A classic, always worth a re-read!

Ever since I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by everything related to space and astronomy, having even considered the exploration of the cosmos as something that I wanted to pursue when I grew up. I used to watch all kinds of documentaries that I could find on these subjects, and I even carried around a book that portrayed all the constellations and where you could see them, in hopes I could witness them with my own eyes.

However, as the years passed by and my life and interests shifted more towards the art world, I stopped being as invested as I was in that exploration of the universe, ending up with only casually exploring the beautiful images that Hubble captured and NASA published. This book brought back all the love that I had for this world.

I recognise the fact that I must have missed much of the true range of the concepts that Stephen Hawking explored, since I found some of them to be a bit too complex for someone outside of the science world to fully comprehend in all of their glory. Despite that fact, I still found this book extremely educational and informative, letting you understand the basis of black holes, the formation of our universe, the concepts of quantum gravity and string theory, among many other themes, bringing a clearer comprehension to them than I previously had. Stephen Hawking also wrote everything in a very simple manner, making everything even easier to grasp. Reading this truly felt like an honour, as I imagined it to be a lecture given by one of the most brilliant minds that have lived among us.

A fascinating book that I would fully recommend to anyone who is interested in learning a bit more about this wonderful thing that is our universe - that is as astonishing as can be, as Neil deGrasse Tyson so beautifully puts it:

“However big our world is, our hearts, our minds, our outsize atlases, the universe is even bigger. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the world's beaches. More stars in the universe than seconds of time that have passed since Earth formed. More stars than words and sounds ever uttered by all humans who have ever lived.

The day we cease the exploration of the cosmos is the day we threaten the continuing of our species.”

I wasn't sure what to expect when I approached this book. Being such a huge Einstein fan and knowing how he struggled in his own, final quest for the Theory of Everything just before he died, well, I didn't know what to think. Had Hawking finally cracked that elusive nut?

I was originally homeless when I first discovered this book, and living in my car with my 2 cats. I would head to the library on special days to kill time, and immediately go to this book and throw myself into its pages. I'd always been a sort of Hawking/Penrose fan up to this point, but really got into the details of the theories seriously when I decided to return to college to study math and theoretical physics.

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of levity and wit Hawking used to approach his topical essays! And he made a successful, conscious choice to remove most of the superfluous "professor-speak" and attempt to keep it on a level that most non-scientists could understand. I commend him for that. This book was a bit of an eye-opener for me. My favourite essays were of those on black holes. The interesting thing, is that since reading this book, we have discovered the existence of hyper-giants, which weren't around when Chandresekhar devised his now famous, "Chandresekhar limit" when calculating at what conditions an imploding star would finally fold under the mass of itself and become a black hole. It makes me wonder what this now does to his limit calculations.

All in all, a superb book for the scientist and non-scientist alike. Highly recommend.

Imagine how mind blowing this would have been if I had understood it all!

“Si encontramos la respuesta de por qué el universo existe, sería el triunfo definitivo de la razón humana, pues entonces conoceríamos la mente de Dios”.

Hawking cuenta el origen del universo y otros temas de interés, utiliza un lenguaje sencillo y en los capítulos sale a relucir su peculiar sentido del humor.
Aún así, me siento incapaz de dar una evaluación ya que no acostumbro leer ensayos científicos.

Typically this book is for people who is inclined towards science(Physics in particular). But if want to read, you can go on your own. Most of the non-science people will not find this book pleasing. But author tries his best to make this book for everyone. By keeping mathematical equations away.

২০০২-এ প্রকাশিত বইটি এই অল্প ক'টা বছরেই বুড়িয়ে গেছে। এতেই বুঝা যায়, বিজ্ঞান কী দ্রুতগতিতে এগুচ্ছে! অনেক ধারণা যা এখন বাতিল বলে গণ্য- তা বইটিতে রয়ে গেছে। সুতরাং, পাঠককে মনযোগী হতে হবে, সকল ধারণা ও তথ্যের ব্যাপারে নির্ভুলভাবে জানতে সাম্প্রতিককালে প্রকাশিত বইয়ের শরণাপন্ন হলে উত্তম।
প্রথমা প্রকাশিত এবং আবুল বাশার অনূদিত ভার্শনটি পড়েছি আমি। শুরুর কয়েকটি অধ্যায়ে সাবলীল অনুবাদ চোখে পড়লেও শেষদিকে যেন অগোছালোভাবে কাজ শেষ করা হয়েছে বলে মনে হলো।

60%

~Insightful, but I didn't really enjoy the writing format and the writing itself. I am so into Astronomy and kind of Stephen Hawking books, but sorry, the writing of this book didn't make me inspired to learn from here.

“The most remarkable property of the universe is that it has spawned creatures able to ask questions.”

Excellent start, very comprehensible and enjoyable to read. The first three chapters are marvelous. Towards the end, either it reaches my horizon limits in physics, or the author is too occupied to justify his own theories to care about the reader's understanding. I was lost in the end.
All in all, a recommended reading.

Read this buddy. You will find yourself into the another level. You will find the all these are men who are fighting for each other are just meaning less.

Can God make a stone so heavy that He can’t lift it?