248 pages
English language
Published Jan. 6, 1996
The book was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the nature of the universe, but since that time there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and the macrocosmic worlds. These observations have confirmed many of Professor Hawking's theoretical predictions in the first edition of his book, including the recent discoveries of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE), which probed back in time to within 300,000 years of the universe's beginning and revealed wrinkles in the fabric of space-time that he had projected. Eager to bring his original text the new knowledge revealed by these many observations, as well as his most recent research, for this expanded edition Professor Hawking has prepared a new introduction to the book, written an entirely new chapter on the fascinating subject of wormholes and time travel, and updated the original chapters. This edition is enhanced …
The book was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the nature of the universe, but since that time there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and the macrocosmic worlds. These observations have confirmed many of Professor Hawking's theoretical predictions in the first edition of his book, including the recent discoveries of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE), which probed back in time to within 300,000 years of the universe's beginning and revealed wrinkles in the fabric of space-time that he had projected. Eager to bring his original text the new knowledge revealed by these many observations, as well as his most recent research, for this expanded edition Professor Hawking has prepared a new introduction to the book, written an entirely new chapter on the fascinating subject of wormholes and time travel, and updated the original chapters. This edition is enhanced throughout with more than 240 full-color illustrations, including satellite images, photographs made possible by spectacular technological advances such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and computer-generated images of three and four dimensional realities.
Got close and then stopped listening for a couple weeks. When I came back, it was incomprehensible to be because I had forgotten most of the essential foundation laid by the rest of the book :(
So... We are nothing more than a colony of ants living on a little rock, floating in an infinite and chaotic universe?
While reading this book I learned a lot of things I was ignoring. I am convinced that if more people had a good understanding of the topics in this book, our society would be different. I enjoyed reading A Brief History of Time, but I have to confess that I had a not so easy time going through some passages and concepts, even tough the book itself is very clear.
Beyond the cold landscape that Hawking depicts through the pages, there is a message about the nature of science. I appreciated how he states things explicitly, like when he states that there is no way of knowing for sure if a theory is correct. Hawking doesn't just spit facts about each topic, instead he reasons with the reader, …
So... We are nothing more than a colony of ants living on a little rock, floating in an infinite and chaotic universe?
While reading this book I learned a lot of things I was ignoring. I am convinced that if more people had a good understanding of the topics in this book, our society would be different. I enjoyed reading A Brief History of Time, but I have to confess that I had a not so easy time going through some passages and concepts, even tough the book itself is very clear.
Beyond the cold landscape that Hawking depicts through the pages, there is a message about the nature of science. I appreciated how he states things explicitly, like when he states that there is no way of knowing for sure if a theory is correct. Hawking doesn't just spit facts about each topic, instead he reasons with the reader, so that all the doubts are set forth.
