Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece which begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time.
Compelling, thought-provoking history through time.
In this book, the late Stephen Hawking, goes through the history of the universe, addressing some of the big questions astrophysicists have of the universe. Exploring the history if theories from conception, through the evolution of years of research and technological advances and how they apply to the goal for a unified theory.
I found this book so captivating, as someone who aspires to one-day join the astrophysicists and astronomers working towards that golden question of why we are here. This book was very educational in the history of the universe and also in the evolution of the main theories that have been or are being used to find the unified theory of the universe. Not only did Hawking write a wonderfully insightful work, but he also threw in some humour on every page! This made the reading fell less formal and easier to read like you were having a chat with an old friend about something you both had a passion for.
I appreciated the appendix and glossary at the end of the book, as well as the little condensed career histories on some of the greats: Einstein, Galileo est.
There isn't anything that particularly jumps out at me that I disliked about this book, it was what I expected and much more. That pacing was constant, and the explanations of theories never dribbled on and were condensed and simplified enough that you understood the basics of it and how it applied to what Hawking was addressing in that chapter.
Miles, 26/01/2021
