only divides its distance to the frontier in half.Therefore the object will continue to get closer and closer into infinity and never make it to the frontier let alone pass into it.That has never made sense to me...the joke that an engineer can get close enough rings true.

Yet here we have a book that by my estimate is more accessible than Hawking's (A Brief History of Time), as well as Woit's counter argument to string theory (Not Even Wrong).Susskind delivers a well written account of most of the basic physics necessary to understand his problem, as well as a few others. He takes us through the years and many clues that were uncovered eventually leading Hawking to concede he was indeed wrong...apparently. The war, by the way, was waged over a twenty year period but the only evidence that there was a war seems to be in Susskind's mind.Hawking's concession comes at the end of the book, on page 445, if it's a concession.It seems Susskind spent the first 444 pages of the book teaching us physics so that we could understand when Hawking threw in the towel.I did not learn enough to understand this defeat.I did learn that the amount of money that it was worth to Hawking that he was right was exactly $1 U.S. dollar. That came in the form of a wager he made with another physicist, but his concession left me flat. This was a small bet, not a battle.

This is a good book definitely written by a man who loves his work and can express concepts to the lay person on the order of Carl Sagan.Black Holes are more understandable here then in anything I have read.String theory is also well treated.I recommend this book to the weekend physicist or perhaps grade school science teacher but I don't think it presents anything close an understanding of the material to produce an explanation or to actually engage in a debate on the topic.4-stars.

All hat and no science
...or at least very little.

I admire scientists and they have every right to think highly of themselves individually and as a group.But Susskind's ego is so huge that it distorts the fabric of space-time around this book.And as the book contains constant distortions of its own, trying to make one's way through it while maintaining a reasonably correct version of the current state of knowledge re quantum theory, relativity theory, and particularly information theory and black hole theory, which Hawking remains the master of despite Susskind's vain crowing, is nearly impossible.

Susskind's big claim to fame:for about five minutes he was right and Hawking was wrong over an arcane detail concerning what might happen to information swallowed up by a black hole.Actually neither were quite right and Hawking has since restated the matter in what is now the currently (tentatively) accepted version.

The book's (and most of the reviews') most irritating distortion is to state in present tense a position briefly held by Hawking as if it were still his position ("According to Hawking...").

The warping of reality begins with the title."War.""My battle with Stephen Hawking."Hawking probably wouldn't remember Susskind's name if Susskind weren't such a indefatigable self-publicist.Hawking's name on the cover is what sells Susskind's book.Quantum mechanics is, was, and will be (until something better comes along, if ever) quite safe even in those infinite versions of our universe where Susskind didn't happen to have been born.

And quantum theory and general relativity still are not close to being resolved, and nothing Susskind has done has made them a Plank-length closer.Hawking's latest popularizer describes in simple and modest terms how M-theory may accomplish that in the future, though there is much to be done both experimentally and in theory.

Susskind probably doesn't have the math to do string theory, or else he would be doing something useful there (as the increasingly debilitated Hawking still manages) instead of still clinging, like a has-been, punch-drunk fighter, to his brief moment of (as he sees it) triumph over the master.

Plenty of excellent pop books on the current state of play.Pick the one with the most chapters on whatever most interests you.Avoid this self-glorifying embarrassment.

An insightful introduction to modern physics
How could one expect a lay public to follow such an arcane debate? Yet the author opens the tale with himself and a colleague staring perplexed at a blackboard displaying the conundrum. He succeeds by presenting their perplexity as a mystery novel; one which I found hard to put down.

Two hundred pages later one has begun to appreciate their perplexity, and one has also learned an appreciation of some of the fundamental concepts of modern physics. The author does not just dictate facts, but offers insights. I found new approaches to introducing these concepts to my undergraduate students.

I am still confused
Even though I put in about seven years as a mathematician forty seven years ago ending with fancy letters after my name, there was a point in this book where I could no longer understand of the author's explanations of string theory with thought experiments.The explanation of entropy as information is one of the best I have read for laypersons.I remember a class on information theory with David Blackwell at Berkeley in the early 60's and by god there was a formula for entropy in a signal but I never could translate that into the real physical world.Susskind's presentations and examples were very useful.

This book is a strange one.The problem of making common sense of an abstruse science expressed in complex mathematics both of which have left common sense far behind is fundamentally contradictory.Using thought experiments,calling on the authority of Einstein who used them brilliantly, to demonstrate ideas which are really embodied in the thought experiment----and then the author wavinghis hands and saying that he is skipping the details which really make or break the argument--- is great literary device for us poor untutored readers, but of course this begs the question.We are simply taking the author's word for it, even if someone who disagrees with him would use the same handwaving to assert a contrary position.This is a conundrum in writing about the contents of science, particularly math and physics, for lay persons.

So where is physics really at.It gets me.As far as I could tell not much of what the author was writing about has been tested out there.He says that there isn't a shred of experimental data on the entropy, temperature, Hawking radiation, black hole complementarily, holographic principle relating to black holes.So who cares.And somewhere else I think he says that string theory is essentially untestable.Well certainly I can't make sense of string theory even as the author presents it.Relativity, quantum theory, nuclear physics ring a bell but is string theory just an intellectual game because physicists need the Newtonian project of a theory of how the universe runs, even if the theory is untestable. It is akin to Milton Friedman's ringing endorsement of modern portfolio theory whose assumptions are unrealistic and whose use by financial wizards have almost led us into a depression. It doesn't really matter about what went into the theory if it works, i.e. can generate the historical record.

I like what Susskind has to say about the relation between our common sense of the world and physics' explanations of how it works.In 1905 Einstein disabused us of simultaneity, then quantum theory of determinism. We humans make sense of thing in a time, gravity and space that are a very small proportion of the times and spaces in which most of the universe operate. So no wonder we can't conceive of how things work even though we might be able to create a mathematics and experimental realm to actually manipulate some of the things happening which contradict our common sense.And the theoretical discussion of black holes disables our common sense even more.Events in and out of the horizons of black hole are really different events depending on where you stand. Things that should be happening inside the black hole are only seen to occur on its horizon and the horizon itself is weird.My new age friends want all this to be evidence to support pseudo-Hindu or Buddhist ideas about the nature of reality.And there are many physicists bored with their physics who make a living off of feeding this illusion.Some fifteen or so years ago I sent a bright young student of mine who was interested in the Tao of physics to chat with physics professors in the university about the subject.He came back shaken at how dismissive they were.Now part of this was simply hostility to anything woo woo, but part of it was a recognition of how off base the popular discussions were from what the physics really addressed.

A couple of other comments about the book.I know I haven't really addressed the core of the author's assertions, but I don't think I am competent to.But where I am is his use of Thomas Kuhn's ideas of scientific revolution.Although Kun hardly emphasized it, he was deeply influenced by 1920s and 1930s sociological phenomenology. Yes Scientific Revolutions ended with ideas that were strictly incommensurable with the accepted theory which came before.Einstein's space and time were not Newton's and quantum's notions contradicted Einstein's.First revolutionary formulations help explain experimental anomalies in the old order, then new confirmations: maybe indeterminism doesn't make sense, but it sure works.Then comes normal science, what sociologists used to call bench science. Assumptions are not questioned and useful results ground out.You don't get Nobel prizes for it but it sure changes how we are able to manipulate the world.Black hole physics may involve a change of paradigms a la Kuhn, but it is not normal science because it doesn't manipulate the world, i.e. it isn't experimental.And physics which isn't experimental, might as well be math, or philosophy.And when it comes to explaining the history of these subject matters, Kuhn's model is highly suspect.My first question to him in 1966 was, "What does pre-paradigmatic mathematics look like?"He couldn't answer then and I still can't now.Although sociologists and psychologists love to claim paradigms and embrace Kuhn's model to try to hitchhike on the authority of Science, they can't do Kuhn's normal science.I wonder about physicists who can't either.Maybe the Hadron Accelerator will suck us into a black hole.I don't understand enough physics even to be able to think about the possibility.If so, then the theories of black holes become real physics.Anyway, the first part of Susskind's book is a good read. I fell down 2/3rds of the way through.

Charlie Fisherauthor ofDismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World

Excellent book
This book explains very difficult concepts in simple terms for a general audience. The book is specifically about a war between relativists and quantum physicists about the properties of black holes and information as a physical quantity. Susskind is a great writer. His style enthralls the reader all the way to the end of the book. I give this book 5 stars for the writing style, analogies, and introduction of very difficult concepts in simple terms. I have formal training in Physics and I am familiar with a fair amount of the Mathematics needed to work out problems in Quantum Field Theory, General Relativity, and String Theory. So I understand the challenges a writer faces when trying to put these concepts in simple terms and I have read both very technical books and also books for the general audience on these subjects. Susskind does an excellent job. This is one of the best books I have read on modern Physics for a general audience. I highly recommend this book to both students of Physics and professional scientists and to anybody who is interested and enjoys Physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Stephen Hawking - The Illustrated a Brief HIstory of time - The Universe In a Nutshell

A wonderful book . . .Well written and easy to understand . . . Pictures and charts (graphs) aid in understanding . . .Stephen Hawking makes it fun and easy to get a glimpse of quautum mechanics, black holes, properties of light, etc. . .

Not above anyone's head!
I was initially drawn to this book because of my intense interest in the Science Channel and its programming about black holes, stars and the universe in general. I can't say I'm disappointed I picked this up either. Delving into A Brief History of Time almost feels as if you are watching a program about the universe because complicated concepts are broken down simplistically into layman's terms. The illustrations are excellent complements to the text's ability to explain mathematical confusion with ease.

For me, the most important reason to read this book isn't to learn about puzzling physics equations, but instead to be enlightened about how small we are in the story of the universe. It's quite humbling, and has the possibility to make you view life differently.

Yes, this is a science read, but it's a page turner as well. Don't pass this up if you haven't read it yet!

Strong Physics Concepts
Stephen Hawking does not produce light reading.If you are interested in pure, scientific principles, this book provides 2 books worth of reading for one low price.

Universe In A Nutshell
The book was in fairly good condition with a few small knicks in the paper cover.

Very good books
Very nice books plus affordable price. I like them very much.
Thanks a lot ... Read more

Product Description
Jane Hawking, divorced wife of Professor Stephen Hawking and mother of his three children, relates the story of a marriage begun in optimism, despite facing motor neurone disease. Caring for him meant the willing suppression of Jane's own academic interest and her personality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Interesting Look into the Hawkings' Family Life
This is an interesting book on a multitude of levels. It is not just your regular celebrity expose. It is also a look into the life of an academic family, the family of a severely handicapped person, and a look into British life.

Jane Hawking married Stephen Hawking, believing that his life would be a short one. They hoped to jam as much love and fulfillment into what they thought would be short years together. They married fairly young, had children right away and set to keeping house. (Boy, wasn't everyone surprised at his staying power!)

Jane (May I call her Jane?) describes the domestic details of a young family as well as the intrigues of her tweedy academic society at the University. Its a delightful look into how academes live, describing the politics, the society and the passion for learning. At various points, they travel to the States and other places in Europe and she enlightens us on the life of the learned in those places, as well. If you contemplate a career in academia, this book can be enlightening.

She, for many years, was an astounding caregiver, dealing with Stephen's (May I call him Stephen?) progressive physical decline and heavier demands. She managed to run the household, raise the kids, and literally haul him around for years before a serious respiratory incident forced her to bring professional nurses in full-time. She recounts battles with the British health care system, battles for access with the University, and the domestic friction that one would expect when one member of the family is so handicapped.

Jane got a PhD in her own right (you GO, girl!) in Spanish poetry and here is where the book loses a star. The book's a bit more wordy than it needs to be, on a number of fronts. My PhD buddies tend to write non-thesis material like that. I recognize the style. A bit of editing may have been nice.

Still, a worthy read for moms, academes, caregivers, stargazers, Spanish poets, Baroque musicians...

Real people, roller coaster experiences
Jane Hawking tells life as she lived it with her husband of 25 years Stephen Hawking. This is a story of families - those that Stephen and Jane came from and the one they built.

The interplay of love given and received from unexpected sources is a major theme of this book. Kind words from colleagues were remembered as she struggled to bring up 3 children and help make a sick husband strong.

Insights on living with the disabled from a family perspective abound. The energy needed to run concerts, dinner parties, childrens' parties, trips and more comes through in the book, as well as profound emotions.

This book inspires one to make the most out of life. Stephen's pioneering research is clearly explained in simple terms for those who do not have a PhD in the mathematical physics of black holes.If a little lengthy, it reveals vignettes of an academic life that roams from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge across the Atlantic to dreary Seattle and sunny Pasadena.

With candid insights into her private spiritual experiences the author draws her own conclusions regarding the role of God in the universe.

Real people, roller coaster experiences
Jane Hawking tells life as she lived it with her husband of 25 years Stephen Hawking. This is a story of families - those that Stephen and Jane came from and the one they built. The interplay of love given and received from unexpected sources is a major theme of this book.

Kind words from colleagues were remembered as she struggled to bring up 3 children and help make a sick husband strong.
The energy needed to run concerts, dinner parties, childrens' parties, trips and more comes through in the book, as well as profound emotions. Insights on living with the disabled from a family perspective abound.

This book inspires one to make the most out of life. Stephen's pioneering research is clearly explained in simple terms for those who do not have a PhD in the mathematical physics of black holes. If a little lengthy, it reveals vignettes of an academic life that roams from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge across the Atlantic to dreary Seattle and sunny Pasadena.

With candid insights into her private spiritual experiences the author draws her own conclusions regarding the role of God in the universe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Disappointing Bio
I thought that spending almost $30 for a biography meant it would be a substantial one.Instead, it is less than an inch thick, with the binding and written by a childrens' author.It is a great book for kids but what about the adults? There is a photo of Stephen and his second wife on their wedding day but nothing written about their meeting and relationship. There is nothing about his belief change to intellegent design either. One of the greatest minds of our time deserves a more complete biography. ... Read more

Product Description
Updated edition traces the course of Hawking's life and science, successfully marrying biography and physics to tell the story of a remarkable man. Authors have skillfully painted a portrait of an indefatigable genius and a scientific mind that seemingly knows no bounds. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Perspectives on a Man and His Mind
When I first heard of Stephen Hawking, he had already reached his pinnacle of fame. It was the standard draft: "Have you heard of Hawking? He's disabled, nothing left but his mind, but oh! What a mind!" Stephen Hawking A Life in Science filled in the life behind the mind, but it goes further to share the science in the context of physics thought of the modern age. In ways, this book is more accessible than the explanations of A Brief History of Time, providing and illustrative that makes the other approachable. I appreciated the context of pop culture, and Hawking's rise to Hollywood fame. I really enjoyed the entire book. If you have a mind for science and the advancement of theory, so will you.

Cool and hot universe
--This is a story about one man who has changed man's view on the universe, about one man who miraculously survives......

Spending more than twenty years of life on a wheelchair, Stephen Hawking has revealed the most intriguing part of the whole universe, through his groundbreaking discovery in black holes. Considered "the successor of Einstein", Hawking attempted to combine quantum mechanics and relativity, two contradictory theories, breaking a new path for scientists to reveal the nature of physics. But perhaps the most fascinating part of Hawking's miracle is his fight and resistance to his illness, which, according to the doctors, would have ended his life by the age of 21. Despite huge difficulties of moving and speaking, Hawking has never given up himself, and neither has his wife, Jane, who helped Hawking go through the most difficult time of his life. The authors are inspired by Hawking's tenacity and spirit, and also will every one who will read Hawking's life through this book. After reading the book, one would understand, as what the authors hope, what contribute to Hawking's success--not only his genius and incisive intuition, but also fortitude and a positive attitude toward life. This book perfectly blends theories of physics and the universe with Hawking's life, depicting a colorful and unique picture to help understand the indefatigable scientist.

Book motavations
The story of Stephen Hawking that is told in the book is not only extremely informative but also very Physics based. The motivations for the author to write the story are obvious, due to famous nature of the subject that is Stephen Hawking. And the reason for being famous is different to just about every other situation possibly imaginable. The reason for reading this book is not confined to those that are interested in Physics. The book is written in a nature that allows all people to read and understand it. it show people where Stephen Hawking had been and what he had done before he become disabled from his disease, as well as allowed people to better understand and appreciate him as a person in society growing up and not as someone that was different from all other people. it can give some hope to those that do not believe that they will be able to do something with there lives and allows the idea of a chance of success

JoJo's Review
Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science is an excellent biography which presents one of the most celebrated physicists, Stephen Hawking, in an elegant and expressive manner. Michael White tells of the significant events that greatly influenced Stephen King's life, for example the disease that crippled him but he fought valiantly enough to delay his later death. White wrote in a way which kept the readers attention. It had the basic theories that an average reader could fully understand, but the book did not go in depth with the scientific reasoning behind the theories.
Overall, I generally liked the book even though at times the book seemed to go on forever. I have to say I honestly learned quite a lot about his theories of black holes etc. The overcoming of his disease inspired me because it showed how strong he wanted to finish work. I would suggest this book to other readers because there is a lot of information that can be understood. It is a pretty long read but it flows pretty nicely especially if you like the science genre.

A Fascinating Story of a Man and His Ideas
Stephen Hawking A Life In Science by Michael White and John Gibbons does a fantastic job of combining both the story of Stephen Hawkings's life and in depth explanations of his scientific work and findings.The story of Hawking's life is told starting from his very early childhood and progress through his schooling and career.The book discusses the people and events in Hawking's early life that influenced him to work in the field of Cosmology.The book also addresses the discoveries and theories that Hawking developed in his studies.The theories are explained in plenty of detail but the authors do a good job in making them as easy to understand a possible.The story of Hawking's life itself is truly amazing because of the significant discoveries he made despite his disability.The book is worth while fro anyone who want s to learn about Stephen Hawking and wants to learn a bit about his discoveries and why they are significant.Although the authors do try to keep the explanations simple, there are some parts that are hard to understand without a decent knowledge of physic's principles.Even so, the book is still well written and the story it tells is fascinating. ... Read more

Product Description

Here is an intimate glimpse of the greatest scientist of our day, the brilliant physicist confined to a wheelchair whose A Brief History of Time has become the first worldwide scientific bestseller of the century. The story of Stephen Hawking's relentless quest for the secret of the origins of the universe will change forever the way you look at the stars . . . and your place among them.

Customer Reviews (8)

satisfaction
I was fullly please with my order... My expectations have been met in every angle.

The Illusion of the Horizon
How does one become an elder of the tribe?
A first at Cambridge is a long way toward making one an elder.
Being abused for discovering a fact like evaporating black holes also seems to help. Where there is a limit to eldering Hawking reached it in 1980 when he said the end of science was in sight. In my own cosmology research I have found indications of seven layers of self-similar quantum uncertainty based on odd powers of the velocity of light. Hawking's limited physics is based on only two of these layers. In terms of observation we have only Levy jump
structure in distributions of galaxy clusters , dark matter and the observation by Dr. Parker of a very small particle in supernova spectra to indicate that these unknown theoretical layers actually exist.
Like terrorism which kills it's own best and brightest, a doctrine of limits on science is self defeating and probably wrong philosophically as well. An elder of the tribe can be mistaken and so mislead others.
We appear as a tribe to be at a plateau of learning, but not at an end to it.

"On the Shoulders of Giants" Stephen Hawking's Universe Book Review
Stephen Hawking's Universe by John Boslough is an introduction to the life and works of one of the most remarkable scientists of our time, Stephen Hawking. Boslough, whom has delved deep into his life, depicts Stephen Hawking in the book as a man, and not as a brilliant scientist. This depiction also sets the tone for the rest of the book as Boslough uses his own personal, creative flair to explain scientific theories surrounding such topics as quasars, quarks, black holes, the Big Bang, and the universe into easily understandable terms. For the large task given, Boslough's attempt is quite admirable as he uses a series of everyday examples to simplify the technical jargon for the half-enthused readers, such as myself. Boslough's explanations give the readers truly wonderful insights into the subject of cosmology, a subject that was otherwise likely never to be comprehendible to me. Boslough has created a biography that is both humble and flattering of Stephen Hawkings for his discoveries are always connected to the forbearers of the field such as Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein, whose contributions are all discussed within the book. After reading the book, it is not hard to tell why John Boslough was compelled to recount the story of Stephen Hawking. The scientific breakthroughs that have come from a man confined to his wheelchair will alter anyone's ignorant perception of the universe and isolated thinking of the world. I recommend this book to anyone who is not already an expert on cosmology and looking to indulge one's mind into the intricacies of the universe without overly complex reasoning. Plus, a reader may come across a very interesting individual in doing so.

Boslough at his best!
This is one of those very FEW books that I have actually read more than half a dozen times (yes, call me crazy)!A good book is difficult to put down, but a great book is difficult to not re-read!

I have always had an interest in Physics, particularly cosmology, black holes, and the Big Bang theory.This is one of the first books I've ever read on such topics.Boslough has a way of presenting his material in a concise, enjoyable, interesting way.This is one of the best science/physics books (for the layperons) I've ever read!This is THE book that got me hooked on further and continued readings about physics, cosmology, the Big Bang, quantum theory, and so on.Were it not for this book, I'd still be dreading the physics classes I took in college more than 15 years ago!

This book also laid a lot of the foundation work for my research into black holes in preparation for the writing of my science fiction novel "Temporal Armageddon".

Revealing.
This small book, originally written in 1984, was and is still revealing.
Firstly, on a personal level, Hawking admitted already at that time that "As far as theoretical physics are concerned, I'm already ... quite far over the hill'.
Secondly, it gives an excellent explanation of Hawking's contribution to theoretical physics (black holes and their similarities to the beginning of time).
Thirdly, Hawking has outspoken opinions about the anthropic principle (against), the universe of Eastern mysticism (an illusion), the many universes theory (not meaningful) or determinism ('Even if we do achieve a complete unified theory, we shall not be able to make detailed predictions in any but the simplest situations').

This booklet offers also excellent examples for the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics and contains Hawking's Inaugural Lecture 'Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics?'

Although this book is, from a theoretical point of view, out of date (no superstrings), it should not be missed. ... Read more

Product Description
Does the universe need a Creator? This book examines the possible origins of the universe from the viewpoints of both science and religion. A scientific explanation for the beginning does not have to destroy belief in God.

David Wilkinson leads an excellent and impressively clear exploration of the discoveries of modern cosmology. He welcomes much of Stephen Hawking's account described in A Brief History of Time but contends that the scientific story does not take in all the facts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Embracing both sides
This is an interesting book by a liberal Christian regarding how he combines faith and science. He does not combine them very smoothly. The book lurches as it goes from cosmology to religion. Wilkinson does a good job at describing physics in a readable way, but left me without any new ways of looking at things. I found the book Finding Darwin's God to be more personal and touching in describing that author's struggle to make sense of religious conflicts over biology instead of physics. That is a better book unless one is interested strictly in physics. ... Read more

Product Description
Stephen Hawking is the world-famous physicist with a cameo in "The Simpsons on his CV", but outside his academic field his work is little understood. To the public he is a tragic figure - a brilliant scientist and author of the 9 million-copy-selling "A Brief History of Time", and yet confined to a wheelchair and almost completely paralysed. Hawking's major contribution to science has been to integrate the two great theories of 20th-century physics - Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. J.P. McEvoy and Oscar Zarate's brilliant graphic guide explores Hawking's life, the evolution of his work from his days as a student, and his breathtaking discoveries about where these fundamental laws break down or overlap, such as on the edge of a Black Hole or at the origin of the Universe itself. ... Read more

Product Description
Based on lectures given in honor of Stephen Hawking's 60th birthday, this book comprises contributions from the world's leading theoretical physicists. Popular lectures progress to a critical evaluation of more advanced subjects in modern cosmology and theoretical physics. Topics covered include the origin of the universe, warped spacetime, cosmological singularities, quantum gravity, black holes, string theory, quantum cosmology and inflation. The volume provides a fascinating overview of the variety of subjects to which Stephen Hawking has contributed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Great Book Celebrating The Career (and Life) of a Gifted Cosmologist
An age-old tradition in the scientific community is to celebrate the career of an eminent scientist upon reaching his or her 60th birthday.This particular volume was written to celebrate Steven Hawking's 60th birthday, which not only because of his prolific scientific work, but also his physical condition is all the more reason to celebrate his life and achievements, during which, physics has grown to encompass the entire spectrum of matter - bridging particle physics with cosmology.

The book is divided into 9 sections, with topics ranging from Desitter Space, M-Space, Hawking Radiation, Black Holes, Spacetime, Singularities, Quantum Gravity, Cosmology, as well as an overview of Hawking's career.As one would expect, the sections are high-quality writings, providing not only a celebration of Hawking's lifework, but also a time capsule for future researchers of the history of the state of the art in physics at the beginning of the 21st Century.

Contributors include Hawkings' one-time research partner Roger Penrose, as well as other luminaries of the physics research community, including Martin Rees, Kip Thorne, Werner Israel, Leonard Susskind, James Hartle, Alan Guth, and others.In addition to the discussions of physics theory, there are more personal references made by the likes of Stanford's Leonard Susskind in which he recounts debating with Hawking on information loss in black holes; with the University of Oxford's Roger
Penrose on the theory of black hole entropy; and with Caltech's Kip Thorne on cosmic censorship (the existance of naked singularities) and the possibility of time travel.

Incidentally, Hawking and Susskind have been named Distinguished Research Chairs of the Perimeter Institute in Canada, at which the likes of Lee Smolin and Gerard t'Hooft are also members.

THE CURRENT GREAT PHYSICISTS ALL IN ONE BOOK
This book of insightful and sometimes very witty presentations to honor this very courageous icon of science and mathematical physicist is MUST reading for all Physicists and Applied Mathematicians who want to get a glimse of the great minds of the past 40 years. I enjoyed every page. You do not need a PhD to comprehend this book, just a solid scientific and mathematical foundation. Good reading, fellow scientists and mathematicians! Prof Dan Remy (ret)

Books like this don't come along often
This book collects a series of lectures given at a conference celebrating Stephan Hawking's sixtieth birthday. If you don't know who Stephen Hawking is then this book is definitely not for you! His contributions are too extensive to give a comprehensive list here, a very short list of highlights would include seminal contributions to singularity theorems, quantum cosmology, co-authoring one of the great books in general relativity and his discovery that black holes emit (approximately?) thermal radiation. The lectures collected in this book provide a more complete overview of the many areas in which he has contributed. Given Hawking's accomplishments it's not surprising that the books contributors include many of the world's most prominent physicists.

There are forty-four chapters covering a vast range of topics in theoretical physics. The level of the material also has a wide range, from introductory to very advanced discussions. I thought the selection of papers was great.

The first part of the book is at a very introductory level. That isn't to say the material isn't quite interesting. The topics include basic general relativity, gravity waves, cosmology and singularities. This part should be accessible to a general audience.

The remainder of the book is more advanced, some of it quite advanced. Nevertheless I would expect much of it to be accessible to advanced undergraduates. Some of the material is fairly standard such as cosmology (standard general relativity treatment), inflation and black holes (standard general relativity version). However, most of the topics presented involve less well understood physics.

It's difficult to describe the breadth of the content without just looking a table of contents, but I'll try to give a rough idea of it. Not surprisingly there are many talks on physics of black holes that isn't completely understood. A partial list of black hole topics includes: primordial black holes, inner-horizon stability (a tentative answer is given), string effects and information loss. Here is a very coarse grained list of the rest of the content: loop quantum gravity, chronology protection conjecture, topology change, the holographic principle (or conjecture, depending on who you ask), Euclidean quantum gravity, topology change, string theory (touched on in many talks), quantum cosmology (basic, with supersymmetry and implication for the problem of time), cosmology (a wide variety) and more.

In summary, many interesting ideas in theoretical physics are discussed. They naturally center on general relativity, quantum gravity and cosmology. Even the difficult topics are fairly accessible. I would expect most graduate students would enjoy it, as would many advanced undergraduates with a solid background in general relativity and quantum mechanics (however, a lot of the material is quite challenging). Some of the material would also be interesting to astronomy and astrophysics students too. ... Read more

Product Description
An easy-to-understand introduction to the complexities of today's and tomorrow's physics. The author assess what is and what is not actually possible according to the laws of physics, among all the weird and wonderful things that Kirk, Spock and Scottie got up to in their parallel universe.Amazon.com Review
Sure, we all know Star Trekis fiction, but warp drives and transporters and holodecks don't seemaltogether implausible. Are any of these futuristic inventionsfundamentally outlawed by physics as we understand it today? ThePhysics of Star Trek takes a lighthearted look at this subject,speculating on how the wonders of Star Trek technology mightactually work--and, in some cases, revealing why the inventions areimpossible or impractical even for an advanced civilization. (Example:"dematerializing" a person for transport would require aboutas much energy as is released by a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb). ThePhysics of Star Trek deserves merit for providing a refreshercourse on topics such as relativity and antimatter, but let's face it:the reason most people will want to read this book is simply that it'sfun to poke holes in the premises of their favorite science fictionshows! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (70)

A good read for someone who likes physics and/or Star Trek
I found this book to be very interesting. I've only watched a handful of Star Trek episodes in my life, but I was still able to follow along with most of the topics that were mentioned in this book. Lawrence Krauss does a good job at describing the physics principles have been incorporated into Star Trek. I was surprised to see that Star Trek really does involve a lot of things that involve physics!
Something that I found very interesting in this book is when Krauss discusses travel in space. He describes the great distances that are between our world and other parts of the universe. Because these distances are so great (up to millions of light-years), Krauss says that traveling that far in a straight line is impossible for us. And so, the writers of Star Trek invented the "warp drive" in order to overcome this obstacle. In this book, Krauss talks about how "warping space" is the only feasible way of traveling great distances. He then discussed the physics behind the extra dimension in space which makes it possible to warp space time. I found this to be very remarkable.
Another interesting thing that I read about in this book is the author's analysis of the holograms in Star Trek. In the book, Krauss talks about light beams and their wave-like properties. He mentions how if 2 waves are added together and are in phase with each other then the amplitude will double. If the two waves are not in phase with each other then the waves will cancel each other out. Krauss then connected this idea with holograms. He said that if you have a photographic film that measures the intensity of the waves, you would then be able to extract the information and recreate the object that scattered the waves. This would be used to create a hologram.
My only criticism for this book is that sometimes the author jumps to conclusions too quickly. For instance, Krauss said that it would be impossible have sufficient computer memory which would be needed to store all of the atomic information about a person getting beamed. Krauss then said that his computer hard drive can only hold up to 16 megabytes of information (which is the basis of his argument). Since the time that this book was published, however, we can see that computers have improved drastically. For this reason, I don't agree with the author that computing power would limit the ability to beam a person. It would be very hard to predict the power that computers will have in the future.
Overall, "The Physics of Star Trek" is an interesting book and is fairly easy to read. Some parts of the book were a little confusing for me because I haven't seen every episode of Star Trek, but I was still able to follow along with most of it. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys physics and/or Star Trek.

Terrific read for the layman
I saw Mr. Lawrence on youtube and liked how he articulated scientific ideas for the "everyman" so much that I decided to give this book a try. I'm glad I did. It's a great joy to find someone who can make science so much fun and easy to understand. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who has even a mild interest in physics.

Great Overview of Current Physics Therories
Great overview of current physics theories using the popular cultural icon of Star Trek. If you want to brush up on what recent theoretical physics ideas are out there, this book is a good way to do that. Using examples and what ifs from the popular movie and TV series helps the explanations. Don't expect a too detailed, in-depth discussion. Think of this book as an introduction to or a brush up on such topics as partical physics, Einstein's General Relativity, and string theory.

Very enjoyable
This is a fun and educational book. Lawrence Krauss,a physicist who loves Star Trek, offers gentle criticism of much of the physics in the show. Sound waves do not travel in space, to take one example. At the same time, he concedes some of Star Trek's supposedly far-out ideas are conceivable, if unlikely (e.g. traveling faster than the speed of light).Anyone who has even a passing interest in Star Trek and has ever wondered "could that really happen?" should read this book.

Fodder for Trekkies
Because it's 10 years old, it is a tad dated, but lawrence Krauss nails it. Much fodder for a non physicist. It is highly recommended. ... Read more