The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking (PDF)

Description

Stephen Hawking’s phenomenal, multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief History of Time, introduced the ideas of this brilliant theoretical physicist to readers all over the world. Now, in a major publishing event, Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book.The Universe in a Nutshell• Quantum mechanics• M-theory• General relativity• 11-dimensional supergravity• 10-dimensional membranes• Superstrings• P-branes• Black holesOne of the most influential thinkers of our time, Stephen Hawking is an intellectual icon, known not only for the adventurousness of his ideas but for the clarity and wit with which he expresses them. In this new book Hawking takes us to the cutting edge of theoretical physics, where truth is often stranger than fiction, to explain in laymen’s terms the principles that control our universe.Like many in the community of theoretical physicists, Professor Hawking is seeking to uncover the grail of science — the elusive Theory of Everything that lies at the heart of the cosmos. In his accessible and often playful style, he guides us on his search to uncover the secrets of the universe — from supergravity to supersymmetry, from quantum theory to M-theory, from holography to duality. He takes us to the wild frontiers of science, where superstring theory and p-branes may hold the final clue to the puzzle. And he lets us behind the scenes of one of his most exciting intellectual adventures as he seeks “to combine Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and Richard Feynman’s idea of multiple histories into one complete unified theory that will describe everything that happens in the universe.”With characteristic exuberance, Professor Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extraordinary voyage through space-time. Copious four-color illustrations help clarify this journey into a surreal wonderland where particles, sheets, and strings move in eleven dimensions; where black holes evaporate and disappear, taking their secret with them; and where the original cosmic seed from which our own universe sprang was a tiny nut.The Universe in a Nutshell is essential reading for all of us who want to understand the universe in which we live. Like its companion volume, A Brief History of Time, it conveys the excitement felt within the scientific community as the secrets of the cosmos reveal themselves.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I like

⭐One of the foundational books in my early teens. Reading it again almost 10 years after it feels like a gentle lullaby book about the boundaries of astrophysics.

⭐Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018, was a preeminent physicist, and this is one of several books that he wrote describing physics for a non-mathematical audience. In it he discusses such things as whether time had a beginning, the nature of black holes, and progress toward a complete unified theory to explain the universe. I found the book fascinating, primarily for the science but also for incidental remarks about the scientists.To my surprise, it was a fairly quick read, the prose free of abtruse contortions, and the text interspersed with diagrams and illustrations. That said, there were times when I was deeply perplexed. I read chapter two twice to understand it better, and there were five places in the subsequent chapters where I wrote question marks to indicate my confusion. Chapter six, where Hawking turns from physics to biology and computers, appealed to me less than the rest of the book. (I found myself questioning his assertions there in a way that I didn’t in the physics sections.)I mentioned that I found this a quicker read than I’d expected. The downside to that is that I’d have appreciated more detail, but that may be hard to achieve without getting into nitty-gritty mathematics. Overall, this strikes me as a very good introduction to the areas of theoretical physics that Hawking studied. Interested readers, myself included, can then scurry away to find further books on the subject. Highly recommended.About my book reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don’t end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn’t like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I’ve loved).

⭐Extremely happy with the collectible book in perfect condition including transcription inside hard shell book binder / cover. Seller was also very kind and helpful, who quickly was able to answer a bunch of questions I had about it, and done so in a personable way, and shared even more history about it’s origins and the prior owner (who was a prolific scientist and engineer!).Would highly recommend purchase anything from this trustworthy and helpful seller.

⭐This is not a book for the timid or for those who have not read other and simpler books on quantum theory. The illustrations are excellent and contribute to your understanding of what is being discussed but even so the concepts are not simple to grasp. Like many of the other reviewers I have a technical background in engineering and have read widely in the area of physics and quantum theory. Nevertheless this book is a challenge and I cannot honestly say that I grasped all of it. In fact my criticism of the book is that it presumes considerable knowledge by the reader and some of the theories seem farfetched. The fact that an equation can be made to work simply by making convenient assumptions does not constitute proof from my perspective. I was amused by Hawkings indirect hit on evolution when he points out that intelligence does not appear to be necessary for life and thus life on other planets is problematic. That section alone was worth the price of admission.Nevertheless, Hawking again demonstrates his humor and his personality clearly shines through. His ideas and concepts are challenging and without doubt he has contributed more to cosmology than almost anyone else. I enjoyed reading the book, I liked the pictures, I think I may have even understood some of it. If you are interested in cosmology and quantum theory this is a good book. I only gave it four stars because it is not as easy to understand as his “Brief History of Time”.

⭐Scholarship is great. But you know what? Most real scholarship is rare and is probably incommunicable. Enter a book like this with wonderful color illustrations, a writer with a reasonable sense of humor, and a text that gives if you work on it. Yes, I said work. There is no other way. Books have to be read; it is the only way of discovering what they contain. Worst luck, it takes time and energy. But the rewards are great and will include your being a welcome asset at dinner parties, especially those parties that discuss the origin of the universe, the nature of matter, the distortion of space-time by gravity, and the possibilities of time loops working backward.I read A Brief History of Time, the first book by Stephen, and found much repetition in this his follow-up book. And like a dummy I paid full price at the local Barnes and Noble for The Universe in a Nutshell when I should have ordered from Amazon. After reading the book and rereading it, I ordered three as Christmas gifts for my children. I wanted to share with them the knowledge that: 1. The universe is awesome. 2. Our current understanding of the universe is awesome too. And 3. This masterpiece by one of the awesome physicist-mathematicians of our time is awesome as well.

⭐Hawking uses illustrations and descriptions of theoretical physics that seem fictional but are based on principals that control our universe. He doesn’t like to use formulas but does use Einsteins (E=mc2) that helps him explain relativity and Richard Feynman’s idea of multiple histories to form a unified theory to describe our universe. There is still research to do on the beginnings of the universe. Spacetime seemed surreal to me with black holes, p-branes, worm holes, warped spacetime loops, cosmic strings, virtual particles and wave function that would make space travel a challenge. We would still have to explore the galaxy in a slower than the speed of light in a spaceship until the warp speed (faster than the speed of light) can be reached like in Star Trek. It seems there is much work that the scientific community needs to do but many of the secrets are revealed in this interesting book.

⭐This book is well presented but it is a much harder read then A Brief History of Time. The reader needs a pretty solid foundation in theoretical mathematics and a fair knowledge of particle physics. For example an appreciation of imaginary time vide imaginary numbers – is helpful to say the least. It needs dogged determination to get through some chapters. Still, good value for money and mind expanding, if you let it.

⭐I recommend the hardcover book as it will probably be read a thousand times, the book was in mint condition so credit to the seller. Good quality glossy pages especially for pictures. Very well written as you would expect, and a well maintained explanation with huge amounts of information to get the brain working, just right for those of us without a million science degrees. A good price i thought.

⭐Gifted to someone who loved it

⭐I do like science books and my library is 70% science books, I can say though that it seemed to be tailored for a broader market. For those that are not used to reading these books. I cannot give it less stars as it was rather comprehensive; and it was meant for that market as an almost zeg-way into the field.But I do prefer his newer books.

⭐This is a good book in that it explores some very interesting topics. But I personally found the layout confusing, not sure where to start on the page and the beginning-to-end-ness of the book is lost.Also, a few more scuff marks and creases than I would have expected.

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