Book description
Stephen Hawking's worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of
Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its
author's engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he
addresses is another: the nature of space and time, the role of God in
creation, the history and future of the universe. But it is also true
that in the years since its publication, readers have repeatedly told
Professor Hawking of their great difficulty in understanding some of
the book's most important concepts.
This is the origin of and the reason for A Briefer History of
Time: its author's wish to make its content accessible to
readers - as well as to bring it up-to-date with the latest scientific
observations and findings.
Although this book is literally somewhat 'briefer', it actually
expands on the great subjects of the original. Purely technical
concepts, such as the mathematics of chaotic boundary conditions, are
gone. Conversely, subjects of wide interest that were difficult to
follow because they were interspersed throughout the book have now
been given entire chapters of their own, including relativity, curved
space, and quantum theory.
This reorganization has allowed the authors to expand areas of
special interest and recent progress, from the latest developments in
string theory to exciting developments in the search for a complete,
unified theory of all the forces of physics. Like prior editions of
the book-but even more so - A Briefer History of Time will
guide nonscientists everywhere in the ongoing search for the
tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.
Thirty-eight full-colour illustrations enhance the text and make
A Briefer History of Time an exhilarating addition in its own
right to the literature of science.
STEPHEN HAWKING held the position of Lucasian Professor of
Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years; his other
books for the general reader include the essay collection
Black Holes
and Baby Universes
and
The Universe in a Nutshell.
Physicist LEONARD MLODINOW, his collaborator for this new edition, has
taught at Cal Tech, written for
Star Trek: The Next Generation,
and is the author of
Euclid's Window
and
Feynman's Rainbow
and the co-author of the children's book series The Kids of Einstein
Elementary.
