The Universe in a Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
The Universe in a Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
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The Universe in a Nutshell

Author: Stephen Hawking

Narrator: Simon Prebble

Unabridged: 3 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/06/2001


Synopsis

Stephen Hawking’s phenomenal, multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief History of Time, introduced the ideas of this brilliant theoretical physicist to readers all over the world.

Now, in a major publishing event, Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book.

The Universe in a Nutshell

• Quantum mechanics
• M-theory
• General relativity
• 11-dimensional supergravity
• 10-dimensional membranes
• Superstrings
• P-branes
• Black holes

One of the most influential thinkers of our time, Stephen Hawking is an intellectual icon, known not only for the adventurousness of his ideas but for the clarity and wit with which he expresses them. In this new book Hawking takes us to the cutting edge of theoretical physics, where truth is often stranger than fiction, to explain in laymen’s terms the principles that control our universe.

Like many in the community of theoretical physicists, Professor Hawking is seeking to uncover the grail of science — the elusive Theory of Everything that lies at the heart of the cosmos. In his accessible and often playful style, he guides us on his search to uncover the secrets of the universe — from supergravity to supersymmetry, from quantum theory to M-theory, from holography to duality.

He takes us to the wild frontiers of science, where superstring theory and p-branes may hold the final clue to the puzzle. And he lets us behind the scenes of one of his most exciting intellectual adventures as he seeks “to combine Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and Richard Feynman’s idea of multiple histories into one complete unified theory that will describe everything that happens in the universe.”

With characteristic exuberance, Professor Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extraordinary voyage through space-time. Copious four-color illustrations help clarify this journey into a surreal wonderland where particles, sheets, and strings move in eleven dimensions; where black holes evaporate and disappear, taking their secret with them; and where the original cosmic seed from which our own universe sprang was a tiny nut.

The Universe in a Nutshell is essential reading for all of us who want to understand the universe in which we live. Like its companion volume, A Brief History of Time, it conveys the excitement felt within the scientific community as the secrets of the cosmos reveal themselves.

About Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was a brilliant theoretical physicist and is generally considered to have been one of the world’s greatest thinkers. He held the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years and is the author of A Brief History of Time, which was an international bestseller. His other books for general readers include A Briefer History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universes, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Grand Design, and Black Holes: The BBC Reith Lectures, as well as the books in the George’s Secret Key series. He died in 2018.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Marty on January 10, 2013

Now I read this book cover to cover, line-by-line, methodically going back over passages that were "challenging", line-by-line, got to the last page, closed the book and said out loud; "Nope, sorry Steve, you lost me there".......more

Goodreads review by Javier on December 05, 2017

Un libro muy difícil pero delicioso. Hawking muy Hawking, fiel a su estilo, con una narrativa no demasiado didáctica, con sus toques excéntricos que me disgustan pero hablando de temas de los que solo él y muy pocos más, contados con los dedos de la mano, pueden hablar. Que una mente así se abra par......more

Goodreads review by Farjam on September 04, 2023

Contrary to Einstein's opinion that God doesn't play the dice, Hawking asserts that God is actually a decent gambler. Funny enough, none of them refer to any particular deity when they use the word "God". The first chapter is dedicated to explaining Einstein's special and general theorem along with......more

Goodreads review by Nick on August 05, 2011

Hawking is an exceedingly clear and occasionally quite funny writer, not easy when the topic is quantum physics, etc. I would be lying if I claimed to understand much of this book, especially in the audiobook format in which an exceedingly pleasant British voice hurls a flood of Hawking's words and......more

Goodreads review by Ana on March 28, 2021

I was listening to the audiobook while I was doing another task and only stopped when I finished it. So I read it all in one sitting. It's one of those few books that I feel I might read it again someday. I like Stephen's writing, but for some reason I ended up liking '' A brief history of time'' be......more


Quotes

“Clear, concise and accessible. And he leavens it further with occasional wry humor.”—St Louis Post-Dispatch

“Provocative and informed ... plenty of comprehensible analogies and no small amount of humor, often self-deprecating.... Best of all, the book is liberally sprinkled with well-conceived, gorgeously rendered and frequently whimsical illustrations.”—Time


Awards

  • New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age