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Customer Reviews (7)

Nothing very new - some shocking mistakes.
As others have said - "a slim volume".Nearly all the pictures are available in other venues and the astronauts' words really don't add much insight - being limited to mainly short paragraphs or one liners.

There are at least two shockingly bad captioning mistakes (Apollo 12 crew identified with Apollo 11 crew names.LM ANTARES - clearly in landing configuration - identified as drifting empty after returning from the surface).Other captions seem weak in relation to what is in the picture if you know a little more about this missions including a pair of pictures of the Apollo 13 emergency Lithium Hydroxide canister lash up - on Earth and the same in space - which is interesting to compare what the astronauts did from radioed instructions - but is then commented as an assembly of hoses with no reference to the crucial canister in the shot.I'm not being picky - it is poor editorial.

I have a vast collection of books about the Moon Landings and have many of thin content value that stay on the shelf for having SOMETHING new to say.I'm seriously considering not giving this book space - there was little new and I have doubts about any "new" facts I read given some mistakes in the text.

If you want photography shots - Michael Light's Full Moon is a far better introduction to spectacular moon photography.For all NASA supposedly cooperated in the making of this book - it comes a poor cousin - for all Stephen Hawking might offer in the introduction.

Great Photos but there could have been more
This is a slender book. The photos and commentary are terrific but left me wanting more.

Great review of the whole moon landing program
This summer's gushing remembrances of the first Moon landing in 1969 were wonderfully apropos, but neglected to mention that the Apollo program did not start and end with Neil, Buzz, Michael and the Sea of Tranquility. This terrific pictorial gives us unforgettable images of all the Apollo missions and the men who flew them. Better yet, the astronauts are remembered in their own words and in images of their own choosing. There are classic images -- the Earth rise from Apollo 8 and the "visor" image of Buzz Aldrin from Apollo 11. But there are many lesser known images as well, of astronauts posing aside the Surveyor lander, of moon buggies, leaping salutes and many unshaven faces on the way home.

Surprisingly, given the sheer volume of available images, some selections were poor. There is one notably blurry double-page spreads of a ticker tape parade, and where is the shot of Alan Shepard smacking a golf ball into the wild black, starless yonder?

But I truly enjoyed this short and smart look at the incremental steps that brought humanity to the moon and its first few steps beyond that enormous achievement.

This book holds the key
This book holds the key to our future. Because of the race to space we were able to shoot for the Moon. Now we are a part of history as we go back to the Moon with the same design as the Apollo missions. In order to understand the future you must understand the past. This book has the untold stories of our country's past as we made our mark on the Moon. Told through the eyes of those who stud on it.

Great Apollo book
This is a very authentic book on a great American achievement. The photos were all chosen by the astronauts for each of the missions, and the associated text was written by the astronauts, often providing unique comments about the photo. Having worked as an engineer on the Apollo program for eight years, I was very happy to add the book to my Apollo collection. ... Read more

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This series of lectures, given at Cambridge University, introduces listeners to "the history of ideas about the Universe" as well as today's most important scientific theories about time, space, and the cosmos. 4 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Gos Speaks Through His Weakest Vessels
To come to this review, you are obviously interested in either the work that Stephen Hawking does or are interested in Stephen Hawking the man. As such you are already somewhat familiar with the theories of GeneralRelativity and Quantum Mechanics and understand the physical handicapthat afflicts the body of this great mind.The "Complete WorksOf Stephen Hawking", The CambridgeUnabridged Edition, consists ofseven lectures on four audio tapes read by the author himself using a voicesynthesizer machine which must be used to overcome the limitations that ALShas put upon his speech.It is ironic that this great mind issinking within the event horizon of a communication black hole due to thedisease.Despite this fact, Stephen is able to deliver a masterfulpresentation of his life's work in astrophysics, cosmology, and astronomy.His presentation is personal as well as informative and is pepperedthroughout with philosophy, academic humor, and personal insights. It does take some time to get used to the sound of his synthesized voice. Often it sounds robotic, alien, staccato, and certainphrases have a haunting Gregorian chant rhythm to them. I noticed that in a"Brief History Of Time", the words of the text are read by thefamous British radio talk personality Michael Jackson. This isdefinitely a work that needs to be played over and over again stopping tostudy it along the way. I first listened to it on my 1 hour 1 way car tripsto work but plan to listen to it again this summer under the stars at thecampgrounds near the glow of an open fire. The tape consists of thefollowing seven lectures (1) Ideas About the History of the Universe, (2)The Big Bang, (3) Black Holes , (4) Quantum Mechanics, (5) Origin of theUniverse, (6) The Past and the Future, and (7) The Unified Theory .Nowtechies that should really wet your whistle!The tapes are a greatvalue at the price. If you are a student of the subjects covered, have aphilosophical interest in finding where science and God meet face to face,or just want to enjoy the triumph of human spirit over adversity, thenthese tapes are a must hear for you. In summary, Ibelieve that after experiencing these tapes you'll come to the sameconclusion that I made that Stephen Hawking is an example of how the gloryof God and His majestic works can be made manifest in the form of one ofHis weakest vessels.

Great!
This is quite a phenominal book.Prof.Hawking really translates all that mathematical stuff to something even the layman can understand.Its was hard to put down.However some of the lectors have are the same things as a few of the chapters in his other book A brief history of time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

stephen haking
I think this book was not really focusing on Stephen Hawking .It focuses more on other people throughout time.It doesn't give much information about him. Pretty much the only information it gives is what schools he went to, what he was working on when he was there not his more resent work. ... Read more

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A brief biography of the British theoretical physicist who is well-known for his advances in the study of cosmology, accomplished despite being physically limited by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease. ... Read more

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Competing for a $30 million prize, a team is developing an unmanned lunar rover that performs well, perhaps even a bit too well. Aerospace writer Midge McConnell becomes suspicious of the rover’s human-like performance. Her investigations will take her from Hollywood, to the halls of academia, through the Air Force’s Satellite Surveillance Headquarters, onto a lethally guarded Texas research site, inside an exotic lakeside Chinese Traditional Medicine Sanatorium, and to the Xichang Rocket Launch Base in Sichuan Province, China. What she discovers will put her squarely on the horns of a moral dilemma. International relations here on earth, and perhaps the survival of the human species in future space colonies will depend on her choice.

This techno thriller is based on two contradicting statements made recently: (1) English physicist Stephen Hawking proclaimed that the future survival of the human species depends on space travel to other planets, and (2), a former NASA official said that until we can engineer a tiny person, long space trips carrying human intelligence is not practical.

Could an autonomous intelligent computer bridge this gap? Would it be capable of making necessary moral decisions? The dilemma is solved by a terminally ill quadriplegic’s immoral human decision; lie about the robotic intelligence by putting himself secretly aboard and pretend to be a computer, a COMPUTER BRAIN.
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We have Mobile Phones. Why not a Mobile Brain?
In COMPUTER BRAIN, Dr. Dusenbury continues Michael Crichton's tradition of weaving the threads of real facts into the fabric of a disturbingly plausible scientific fiction. The story launches from the real fact of the $30 million Lunar X-Prize for the first private venture robotics team to reach the moon. It is not much of a reach of imagination that a competitive team's ambitionmight tempt it to take steps to shorten the development time while choosing to shorten a life.
It would also not be a stretch of the imagination that the author himself wrote this review to encourage others to read the book and contribute a thoughtful and hopefully a 5 starreview.
Download a free sample on I-Phone or Kindle Reader.
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Einstein's General Theory of Relativity leads to two remarkable predictions: first, that the ultimate destiny of many massive stars is to undergo gravitational collapse and to disappear from view, leaving behind a 'black hole' in space; and secondly, that there will exist singularities in space-time itself. These singularities are places where space-time begins or ends, and the presently known laws of physics break down. They will occur inside black holes, and in the past are what might be construed as the beginning of the universe. To show how these predictions arise, the authors discuss the General Theory of Relativity in the large. Starting with a precise formulation of the theory and an account of the necessary background of differential geometry, the significance of space-time curvature is discussed and the global properties of a number of exact solutions of Einstein's field equations are examined. The theory of the causal structure of a general space-time is developed, and is used to study black holes and to prove a number of theorems establishing the inevitability of singualarities under certain conditions. These conditions are shown to be satisfied in the vicinity of stars of more than twice the solar mass near the endpoint of their nuclear evolution, and in a time-reversed sense for the universe as a whole. In the first case, the singularity in our past. A discussion of the Cauchy problem for General Relativity is also included in the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Large Scale structure of good science books (& spacetime
I think that this book has great depth, and is one of the best Stephen Hawking books I have read.My favourite remains 'A Brief History of Time', but still this book is extremely excellent.My compliments to the chef.

A classic in mathematical general relativity
This book is now a classic and is written by two giants in mathematics and physics. It wil be used for many years to come and is certainly one of the most widely quoted in the subject.

The authors begin the book by a discussion of the role of gravity in physics and its role as determining the causal structure of the universe. They introduce the idea of a closed trapped surface, setting the stage for the goal of the book, namely the study of the conditions under which a space-time singularity must occur. Black holes and the beginning of the universe are cited as examples of these singularities. The authors also outline briefly the content of each chapter. A neat argument is given for the significance of focal points via the use of Raychaudhari's equation.

The second chapter is an overview of the background in differential geometry needed in the rest of the book. Although complete from an axiomatic point of view, the approach is much too formal for readers who do not have a knowledge of differential geometry. Such a reader should gain the necessary background elsewhere.

General relativity as a theory of gravitation is discussed in chapter 3. Spacetime is assumed to be a connected 4-dimensional smoothmanifold on which is defined a Lorentz metric. The topologyis assumed to be Hausdorff. Some of the more interesting or well-written parts of this chapter include the example of a spacetime that is not inextendible, the determination of the conformal factor for the spacetime metric, and the discussion of alternative field equations.

The authors discuss the physicial significance of curvature in chapter 4, namely its effect on families of timelike and null curves. The most important part of this chapter is the discussion on certain inequalities tht the energy-momentum tensor should satisfy from a physical viewpoint. These inequalities, called the weak energy condition and the dominant energy condition, allow the authors to prove the existence of singularities ina later chapter. The reader can see clearly the role of the Jacobi equation, and its solution, the Jacobi field, in measuring the separation of nearby geodesics. The existence of conjugate points is proven, and shown to imply the existence of self-intersections in families of geodesics. As a warm-up to showing the non-existence of geodesics of maximal length, the authors employ variational calculus to study how to vary non-spacelike curves connecting points in convex normal neighborhoods in spacetime, and between points and hypersurfaces. In particular, it is shown that a timelike geodesic curve from a hypersurface to a point is maximal iff there is no conjugate point to the hypersurface along the curve. In addition, the authors prove that two points joined by a non-spacelike curve which is not a null geodesic can be joined by a timelike curve.

The authors consider the exact solutions of the Einstein field equations in chapter 5. Most of the "usual" spacetimes are considered, including Minkowski, De Sitter, Anti-de-Sitter, Robertson-Walker, Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordstrom, Kerr, Taub-Nut, and Godel. The emphasis in on the global properties of the spacetimes and the existence of singularities in them. The famous Penrose diagrams are used to "compactify" spacetimes in order to study their behavior at infinity and their conformal properties. The authors first introduce the concept of a future (past) Cauchy development here, so important in later developments in the book. The reader can see the tools developed in chapter 4 in play here; for example, the existence of a singularity in a spatially homogeneous cosmology is shown to follow directly from the Raychaudhuri equation. The existence of the singularity is proved to be independent of any acceleration or rotation of matter in such cosmologies.

In chapter 5, the authors consider the causal structure of spacetime, namely the study of its conformal geometry. The consideration of the set of all metrics conformal to the physical metric allows one to discuss "geodesic completeness" of spacetime, this concept forming the basis of a later definition of a singularity in spacetime. The more interesting topics discussed in this chapter include the causality conditions (there are no closed non-spacelike curves), and the Alexandrov topology and its connection with the strong causality condition (every neighborhood of a point contains a neighborhood of the point no non-separable curve of which intersects it more than once). When strong causality does hold, the Alexandrov topology is equivalent to the usual manifold topology, and thus the topology of spacetime can be determined by the observation of causal relationships. The discussion on the role of global hyperbolicity in showing the existence of a maximal geodesic is also very well-written.

The next chapter is pretty much independent of the rest, and was put in no doubt for the mathematician who desires to understand the Einstein equations as a set of nonlinear second-order hyperbolic partial differential equations with initial data on a 3-dimensional manifold, the famous Cauchy problem in general relativity.

Chapter 8 is the most important in the book, for its uses the constructions of earlier chapters to define the notion of a singularity in spacetime. The authors argue that singularities are points where physical laws break down and thus to characterize them one attempts to find out whether any such points have been removed, making spacetime "incomplete" in some sense. Such a notion of incompleteness is very meaningful in topological spaces with a positive definite metric, since in that case one can define completeness in terms of the convergence of Cauchy sequences. In spacetimes with a Lorentz metric, the authors discuss the notion of geodesic completeness for null and timelike geodesics. A very detailed treatment of the now famous singularity theorems is given, these theorems involving an inequality of the Ricci tensor. The last two chapters of the book are more physical in nature wherein the singularity problem is shown to have physical relevance via the occurence of black holes at the endpoint of evolution of massive stars.

A wonderful, foundational work of mathematical physics.
The early seventies saw a revolution in cosmology; for the first time, modern mathematical methods were applied to the discipline, with intriguing results.This book was (along with Penrose's articles) the seminal work in global general relativity.Often overlooked is that the first half ofHawking & Ellis is devoted to traditional GR via the tensor calculus,and the q-form conception.However, trying to learn GR with this volume isnot recommended (instead, cf. D'Inverno).The meat-and-potatoes of thebook is the discussion of gravitational collapse, and the singularitytheorems.They provide us with intuitively good reasons for believing insome very strange phenomenon.If you're interested in the frontiers ofmodern science, and have the appropriate mathematical background, this bookcannot be recommended too highly.The little yellow book stands supreme inthe hierarchy of works of modern physics.

Suitable only for mathematicians
Don't be mislead by Hawking's popular works, this is a book by a mathematician written for mathematicians.Unless you studied mathematics to at least graduate level (you need to understand vector calculus, vectorspaces and tensors to get anywhere) you are unlikely to get much from thisbook.Even then to read it at anything other than the most superficiallevel is very hard work.However even at the superficial level it givesone insights into some interesting aspects of general relativity.

The best book on modern General Relativity
This book of Stephen Hawking is the more elegant one on modern General Relativity and is my favorite book. It covers in brilliant form the gravitational collapse of a star, the theory of black holes, the space-time singularities, the causal structure of space-time, and in its end the initial singularity of the universe, popularly known as the Big Bang. Thebook is highly mathematical, and is pressuposed that the reader have studied basic abstract algebra and point set topology. But, for the readers highly interested in these subjects(as I am), this is not a obstacle. All theoretical physicists interested in modern General Relativity should have this book, a testimony of the Genius of Stephen Hawking. Definitively, a magnific book. ... Read more

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Stephen Hawking is a world-famous physicist, but few peopleoutside his field know what he has done. To the public he is a figure of tragic dimensions - a brilliant scientist and author of the phenomenal best-seller A Brief History of Time, and yet confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak or write. Hawking has mastered the two great theories of 20th-century physics - Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics - and has made breathtaking discoveris about where they break down or overlap, such as on the edge of a Black Hole or at the Big Bang origin of the Universe. Here is the perfect introduction to Hawking's work by the author, who was helped by several long discussions with Hawking in researching the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Awesome!!!
This book has a comic book feel to it which makes it enjoyable, easy to follow, and hard to put down.This book is perfect for visual learners and makes it easy to relate to.Definitely recommend this book for class or just to expand ones own knowledge, its really a great book!!!

harrowig black holes
McEvoy & Zarate's Introducing Stephen Hawking (ISH) is as clear as clarity gets. I came to it well read in the history of science in general and of mathematics and physics in particular as well as all manner of out-of-date textbooks with all the pain that such reading entails. Though to read is not to comprehend, the bit of light that trickles through is a keen pleasure. Habit being a daunting foe as well as a mightily generous friend, I am slowly but surely clambering onto a seat whence I can read physics and poetry with near equal bewilderment and illiteracy and innumeracy. It helps to love staring at text--even in letters or ideograms that look like bad jokes.

ISH is not only easier and clearer than Paradise Lost or the Iliad, it covers larger ground in a tenth the length of either. The book has nailed in place for me all the primary images from Sig. Galileo to Hawking. Git the book, read it, and you'llexperience a similar gratitude to the one I have toward McEvoy & Zarate. And, Hurray for Great Britania for her obsession with Introducing...(I ain't no Brit either. Not by a long shot)

Outstanding contribution to the popular understanding of Stephen Hawking and modern physics
This book is impressive in the amount and complexity of physics it delivers in an understandable manner. It starts with the physics of Galileo and Newton, moves through relativity and then ends with quantum mechanics. The goal is of course to present the advances in physics made by Stephen Hawking and a combination of cartoons and text is used.
The authors also do not make the major mistake of avoiding equations at all costs; they use them when necessary and explain them well. Combining this with the clear exposition of the very complicated principles of physics and this book is an outstanding contribution to the popular understanding of the life of Hawking and modern physics.

So Hawking wants to win the Nobel prize does he
I read this book as a science work, not as a promotional biography.

As popular writings of modern physics go this is a rather good account of modern cosmology.The author has a physics background thus making the science fairly honest.The writing is linear with ample asides to bring the reader up to speed on important concepts.The brevity of the writing bespeaks compatification, not loss.

The problem is that Hawking wants to win the Nobel Prize something fierce.The author is out to lend his support to a fellow Britisher by publishing this unabashed Nobel promo (the closing pages give a summation of why Hawking should win the big one).As far as the cartoony format goes the caricatures seem to be directed at those physicists and religious figures (generally dead) the author wants to relegate to supporting roles to the great one.If you can get around these prejudices you will find a good read.

good descprtion of general concepts :)
I was a bit reluctant to like this book when I first read it because of its abundance of cartoons that appeared to be quite cheaply drawn. It also belonged to part of a larger series of 'Introducing' books and I'm always reluctant to like those because they always seem to be directed towards making a profit rather than providing good information.

Contrary to my first impressions, the book was actually fairly good and informative. It covers a good part of Stephen Hawking's life as well as some background in fundamentals of physics so you can grasp some of his ideas. Although soem cartoons are completely gratuitous others actually provide extra clarification on the ideas expressed.

The book gives a very broad overview over Stephen Hawking's ideas. Specifically his theories concerning black hole radiation. Some stuff was a bit hard for me to grasp (atleast to understand all the little details was near impossible) but the book illustrates the general ideas very well :) ... Read more

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Wanna think a lot?
This a great book. Why? Because it REALLY makes you think. Hawking leads you smoothly from the beginning to the end of the universe. He shows the different ways things could be, why things weren't that way, why things are the way they are now. Sometimes is a little heavy, but if you read it slowly, it will all come to you. If I tell you more, I will spoil one of the greatest books I've ever read. Enjoy it, spent some time in it, you won't regret it. As a matter of fact, once you started it, you will carry it with you everywhere. ... Read more

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It is as a story for children
It is as a story for children with the necessary amount of physical principles for beginners, very good ... Read more

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Does Creation need a Creator? This book examines the question of the origin of the universe from the viewpoints of both science and religion. It argues that a scientific explanation for the beginning need not destroy belief in God. The book describes the discoveries of modern cosmology. What is the evidence for the big bang theory? How far can science go? What is quantum gravity and how significant is the work of Stephen Hawking? A new chapter reviews recent scientific discoveries and resarch into time travel and other ideas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excellent introductory text
I enyoyed this book greatly.It provides an excellent introduction to the sometimes overwealming amount of material available on big bang cosmology and its philosophical implications.It also strikes a nice balance between the science and the religious aspects of thinking about the big bang.Wilkinson never over-states his case, taking pains to point out where uncertainties lie in both the science and the natural theology.His conclusions are therefore realistic and draw the reader to the understanding that God's revelation is primarily not found in nature (although strongly suggested by both Cosmological and Design arguments) but in the written revelation of Scripture.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in obtaining a fast and very readable understanding of how the Big Bang origin of the Universe ties in with faith.

Excellent and Well-ordered presentation of the key issue
Before I've read the book "A brief history of time" and found it is very intestesting. Then this book reinforce me about what is the key points stated by Hawking and, most importantly, what is the problem stillremained unsolved. This is a very good book to those outsiders of astronomylike me. ... Read more

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This social history of mathematics and physics tells the story of Cambridge University's mathematical physicists. The University's Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics is one of the world's most celebrated academic positions. Since its foundation in 1663, the chair has been held by seventeen men who represent some of the most influential minds in science and technology. This informative work offers new perspectives on such world-famous scientists as Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, Paul Dirac, and Stephen Hawking. ... Read more