Synopsis
In this work, Stephen Hawking discusses the breakthroughs in physics theory that have occurred since the publication of A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME. With a child's sense of wonder throughout, he takes readers along on his search for the ultimate "theory of everything" at the heart of the cosmos, discussing complex questions about quantum physics in a way that is clear and understandable to the nonscientist.
The wildly popular A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME established Stephen Hawking as the most important theoretical physicist since Einstein. Now, Hawking recaps for the lay reader the theories--such as supersymmetry, M-theory, superstring theory, and black holes--that scientists have been puzzling over since the publication of his first book.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2001-10-01 | | Edition Description: | Reissue |
| Size | | Length: | 216 pages | | Height: | 10.3 in | | Width: | 8.0 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 31.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
With the publication of A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME, the brilliant theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking became known worldwide not only for the adventurousness of his ideas about the principles that control our universe, but for the clarity and wit with which he presented them. THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL, its fascinating sequel, unravels the breakthroughs that have taken place in the years since that book was published....With characteristic exuberance,Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extraordinary voyage through spacetime. 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.
Industry Reviews
"The book comes garlanded with all the excitements and expectations that accompany a long-awaited sequel."
Sunday Telegraph (London) (10/18/2001)
"THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL is difficult, though not absolutely so. It is beautifully produced, with quite exquisite artwork employing strange, rather Edwardian-looking machines that seem to owe something to the computer game Myst. It is equally well edited so that, instead of grand statements about contemporary physics, we have more detailed explanations of which the layperson can, with effort, make sense."
New Statesman - Bryan Appleyard (11/19/2001)
"[A] handsomely illustrated, understandably best-selling explication of scientific wonders."
New York Times - Janet Maslin (12/06/2001)
"Hawking's new book...is unlikely to make sense to anyone who doesn't already know the plot line. Although this supposedly user-friendly companion to his previous bestseller promises to offer "the universe in a nutshell," it's more like a sprint through the most difficult ideas in physics without a gasp for breath: Vacuum fluctuations, Grassman numbers, the cosmological constant, imaginary time, information loss in black holes, the holograhic universe. Whew! And all this before the end of Chapter 2!"
Los Angeles Times - K.C. Cole (12/23/2001)
"[A] richly illustrated book with pictures as daunting as the text...."
Harper's - Guy Davenport (02/01/2002)
"THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL is the best effort to date to explain the principles and concepts of our present understanding of our universe. The book may not be understandable to everyone, but then, scientists don't really understand the universe."
American Scientist - Rocky Kolb
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
