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A Brief History of Time
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A Brief History of Time (1988) (edit title/settings)

From the Big Bang to Black Holes

by Stephen W. Hawking (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

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.... read more

Summary edit see section history

A Brief History of Time attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes and light cones, to the nonspecialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex... read more

A Brief History of Time attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes and light cones, to the nonspecialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics.
The author notes that an editor warned him that for every equation in the book the readership would be halved, hence it includes only a single equation: E = mc2. In addition to Hawking's notable abstention from presenting equations, the book also simplifies matters by means of illustrations throughout the text, depicting complex models and diagrams.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

Britain in the 60s.
  • Caius College: Prof. Hawking spent a large part of his professional life there.

First Sentence edit see section history

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. Our Picture of the Universe
2. Space and Time
3. The Expanding Universe
4. The Uncertainty Principle
5. Elementary Particles and the Forces of Nature
6. Black Holes
7. Black Holes Ain't So Black
8. The Origin and Fate of the Universe
9. The Arrow of Time
10. Wormholes and Time Travel
11. The Unification of Physics
12. Conclusion
Glossary
Acknowledgments & About The Author

Glossary edit see section history

  • sum over histories: The idea that in a situation where multiple outcomes may occur, all outcomes are equally "real" and branch off into different histories. This happens at the subatomic level and at the macrocosmic level also. This forms the basis for alternate time-lines: i.e. Germany won World War 2, etc or effects not even noticed because they have been part of life since the beginning.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 93 of 100 in The hundred most influential books since the war. (community list)
This is book 80 of 97 in Waterstone's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century. (authoritative list)
This book is in 100 Fantabulous Book Challenge. (community list)
This book is in TIME Magazine's All-TIME 100 Best Nonfiction Books. (authoritative list)
This book is in Best Books of All Time. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Stephen W. Hawking (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Carl Sagan (Introduction)
  2. Ron Miller (Illustrator)
  3. Grover Gardner (Reader) - reader of audio cassette edition(Books On Tape)
  4. Michael Jackson (narrator not the singer) (Narrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bantam Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1988
ISBN: 0553052438
Page Count: 198

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: QB981 .H377 1988
  • Dewey: 523.1

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Has only 1 equation: E=MC².I feel it is a bit heavy for people who are below the age of 16 as they are still struggling with the basic concepts of physics

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • A Briefer History of Time
  • The Universe in a Nutshell
  • Cosmology

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history

   
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything
  • A Briefer History of Time
  • The Illustrated A Brief History of Time & The Universe in a Nutshell

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

   
  • Glass: A Portrait
  • From Newton to Hawking: A History of Cambridge University's Lucasian Professors of Mathematics
  • The Philosophy of Ecology: From Science to Synthesis
  • Revisualizing Robotics New DNA for Surviving a World of Cheap Labor
  • Borderliners
  • My Big TOE: Discovery
  • Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?
  • Physics and our View of the World
  • It Had to Be You
  • Galileo, Darwin, and Hawking: The Interplay of Science, Reason, and Religion
  • Physically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Physics and Astronomy (Speaking)
  • Discourse Analysis: An Introduction
  • Creating a Family Storytelling Tradition
  • Battling the Inner Dummy: The Craziness of Apparently Normal People
  • Science, Faith and Ethics
  • The Mystery of Things
  • The Dishonest Church
  • Riding Quantum Waves, A 7-Step Plan for Manifesting Desires in the Information Age, 2007 Revised and Expanded Edition
  • Timeless Reality : Symmetry, Simplicity, and Multiple Universes
  • Science and Theology: The New Consonance
  • Psyche and the Social World: Developments in Group-Analytic Theory (International Library of Group Analysis)
  • Modern Physics and Ancient Faith
  • Online Communities: Designing Usability and Supporting Sociability
  • The Giant Leap: Mankind Heads for the Stars
  • Global Complexity
  • The Philosophy of Time (Oxford Readings in Philosophy)
  • Strategies That Work
  • Prisons of Light - Black Holes
  • Fear of Physics
  • Infinite Minds: A Philosophical Cosmology
  • The Age of Spiritual Machines
  • God As Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life
  • The Message of the Living God
  • The Secular and the Sacred Harmonized
  • The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World
  • Nostradamus: Prophecies Fulfilled and Predictions for the Millennium and Beyond
  • Technology and the Spirit
  • The Triune Creator: A Historical & Systematic Study (Edinburgh Studies in Constructive Theology)
  • Heidegger and French Philosophy: Humanism, Antihumanism and Being
  • Letter to Israel
  • Life, the Universe and Everything: Investigating God and the New Physics
  • Ketamine: Dreams and Realities
  • The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India
  • The Vanquished Gods: Science, Religion, and the Nature of Belief (Prometheus Lecture Series)
  • Eccentric Islands: Travels Real and Imaginary
  • Database Design and Development: An Essential Guide for IT Professionals
  • The Song of Suburbia
  • Making Sense of Your World : A Biblical Worldview
  • The Music of the Primes
  • Chasing Science
  • Neighbours and Strangers: Literary and Cultural Relations in Germany, Austria and Central Europe since 1989 (German Monitor 59) (German Monitor,)
  • No Doubt About It
  • Skeptic in the House of God
  • Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind
  • Little Big Minds
  • The Psychosomatic Survival Guide
  • Still Going Strong: Memoirs, Stories, And Poems About Great Older Women
  • Re-Visioning The Way We Work: A Heroic Journey
  • Scientism: Philosophy and the Infatuation With Science (International Library of Philosophy Series)
  • Cosmology
  • The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies
  • Breaking the Rules, Removing the Obstacles to Effortless High Performance
  • Buried Treasure
  • God Doesn't Believe in Atheists
  • Around the World in 80 Days
  • The Church, Community of Salvation: An Ecumenical Ecclesiology (New Theology Studies, Vol. 1)
  • Writing In The Content Areas
  • In the Beginning

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history

   
  • The Time Machine
  • On the Heavens
  • Critique of Pure Reason
  • Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Modern Library Science)

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