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The Universe in a Nutshell
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Rating:  - Review
If I had to sum up Stephen Hawking's The Universe In A Nutshell in one word, it would be brilliant. In this masterpiece Hawking somehow takes the most, in my opinion, complicated and confusing science topics and breaks them down into a reader-friendly showcase of knowledge and love of science. Upon first opening the book and skimming the topics and detailed illustrations I almost didn't even bother to start the adventure into Hawking's world, however upon reading the first few pages I quickly learned that such topics could be understood by even the most severely scientifically challenged. Granted comprehension of such daunting topics does not come instantaneously, but if slowly taken in you can easily come to understand the science of every bit of matter around you and begin to see the world through Hawking's eyes.
Normally I am the last one to pick up a non-fiction book such as this one for a pleasure reading book, but on my friends persistence I bought it. After reading the first couple of pages I could not stop reading. I would read a couple of pages, give myself time to wrap my mind around what I had just read, and then immediately dive back into the book. Hawking immediately pulls you in with his obvious delight in the universe and the science around us. He somehow makes the book fun to read. The fact that Hawking makes such advanced science subjects and ideas comprehendible without watering down the material makes you want to learn more about the world around you and the possibilities of the future.
Without a doubt, this book would not be as digestible as it is without the magnificent illustrations. Detailed pictures and diagrams help the reader to visualize the topics which Hawking explains with excellent clarity. The diagrams alone are enough to explain the ideas and theories Hawking conveys in this amazing book. I myself am a very visual learner so the illustrations were very helpful to my understanding of the topics.
In conclusion, Hawking takes seemingly impossible subjects such as quantum mechanics, time travel, and the actual shape of time and is somehow able to explain it in a fashion that can be understood by almost any reader. Hawking introduces ideas and theories completely alien to the average person in his book, so digest the book slowly. With a little effort, anyone can comprehend the world they live in through the eyes of the brilliant Stephen Hawking.
Rating:  - Difficult Concepts
A Startrek to Eternity
After having read, and thoroughly enjoyed, Stephen Hawking's previous book (A Brief History of Time) I was a little disappointed in this one. Not that it isn't entertaining or that Professor Hawking isn't presenting it as well as he did in 'History,' it's just that the subject material is so much more difficult to comprehend that I'm sure the casual reader (such as myself) would have trouble getting through it. The theories presented are so 'off the wall' and are such a long way from being verified that it appears to be nothing more than wild guesses - but I suppose that's the world of a theoretical physicist.
Rating: - Accessible Reading Coupled With Humor and Illustrations
On the cover of Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell you can find, surprise, a picture of the universe in a nutshell. This cover illustration is typical of both the sense of humor Hawking employs and the helpful illustrations found in his work. Hawking's book is written for the average person who is interested in the science that has today's most educated and intelligent minds talking. Theoretical physics from M-theory to duality are all examined and explained in terms that the average reader with basic scientific understanding can comprehend and apply. Throughout his writing, however, Hawking intersperses his own, unique, geeky science humor and also diagrams and pictures coordinating with his discussion to keep the reader interested and engaged. Through his ability to mix illustrations with humorous and yet highly informative and accessible reading, Hawking has created the most successful volume of its kind in years and educated millions of average readers on the most complex science to date.
Highly Informative yet Accessible
To begin the book Hawking first introduces Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity. He begins with Einstein because his ideas have had perhaps the strongest influence on the science that Hawking discusses. In explaining Einstein's theory of relativity, Hawking does not use mathematical equations or field-specific terms. Instead he uses everyday language with examples and analogies that almost anyone can relate to. For instance,, in explaining how time is relative to each individual in the universe rather than being the same for everyone everywhere, Hawking presents the experiment that was done in which two extremely accurate clocks were flown in opposite directions around the world, one to the East and one to the West. When the planes returned, the clocks read slightly different times. The result of this experiment supported Einstein's theory and its use is an effective way to teach an average reader about Einstein's theory of relativity. This accomplishment, teaching a reader the basics of Einstein's theory of relativity, is brought into context by a quote found in another of Hawking's books, A Brief History of Time. In the early 1920's, a journalist told Sir Arthur Eddington, a British astronomer, that he had heard there only three people in the world who understood general relativity. Eddington supposedly paused for a moment and replied, "I am trying to think who the third person is" (Hawking 108).
Engaging through Humor and Illustration
While presenting a barrage of information that would be difficult indeed to wade through on its own, Hawking throws his reader flotation devices in the form of illustrations and comic relief that make the seemingly overwhelming amount of information much more manageable. When discussing a complicated experiment designed by Albert Michelson and Edward Morley to measure the speed of light, Hawking provides two diagrams of the experiment that make it much easier to comprehend (Hawking 6). Because of the diagrams, the reader can better understand how the light was split into two beams which were made to travel at right angles to each other, and how by observing the behavior of the light in the experiment one can support the general theory of relativity. Because Hawking includes helpful diagrams such as these, his readers become less mired in the bog of information and are more capable of sifting through it. Hawking's use of humor is another device that makes reading his book easier. On page nine, after discussing the aforementioned clocks on airplanes which are flown in opposite directions, Hawking writes "This might suggest that if one wanted to live longer, one should keep flying to the east... However, the tiny fraction of a second one would gain would be more than canceled by eating airline meal.s." If an author can make a reader laugh as this comment made me, then the reader will be encouraged to keep reading. By engaging the reader through humor, Hawking keeps the reader interested despite the amount of difficulty the reader may have in understanding wormholes or string theory.
Stephen Hawking's book The Universe in a Nutshell has taught me more about physics than any textbook that I have ever used. Because of Hawking's work I have a greater understanding not only of the phenomena that occur around me but of the theoretical physics that are being discussed right now among the leading minds in the fields of astronomy and physics. While there is a vast amount of information covered in his book, because of Hawking's accessible style I was able to comprehend many more of the concepts he discusses than I would be able to on my own. His use of diagrams and humor kept me engaged and helped me to keep on reading right to the end, even when there were concepts that I had trouble grasping. For the average reader interested in learning more about the events that occur around them and what is going on in the universe that has the brightest scientists in the world talking, The Universe in a Nutshell is an extremely helpful tool.
Rating: - Companion to Brief History of Time
This book is more of a companion to, rather than a sequel to Hawking's "A Brief History of Time". It covers much of the same ground, but is illustrated, whereas the original version of "Time" is not. (There is also an illustrated version of "A Brief History of Time" that is far better than the original non-illustrated version.). I think that the first two chapters of "Nutshell" give a better overview of relativity theory and quantum mechanics than the corresponding chapters in "Time". These chapters and the illustrations are reason enough to read this book. The other chapters stand-alone and represent areas that Hawking has worked on or thought about since he wrote "Time". Some are a bit out there, especially the one on time travel, but are none the less very interesting and entertaining, even if they are very hard to follow (at least I found them so). A better alternative to this book is to get, if you can find it, Hawking's illustrated A Brief History of Time and Universe in a Nutshell, which is published in a single volume. It is available in hard and soft cover, but appears to be hard to find, even though it was published in 2007. (I have seen copies in the bargain sections at Borders and Barnes and Noble.)
Rating:  - Still half confused and amazed
Dr. Hawking begins every chapter in this book with an intriguing question such as "Is time travel possible?" Instead of providing a response and proceeding to explain, prove or disprove his assertions, he delves into the detail of the theoretical physics aspect of time travel, and then somewhere in the middle of the chapter the following appears: "It seems, therefore, that quantum theory allows time travel on a microscopic scale." Hooray! It's fine and dandy that microscopic particles can travel through time. Please tell us about spaceships, humans, aliens, ANYTHING larger than a microscopic particle traveling to the past or the future. Here's what Hawking divulges two sentences later: "Can the probability in the sum over histories be peaked around spacetimes with macroscopic time loops?" This sentence alone mentions three complicated concepts covered in other chapters, albeit not in sufficient detail. And therein lies my biggest criticism of this book:
The uninitiated reader can easily lose her comprehension because of the layout and depth or lack thereof of material suited more to readers who have a physics background.
As was the case with his previous bestselling book , Mr. Hawking provides neither the technical detail to satisfy the knowledgeable, nor the simplified information for the lay person.
Nevertheless, Dr. Hawking deserves recognition for using his celebrity status in the world of theoretical physics combined with his remarkable effort to simplify and bring to the masses difficult concepts that only a handful of people in the world can fully grasp, especially given his dire physical condition afflicted by his decades old fight with Lou Gehrig's.
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