Stephen Hawking: A brief history of time : from the big bang to black holes
English language
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a book on theoretical cosmology by English physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. Hawking wrote the book for readers who had no prior knowledge of physics and people who are interested in learning something new about interesting subjects. In A Brief History of Time, Hawking writes in non-technical terms about the structure, origin, development and eventual fate of the Universe, which is the object of study of astronomy and modern physics. He talks about basic concepts like space and time, basic building blocks that make up the Universe (such as quarks) and the fundamental forces that govern it (such as gravity). He writes about cosmological phenomena such as the Big Bang and black holes. He discusses two major theories, general relativity and quantum mechanics, that modern scientists use to describe the Universe. Finally, he …
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a book on theoretical cosmology by English physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. Hawking wrote the book for readers who had no prior knowledge of physics and people who are interested in learning something new about interesting subjects. In A Brief History of Time, Hawking writes in non-technical terms about the structure, origin, development and eventual fate of the Universe, which is the object of study of astronomy and modern physics. He talks about basic concepts like space and time, basic building blocks that make up the Universe (such as quarks) and the fundamental forces that govern it (such as gravity). He writes about cosmological phenomena such as the Big Bang and black holes. He discusses two major theories, general relativity and quantum mechanics, that modern scientists use to describe the Universe. Finally, he talks about the search for a unifying theory that describes everything in the Universe in a coherent manner. The book became a bestseller and sold more than 25 million copies.
By now well-covered only-so-popularizable territory of special relativity, black holes, expanding universe, quantum mechanics, anthropic principle, string theory, and does a reasonable job of remaining humble while inquisitive about the parts that might have no answer.
Ein sehr aufschlussreiches Buch, das so geschrieben ist, dass auch Laien wie ich etwas verstehen können (natürlich nicht alles, aber das muss auch nicht sein). Hawking beschreibt die Grundlagen von Newton über Einstein und Heisenberg bis hin zu seinen eigenen Forschungen und gibt einen Ausblick in die zukünftigen Forschungsrichtungen und Ziele (wie die Suche nach einer vereinheitlichten Theorie) in dem Bereich. Ich habe das Buch mit Gewinn gelesen, wenngleich es heute nicht mehr aktuell ist. Einige Theorien wurden ad acta gelegt, andere konnten in der Zwischenzeit belegt werden (Graviationswellen, Schwarze Löcher...). Zwei Anmerkungen habe ich: Im ganzen Buch kommt nur eine einzige (!) Wissenschaftlerin vor. Das wäre mir vielleicht früher gar nicht aufgefallen, aber heute achte ich auf so etwas. Herr Hawking haut manchmal ganz schön auf die Kacke (bezüglich sich selbst), aber er darf das auch. Er ist ja tatsächlich einer der wichtigsten Wissenschaftler des letzen Jahrhunderts gewesen.
So... We are nothing more than a colony of ants living on a little rock, floating in an infinite and chaotic universe?
While reading this book I learned a lot of things I was ignoring. I am convinced that if more people had a good understanding of the topics in this book, our society would be different. I enjoyed reading A Brief History of Time, but I have to confess that I had a not so easy time going through some passages and concepts, even tough the book itself is very clear.
Beyond the cold landscape that Hawking depicts through the pages, there is a message about the nature of science. I appreciated how he states things explicitly, like when he states that there is no way of knowing for sure if a theory is correct. Hawking doesn't just spit facts about each topic, instead he reasons with the reader, …
So... We are nothing more than a colony of ants living on a little rock, floating in an infinite and chaotic universe?
While reading this book I learned a lot of things I was ignoring. I am convinced that if more people had a good understanding of the topics in this book, our society would be different. I enjoyed reading A Brief History of Time, but I have to confess that I had a not so easy time going through some passages and concepts, even tough the book itself is very clear.
Beyond the cold landscape that Hawking depicts through the pages, there is a message about the nature of science. I appreciated how he states things explicitly, like when he states that there is no way of knowing for sure if a theory is correct. Hawking doesn't just spit facts about each topic, instead he reasons with the reader, so that all the doubts are set forth.
