The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition |  | Author: Stephen William Hawking Publisher: Bantam
List Price: $40.00 Buy Used: $7.93 as of 11/25/2009 04:54 CST details You Save: $32.07 (80%)
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Seller: betterworldbooks_ Rating: 48 reviews Sales Rank: 14985
Media: Hardcover Edition: Upd Sub Pages: 248 Number Of Items: 1 Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9 Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 7.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0553103741 Dewey Decimal Number: 523.1 EAN: 9780553103748 ASIN: 0553103741
Publication Date: 1996 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description In the years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time has established itself as a landmark volume in scientific writing. It has also become an international publishing phenomenon, translated into forty languages and selling over nine million copies.The book was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the nature of the universe, but since then there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and the macrocosmic world. 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 the wrinkles in the fabric of space-time that he had projected. Eager to bring to his original text the new knowledge revealed by these many observations, as well as his most recent research, for this revised and expanded edition Hawking has prepared a new introduction to the book, revised and updated the original chapters throughout, and written an entirely new chapter on the fascinating subject of wormholes and time travel. In addition, to heighten understanding of complex concepts that readers may have found difficult to grasp despite the clarity and wit of Hawking's writing, this edition is magnificently enhanced throughout with more than 240 full-color illustrations, including satellite images, photographs made possible by spectacular new technological advances such as the Hubble telescope, and computer- generated images of three- and four-dimensional realities. Detailed captions clarify these illustrations, enabling readers to experience the vastness of intergalactic space, the nature of black holes, and the microcosmic world of particle physics in which matter and antimatter collide. A classic work that now brings to the reader the latest understanding of cosmology, The Illustrated A Brief History of Time is the story of the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 48
An important book to have out for the children. August 12, 2009 M. A. Thompson (Selah, WA USA) This is a classic science book. Don't be intimidated by the author, this is a well written book for the rest of us. I was surprised of the humor Mr. Hawking uses. One day, one of your children may pick it up. It has a great detailed, but brief history of astronomy. I suggest the illustrated version of the book. It is much easier to follow with visual reference. We already lost Carl Sagan, one day we will lose this great scientist, Stephen Hawking. It is a book that is easy to read (for adults), and will be a good challenge for offspring. I highly recommend this book as a staple publication in your home.
diminishing returns January 14, 2009 K. Stebbings (US) 1 out of 7 found this review helpful
The gains from reading this book are directly proportional to the amount of pictures in it since the quality of the writing is consistently mediocre;one passes the event horizon around page 100.
Good, but hard September 24, 2008 F. Andrekowisk Filho 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Well, it's very nice for those who want to understand the universe better, but it's VERY hard at the first time you read it. I decided to read it all at once, not understanding a lot of it, and going back again to try to get the idea.
An excellent overview of modern physics. October 17, 2007 Solomon (Colorado) 5 out of 6 found this review helpful
If you can find it, I recommend this version over the original "Brief History of Time". This version was written about 8 years later and as such incorporates much that has been learned over the intervening years. In addition, the illustrations greatly enhance the text. They are not only a joy to look at, but actually make the book more understandable. The original work has been characterized as one of the most popular, but unread books of all time. Much of the unread characterization stems from the fact that this is a difficult book unless one has had some minimal understanding of physics. Minimal is, however, the appropriate word as one need not be a physicist to get a lot from this book, but one should not be put off by a discussion of quarks, gluons, gravitons, wormholes or string theory.
The first chapters deal with the classical view of physics and the universe. This is followed by discussions of the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. It is important to note that these are not rigorous discussions, indeed no mathematics is used and the discussion is entirely devoted to the basic ideas and implications of these theories. At least one reviewer has criticized the fact that these subjects have not been developed in any detail, but rather are just expounded. I think that this misses the point. This is not a physics text; rather it tries (I think very successfully) to show the reader the beauty and implications of modern physics. I found the discussion of modern particle physics to be one of the best very elementary treatments that I have ever read. Next he discusses black holes and the origin of the universe. Again, I found his discussion of black holes to be one of the best very elementary treatments that I have ever read. The last chapters on wormholes, time travel and grand unified theories are more speculative than the preceding chapters, but the reader is clearly forewarned that this is the case. (The most speculative, and in my opinion least clear chapter, was the one on wormholes and time travel, which was not in the original version of "A brief History of Time".)
I liked this book a lot and do not agree with those who found it to be unclear and very difficult to follow, but I can see how those with no physics background at all would find it too difficult to finish. This version has the virtue of pictures which make following Hawking's text a bit easier to follow and as he states in the forward "Even if you only look at the pictures and their captions you should get some idea of what is going on."
Simply Beautiful May 1, 2007 Michael Dodd (Whitehorse, Yukon) 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I loved the visuals! Simply awesome for people who are afraid they cannot handle complex physics. Every diagram is important and is a must for the personal library of every science lover. I recommend this book to any parent who wants their children to have a clear understanding of modern science.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 48
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