The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition

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Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help nonscientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today: Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to reveal these questions (and where we're looking for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time, and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; these concepts are so vast (or so tiny) as to cause vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking, for, as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God." --Therese Littleton

Book 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 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 that time there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of macrocosmic worlds. These observations have confirmed many of Professor Hawkin'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 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 recent research, for this expanded edition Professor Hawking has prepared a new introduction to the book, written an entirely new chapter on the fascinating subject of wormholes and time travel, and updated the original chapters.

In addition, to heighten understanding of complex concepts that readers may have found difficult to grasp despite the clarity and wit of Professor Hawking's writing, this edition is enhanced throughout with more than 240 full-color illustrations, including satellite images, photographs made made possible by spectacular technological advance such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and computer generated images of three and four-dimensional realities. Detailed captions clarify these illustrations, enable readers to experience the vastness of intergalactic space, the nature of black holes, and the microcosmic world of particle physics in which matters and antimatter collide.

A classic work that now brings to the reader the latest understanding of cosmology, A Brief History Of Time is the story of the ongoing search for t he tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.

Customer Reviews:

This book is a fake!.......2007-10-01

As a physicist I am flabbergasted and slightly depressed by the success of this book. First of all this book presents as if they were equally certain some pieces of orthodox science together with some of the author's dubious speculations. The lay reader is not told which are which. Secondly, the author obviously has no knowledge of the actual history of physics and yet he shamelessly "describes" it to the reader.

Hawking seems to have gathered together all the bad cliches about various physical issues and has taken out all the valuable ideas. He explains nothing, he just asserts that "we physicists know that..., we physicists have demonstrated that...". I cannot see how anyone can actually learn anything about physics from this book, about why we know what we know. And yet, judging from the amount of praise this book receives, it seems that quite a lot of people have fallen under the spell that they have been allowed access to some secret. They haven't and I find this trickery immoral.

Quantum physics and astrophysics are really interesting. They don't deserve to be thrashed in this unashamed manner. If you want to learn something about physics, there are other books which do a much better job, for example Asimov's Atom: Journey Across the Subatomic Cosmos.

Author - a true genius.......2007-09-22

Stephen Hawking is a true genius. Although I don't understand everything he writes, all-in-all this book gives one the understanding of how wonderfully made the universe is.

Fascinating.......2007-08-24

I found this book to be ingenious yet accessible to the average reader, which is what I believe Hawking set out to accomplish. Great food for thought in my opinion.

TERRIBLE digital transfer by "Phoenix Audio".......2007-08-10

It's a great book by Hawking, but this product is just a reproduction of something by Hawking/Jackson that we already know is great. So what sort of job does this product do of delivering one of my favorite audio books? Not a very good one.

The original recording sounds fine, but this production from 2005 sounds like it was converted to a low bit rate at some point during editing, and probably had a poor noise removal job done as well. For the benefit of removing possibly a little weak static in the background, we get to listen to a robotic Jackson for 5 hours. It sounds similar to an early digital cell phone with a choppy feel and many T's and S's muffled.

There really isn't any reason I can see for this to not be a perfect reproduction of earlier digital versions. Old bootlegs floating about the internet sound better. Maybe "Phoenix Audio" should have just grabbed those to print, and left all of that tricky audio work to the more competent civilian sector.

A well written classic.......2007-08-01

I have a stack of these :The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe,Cosmic Code and In Search/big Bang: /, so I can compare and contrast.
There is material on black holes here that isn't covered as well in the others. I still would wish that all these authors would put in more of the real equations and less of the dumbing down. One point is that people not able to understand this kind of book, probably won't understand no matter how simple you make the text. Maybe one should make effective use of your time in writing and concentrate on those who will understand and use the results.

Average customer rating:

For serious RAH fans only
Some people dont get it...
Disappointing
Almost turned me off to Heinlein
Alternate Views of Heinlein

Expanded Universe
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0743499158

Book Description

The Wit and Wisdom of Robert A. Heinlein, author of multiple New York Times best sellers, on subjects ranging form Crime and Punishment to the Love life of the American Teenager; from Nuclear Power to the Pragmatics of Patriotism; from Prophecy to Destiny; from Geopolitic to Post-Holocaust America; fro the Nature of Courage to the Nature of Reality; it's all here and it's all great-straight from the mind of the finest science fiction writer of them all. But beware: after reading it, you too will occupy an Expanded Universe!

Customer Reviews:

For serious RAH fans only.......2006-05-11

This is a collection of Heinlein works, selected by RAH himself, including some fiction but mostly non-fiction works. For a serious RAH fan this gives an insight into his philosophies, character, life, pet peeves, and prejudicies. For someone not already familiar with, and a fan of, RAH this is definitely not for you.

Some of the pieces have been published elsewhere, others are only available in this volume. EXPANDED UNIVERSE is an updated (1980) version of THE WORLDS OF ROBERT A. HEINLEIN (1966) plus additions making this work about three times as long as the earlier volume.

The fiction pieces include: RAH's first published work LIFELINE;
BLOWUPS HAPPEN; SEARCHLIGHT which have been published elsewhere and SUCCESSFUL OPERATION; THEY DO IT WITH MIRROS; FREE MEN;NO BANDS PLAYING, NO FLAGS FLYING; SOLUTION UNSATISFACTORY; CLIFF AND THE CALORIES; A BATHROOM OF HER OWN; and NOTHING EVER HAPPENS ON THE MOON which are more difficult to find. The fact that RAH chose to include these works is as significant to the serious fan as the works themselves. He also includes either a foreward or afterward, sometimes both highlighting what his motivation was for writing the piece, where it fell in his career and what he now thought about it's merits.

Even more telling that the fiction pieces are the non-fiction articles included. In these works Heinlein discusses his views on patriotism, the current state of American education, the likelihood (or desirablity) of surviving a nuclear war and various other topics. As always with Heinlein's work whether the you agree or disagree with his opinions Heinlein will force you to think.

Some people dont get it..........2006-03-07

Its been a few years since I picked up a Heinlein but a few days ago I was going through some of the few thousand books that use more of my home than I do and found my old copy of Expanded Universe.
I got my start on Heinlein when I was about ten years old, and sometime between ten and fourteen I picked up EU and then shelved it because the essays were not the action adventure and daring-do of Glory Road, or Tunnel in the Sky. The politics, philosophy etc. were lost on me at the time. This time around things are different.
I've read some of the previous reviews of this work, and am frankly disappointed that people who claim to be Heinlein fans, to appreciate Heinlein, would be turned off by this collection. Heinlein was always more than the stories. He often made very little attempt to veil the personal philosophy and politics he put into his works, so it strikes me that any "Heinlein fan" who is turned off by this collection isn't, actually, a Heinlein fan as much as a fan of a good story (not that there is anything wrong with that... it just sells the old man a bit short).
Not to say that RAH's politics are entirely my own. In this day and age I disagree with his ideas on nuclear policy greatly, however I understand where he was coming from. In a time when the threat of nuclear attack was a constant fact of life, and when one of the few reliable measures to prevent it was, simply, a matched set of H-Bombs on both sides that quietly said "No one will win, lets not do this at all", RAH was right.
He is still right today about patriotism and serving ones country in some capacity. The nation, the tribe, needs the service and support of its members to continue, there is no way around this no matter how many rationalizations can be offered up by the self-serving and the selfish.

Expanded Universe is a fantastic collection of fiction and non-fiction that gives the reader not only an insight into the writer, but a lot to think about. It gives the intelligent reader a window into the past, the reality, fears and hopes of a different time, and yet a handle on the unchanging facts and realities of the human condition. I have not enjoyed anything in my life as much as I enjoyed a quiet late afternoon sitting on my front porch smoking a cigar and reading from Expanded Universe.
Give the poltroons their due consideration and then buy a copy anyway - If you are an intelligent human you should be able to find something in the works that will delight, surprise, intrigue and perhaps even educate you.

Disappointing.......2003-09-11

Heinlein was an odd duck. When he was good, he was great. Hardly
anyone could touch him. But when he was bad, he was terrible.
_Expanded Universe_ isn't a totally terrible book, but it's close. I can't give it one star, because some of the stuff in
it is pretty good. But what's bad--and that's most of the book--
is terrible. A lot of the material in here is non-fiction. Heinlein should have stayed away from it, and left the popular
science writing to Isaac Asimov. And most of all, Heinlein
should have stayed away from politics, the military and philosophy. His rabid Cold War nuke-'em-'til-they-glow rantings are embarrassing, especially from a man who was never in combat and instead had to retire from the Navy because he had TB. All I
can do is sigh. I just wish he had stayed with fiction. Much of
this book is really embarrassing and disappointing.

Almost turned me off to Heinlein.......2003-09-08

I've been a fan of Heinlein's SF for just about as long as I've been an SF fan at all (somewhere around thirty-five years). But when I read this collection some twenty-odd years ago, it nearly turned me off to the old man altogether.

The fiction is pretty good (although even that isn't Heinlein's best). But to describe the nonfiction accurately, I'd have to use words that Amazon will remove from the review anyway.

For the most part, the pieces collected here represent a side of Heinlein I strongly dislike. Though I respect _Starship Troopers_, it's never going to be my favorite Heinlein novel no matter how many times we quibble over the precise definition of "fascism" -- and I'm not going to have much respect for the nonfiction in this collection.

And mind you, it's not because I disagree with Heinlein's opinions; it's because he gave bad arguments for them and called other people nasty names when they differed. Some of the stuff collected here is tendentious to the point of being propagandistic. (At least in his fiction, he was able to create characters with points of view that differed from his and get into their heads well enough to present them sympathetically -- in short, to grok them. Not here, boy.)

Heinlein (who bought into the Korzybski/General Semantics fad pretty early on) spent a lot of years dismissing philosophers as tailchasers who derive their premises from their conclusions. But his own attempt at philosophy, as represented here in e.g. "The Pragmatics of Patriotism", is very nearly the worst writing on ethical philosophy I've ever seen.

Then, too, people who knew Heinlein report that despite his overall gentlemanly demeanor, he could be pretty churlish toward people who disagreed with him. Well, he's certainly unpleasant here; anybody who doesn't agree with him on the need for massive nuclear buildup is dismissed as a poltroon or a custard-head. Even in the unlikely event that I thought he were _right_, I wouldn't find this a very helpful approach.

Perhaps more surprisingly, his popular writings on _science_ aren't very good. Asimov's reputation as the "great explainer" is in no danger here.

This volume is second only to _Grumbles from the Grave_ in cementing Heinlein's posthumous reputation as a rather mean-spirited fellow whose fictional characters were generally much better company than he was. When I want Heinleinian company, I'll stick to D.B. Davis, Manuel Garcia O'Kelly Davis, and (maybe) Lazarus Long.

And when I want to read some humane nonfiction by an SF master, I'll still turn to Asimov. I credit Heinlein with three magisterial novels, several imperfect-but-great ones, and a good number of brilliant short stories. But the stuff in this book should have stayed in his drawer.

Alternate Views of Heinlein.......2003-03-13

For those readers of Heinlein who have limited themselves to his Future History stories, his Lazarus Long saga, or perhaps his early Juveniles, Expanded Universe presents an interesting alternate view of Heinlein's writing including many stories not featured in other anthologies and a number of his nonfiction pieces as well.

"Solution Unsatisfactory" tells of an alternate ending to World War II where the US develops an intensely radioactive dust with selective half-life rather than the atomic bomb; its use on Germany and its parallel discovery by the Soviet Union bring the world into a Cold War many times worse than what the world truly experienced. In short, the balance of terror doctrine was and will always be a "solution unsatisfactory."

"PRAVDA Means TRUTH" is a short nonfiction piece on the dangers of a state-run media and its influence on the lives of citizens, based on true-life experiences Heinlein and his wife had while traveling to Russia at the same time Francis Gary Powers' U2 was brought down. Similarly, "Inside Intourist" tells of the Heinlein's experiences with the Soviet tourism agency (through which all travel had to be arranged). Contrary to some reviewers' comments, Heinlein never condescends upon the people of Russia and its former republics; he merely explains the dangers the people face from their oppressive government. He in fact often discusses how nicely the actual people of Russia treated him and his wife on their trip.

Many other stories and nonfiction pieces (some dated by their survivalist Cold War era themes) are included; another of interest is "No Bands Playing, No Flags Flying," which tells the slightly fictionalized tale of courage and TB treatments (which Heinlein himself underwent) in the pre-WW2 Navy. His survivalist pieces may seem dated or extremist today, yet for the cold war climate (and today's constant threat of terrorism), the message is still clear: those who are ready will survive catastrophes, and those who aren't may very well not.

Give this Heinlein anthology a chance; for those already versed in Heinlein's other works, Expanded Universe will offer a fresh look into the mind of one of science fiction's Grand Masters.

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The Artful Universe Expanded
John Barrow
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

In iThe Artful Universe Expanded/i, John D. Barrow draws out the deep links between our aesthetic inclinations - our art, our music, our appreciation of form, pattern, and landscape - and the mathematical and physical structure of the Universe of which we form a part. Barrow challenges the commonly held view that our sense of beauty is entirely free and unfettered. He argues that as beings that have evolved in this Universe, we are products of its natural laws and its underlying mathematical forms. Our minds show the imprints of this structure, which constrains and moulds our perceptions and our aesthetic preferences. In this rich and wide-ranging exploration, Barrow looks at the evolution of complexity, form in painting, computer art and music, and how landscapes and the wheeling patterns of stars in the night sky have impinged upon the human psyche. Originally published in 1995, this revised and expanded edition includes new essays on topics including the beauty of vases, the fractal nature of Jackson Pollock's art, life on extrasolar planets, multiverses, and the question of whether we might be living in a simulated universe (and if so, how would we know?). This is a deeply inspiring and erudite work from an author described by Sir Martin Rees as 'emerging as the Stephen Jay Gould of the mathematical sciences'.

All Our yesterdays : The Time Travel Sourcebook (Star Trek : The Expanded Universe)

Average customer rating:

Well written and organized, quite useful
Time Travel and Trek, you can't beat that!

All Our yesterdays : The Time Travel Sourcebook (Star Trek : The Expanded Universe)
Steve Kenson , James Kiley , S. John Ross , Steven S. Long , and Kenneth Hite
Manufacturer: Last Unicorn Games, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Fragile Peace: The Neutral Zone Campaign (Star Trek Next Generation: Role Playing Game)

ASIN: 0671040162

Customer Reviews:

Well written and organized, quite useful.......2000-06-18

This sourcebook manages to contain not only a timeline of important events in history your players can screw up beyond recognizable states, but a list of various phenomena that can help them muddle in time, various ships, organizations, and other things. Plot hooks are sprinkled throught in a refreshing manner. Some minor quables about repetition, but mostly a good book

Time Travel and Trek, you can't beat that!.......2000-05-19

Last Unicorn Games has done what many thought impossible- described and organized all the myriad methods of time travel used in 4 series' and 9 movies. Questions answered and ideas stimulated make this supplement one of LUG's coolest.

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All Our Yesterdays - The Time Travel Sourcebook - Star Trek The Expanded Universe
Steve; Kiley, James; Ross, S. John; Long, Steven S.; Hite, Kenneth Kenson
Manufacturer: LAST UNICORN GAMES
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Expanded Universe
Robert A. Heinlein
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GQEV1W

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Expanded Universe

Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HSV6T4

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Expanded Universes
Christopher Reid
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Guide To The Star Wars Universe, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded

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A Guide To The Star Wars Universe, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
Bill Slavicsek
Manufacturer: Del Rey/Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K1RIHM

Our World & The Universe Around It, Complete Four-Volume Set w/ Slipcase (The Universe The Earth Matter & Energy & Life)

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Our World & The Universe Around It, Complete Four-Volume Set w/ Slipcase (The Universe The Earth Matter & Energy & Life)
Ginestra (Freely Adapted & Expanded By Nor Amaldi
Manufacturer: New York: Abradale Press, 1966
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LV7OWA

Customer Reviews:

'preaching to the choir'?.......2006-12-27

The book is really quite good, and a welcome contribution. My principle criticism is that it was too short, and could have done better with historical context. (But I'm an admittedly hard customer in that area, being a historian.) It's quite the shame that most of those who read such works as this are already sympathetic to the conclusions, and that those who most need to understand their faith's darker side are somehow entirely immune to reason.

As one example, we have the gentleman reviewer 'Kayden Raine', who seems to believe that violence against other humans is perfectly acceptable, so long as we don't hate G-d. He goes so far as to declare that 'violence' is, by definition, only this latter notion (and has clearly never opened a dictionary to check: violence, n., "The exercise of physical force so as to inflict injury on, or cause damage to, persons or property; action or conduct characterized by this; treatment or usage tending to cause bodily injury or forcibly interfering with personal freedom." -OED) Whatever "pure Christianity" he claims to represent seems to me, by his own professions, to be pure evil.

Challenging the easy acceptance of sacred texts........2005-10-22

There have been a lot of books recently on the relationship of religion and violence, but few have taken a close look at the sacred texts that play such a large role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Nelson-Pallmeyer challenges us to take seriously the language and images of violence in the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and the Qur'an.

He suggests that there is something inherent in treating a text as "sacred" (and he uses quotes around the word "sacred" every time it refers to a text) that leaves the way open for defending, justifying, or perpetrating violence. He goes through the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an identifying both violence-of-God traditions and violent story lines. Finally, he explores how a measure of doubt and appreciation for what the enemy can teach us are important for counterating the violent themes and stories.

Nelson-Pallmeyer gives too much weight to the texts themselves, in my opionon, and too little weight to the interpretive traditions that surround them. Reading Torah without consulting Talmud, or the Qur'an without Hadith gives one a warped understanding of how a religious tradition actually relates to its sacred texts. On the other hand, Nelson-Pallmeyer may be right in saying that those traditions often amount to special pleading or apologetics, and don't address tha fact that the texts can, in fact, be read as justifying violence. And this is precisely how many radical, "fundamentalist" groups have read them.

I don't entirely agree with everything Nelson-Pallmeyer proposes, but he raises some very important considerations for those who consider their scriptures as sacred and yet consider their religious traditions to be peaceable.

Honest Look At the Violence Within Religion.......2005-09-03

The central idea of this book is that all three of the world's major monotheistic religions- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - have a long "violence of God" tradition which is harming the world. Furthermore, Nelson-Pallmeyer says that this tradition is rooted in actual scripture from the Bible and the Koran rather than a misinterpretation of the sacred texts. I appreciate the fact that Nelson-Pallmeyer is willing to state the truth of this obvious relationship rather than, like many religious people, attempt to explain away or ignore the "violence of God" tradition so apparent in the Bible and the Koran.

Nelson-Pallmeyer, by the way, is a Christian who teaches Justice and Peace Studies at a university in Minnesota. He is also a dedicated advocate for peace and justice whose religious beliefs are firmly connected to his philosphy of non-violent social change such as practiced by Gandhi and others. Some readers may find his brand of pacifism to be naive or even extremist. But Nelson-Pallmeyer is certainly clear and consistent in his belief in peace and his opposition to violence. Also it's refreshing to find a Christian who is so willing to bravely critique his own religion. I don't agree with the writer 100%. But he definitely offers a perspective worth reading!

Great book discussing the violence of "sacred" texts.......2005-03-26

In light of the 9/11 attacks by fundamentalist Muslims and conservative Christian response to the attacks, Nelson-Pallmeyer argues that those (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) who use "sacred" texts to justify violence, do not distort their scripture: "religiously justified violence is first and foremost a problem of 'sacred' texts and not a problem of misinterpretation" (xiv). Therefore, any reasonable interpretor of these scriptures, can find texts to justify violence. Nelson-Pallmeyer, then, examines the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and the Quran, highlighting those passages that presuppose violence. The author believes in a responsible reading of these sacred texts - one that does not dismiss these passages - and proposes a doubting hermeneutic: humanbeings wrote "sacred" scripture, projecting violent images onto God. This hermeneutic challenges the authority of these texts, but can ultimately lead to nonviolent problem solving among the major religions.

Hoisted by his own petard.......2005-02-18

The author of one review, Daniel, puts forth an argument which can be applied effectively, in part to almost any book or expression of opinion - including Daniel's. His specific verbiage makes me wonder how much of his "review" is about the book in question, and how much a exhibition of his own philosophical/spiritual baggage.

The book deserves a reading, and its points a hearing, not an out-of-hand dismissal.

Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran

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Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran
Nelson-Pallmeyer Jack
Manufacturer: Trinity Press International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIH5FA

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Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Quran.

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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