Customer Reviews
Top-notch science book and a good intro to heavyweight cosmological topics - By: Mr. Graham Cummings, 08 Aug 2008 
I really enjoyed reading this book, & have just started reading it again. I'm a big fan of Jim Al-Khalili's work, & the attempts he makes to explain seriously heavy cosmological ideas to everyday people.
What I think he does extremely wellin this book is to help you build a difficult-to-understand conceptin your mind, without a single mind-bending equation. This is all the more amazing, given that a sizeable portion of the information containedin this book is based on theory rather than proven fact.
The only thing that didn't work for mein this book was the attempts at humour. I really like the conversational style, as it really aids your understanding of the information, but the jokey comments remind me of seminars I've been toin the past where the listeners laugh at the speaker's jokes just to be kind & save embarrassment.
But anyway, apart from that, the book is faultless & it thoroughly deserves five stars. I would suggest reading it, even if you aren't interestedin this subject. I think it would also work really well as an audiobook too.
An excellent read, not too technical and humorous to boot - By: Moonchita, 18 Feb 2008 I thought this book was excellent. I've been fascinated by this subject for years & have attempted (and failed) to read Hawking, Einstein et al because I just found them too complicated & too filled with equations to make sense. I have 2 hons degrees so I don't think I am that stupid (I hope not!) but I just found Hawking & the like to be unreadable- their concepts are not explainedin laymans terms & unless you are an expertin quantum mechanics its like wading through treacle. This book, however, was perfect for a dunce(!) like me & the author gave practical examples & diagrams for most of the complicated concepts such as how black holes work & the concept of time. The style of writing is also very accessible & smattered with the author's own personal thoughts & witty observations which I liked as it made it seem more like we were having a conversation rather than him talking at me about subjects that i don;t understand. For example,in the time travel section he uses the film "The Terminator" to illustrate the time travel paradox which having seen the film, was really helpful & I actually understood what he was saying (yay!).
The book inevitable throws up more questions that answers but this is the nature of cosmology & sciencein general I think. There are some fascinating insights into the possibility of time travel & the fact that according to the laws of gravity, it is technically possible & I was blown away by the idea of Planck time (a measurement of time that is so small, there are more planck unitsin a single second than there are seconds since the universe began). The concept of infinity was also brilliantly explained & it made me realise that the universein which we live is more mysterious & unfathomable than I ever realised possible. An excellent book which makes this subject understandable. I actually feel more intelligent having read it!!
Fascinating book, accessible to all. - By: , 09 Jan 2005 To someone (like myself) who has little or no knowledge of physics, this book is a REAL eye-opener. It is incredibly exciting, & has a deal of humour to boot.
Some parts DO require concentration to get your head around, & I must admit on one or two occasions being slightly lost. Thankfully though 99% of the book was quite easy to follow.
Primarily the book is focused on giving the reader an overview of Einstein's Theories of Relativity, &in particular how these could be applicable to time travel.
My only slight criticism is that the author does seem to concentrate on building/using time machines from a practical viewpoint, as though the reader is a Sc-Fi fan.
Before reading it I thought the universe was born billions of years ago with the Big Bang, & that I was at a certain pointin time, & it would carry on ad infinitum after I die. Not necessarily so according to modern physics!
A very small sample of amazing information that I learned was:
Time could start running backwards if the Universe stops expanding & starts contracting.
Time slows down the quicker you go (near the speed of light time almost stops, or speeds up to infinity depending on your viewpoint).
Gravity doesn't pull objects, but bends space itself so objects 'fall' into it.
Gravity bends time & slows it down. Very heavy gravitation can almost stop time.
That the 'present' depends on where you arein space (and your speed), & that all future & past events may co-exist.
The book also touches on Quantum Mechanics, which is even weirder i.e. particles appearing from nowhere & beingin 2 places at the same time.
Fantastic - By: Mr. S. J. Walton, 08 Aug 2002 I find myself coming back to this book over & over again. Everytime you read it you learn something new. The author's writing style is informal, & he explains the various conceptsin the book very clearly, with lots of examples & occasional diagrams. Overall, an absoluetly fascinating book to go along with A Brief History of Time.
An absolutely excellent book - By: , 16 Aug 2001 A brilliantly written book for both scientists & non-scientists alike. Unlike most science texts, this one is gripping & informative, writtenin a clear easy style. Superb.
