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swissroll's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
First things first, this is not best consumed as an audiobook. It's much more difficult to multitask when listening to a book when the content is so dense. Every part seems important to know and remember, and consuming it all in one go without being able to revisit past sections freely made it feel like I wasn't giving the content the attention it deserved.
The premise of the book essentially boils down to the insatiable desire of physicists to understand exactly how the physical world works, as told from the mind of Stephen Hawking. As a person who prefers practicality over theory I had a natural resistance to some of the lines of reasoning used. There was far more mention of God than I expected, though I guess the nature of asking the "big" questions brings us into philosophy territory.
It's funny how much of an overlap there is between pure number-crunching math & science and philosophical debate. It makes me wonder about what matters in a life, in my life. My biggest takeaway is that we're all constantly grasping for some kind of meaning in our lives – and I don't think that a complete unified theory will get us any closer to that goal.
The premise of the book essentially boils down to the insatiable desire of physicists to understand exactly how the physical world works, as told from the mind of Stephen Hawking. As a person who prefers practicality over theory I had a natural resistance to some of the lines of reasoning used. There was far more mention of God than I expected, though I guess the nature of asking the "big" questions brings us into philosophy territory.
It's funny how much of an overlap there is between pure number-crunching math & science and philosophical debate. It makes me wonder about what matters in a life, in my life. My biggest takeaway is that we're all constantly grasping for some kind of meaning in our lives – and I don't think that a complete unified theory will get us any closer to that goal.
itsjstcaro's review against another edition
4.0
It really is astonishing how Hawking can bring complex physical theories to unknowing readers such as myself.
Surprisingly I understood most of the concepts discussed in A Brief History of Time, even though I have absolutely no knowledge of physics at all as I never had to take the class in school for example.
Nevertheless, I found it hard to really grasp certain theories and concepts discussed, e.g. imaginary time, which may be due to my lack of knowledge or english being my second language.
The simple beauty of the book also showed me the beauty of physics and inspired me to pick up more books about physics and also to apply for a physics degree in university.
~ 4 stars
Surprisingly I understood most of the concepts discussed in A Brief History of Time, even though I have absolutely no knowledge of physics at all as I never had to take the class in school for example.
Nevertheless, I found it hard to really grasp certain theories and concepts discussed, e.g. imaginary time, which may be due to my lack of knowledge or english being my second language.
The simple beauty of the book also showed me the beauty of physics and inspired me to pick up more books about physics and also to apply for a physics degree in university.
~ 4 stars
leggup's review against another edition
5.0
A very challenging read. I had to flip back many times and reread sections. I had to Google and Wiki many things I forgot since high school physics (... 16 yrs ago). Any time I felt confident the topic seemed to jump past my edge of knowledge.
I plan to reread in 5-10 years, probably in physical copy. The ebook had some scanning issues with graphics.
I plan to reread in 5-10 years, probably in physical copy. The ebook had some scanning issues with graphics.
heloise_lifeinbooks's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Surprised by both the length (not that long) and the readability (pretty easy!) of this book, compared to my expectations.
Hawkins turns out to be a really good writer, managing to make an extremely dense and informative book read like a novel, and the information easy to absorb!
This was on my tbr for a long time, and I’m glad I finally got around to it!
Hawkins turns out to be a really good writer, managing to make an extremely dense and informative book read like a novel, and the information easy to absorb!
This was on my tbr for a long time, and I’m glad I finally got around to it!
laburnumflowers's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
elusorius's review against another edition
3.0
I feel quite conflicted about what rating to give this book. In terms of enjoyment, I would rate it quite low. Maybe 1 or 2 stars, as it put me into a bit of a reading slump. However, I would rate it 4 or 5 stars in terms of quality. Hawkings is great at explaining the science in clear terms and making it more accesible to the public. The problem is that reading this book made me realise that in not that interested in physics. Some facts here and there were interesting, and it's nice to have a basic understanding of physics. But I think this book was just not for me, and that's okay.
I will rate it 3/5, because it's not the book's fault
I will rate it 3/5, because it's not the book's fault