Preview
  • A Brief History of Time

  • From Big Bang to Black Holes
  • By: Stephen Hawking
  • Narrated by: John Sackville
  • Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (163 ratings)

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A Brief History of Time

By: Stephen Hawking
Narrated by: John Sackville
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Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries?

These are just some of the questions considered in the internationally acclaimed masterpiece by the world renowned physicist - generally considered to have been one of the world's greatest thinkers.

It begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time, from the Big Bang to black holes, via spiral galaxies and strong theory. To this day A Brief History of Time remains a staple of the scientific canon and its succinct and clear language continues to introduce millions to the universe and its wonders.

©2016 Stephen Hawking (P)2016 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

"This book marries a child's wonder to a genius's intellect. We journey into Hawking's universe while marvelling at his mind." (The Sunday Times)

"Lively and provocative.... Mr. Hawking clearly possesses a natural teacher's gifts--easy, good-natured humor and an ability to illustrate highly complex propositions with analogies plucked from daily life." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about A Brief History of Time

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    5 out of 5 stars

Good depth on black holes and universe

Better narator and recording than other versions of this book.
Learned new stuff about black holes and time travelling.
A lot of times I found myself rewinding back so I can understnd the concepts, so its not an esy book if you want to understand it, even naively explained.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Probably something that is better read

Fantastic book, by a brilliant physicist. No surprises here, it is as good as people say and the only drawback is that some things are easier understood if read (and re-read).

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New perspective to the universe

I had been very reluctant to start reading the book, being afraid that the book would be hard to understand. It turned out to be quite entertaining. Mr. Hawking uses example vividly brings out his ideas through every day object. Making the untouchable so approachable and interesting.

The book summarizes some greatest ideas in the past century. It is definitely worth reading.

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Higher grade but awesome

I understood close to nothing in this book but learned a lot nevertheless (just don’t give me a test). It just added to my own personal development journey and maybe I should tackle it again a few years from now.
Hawking wants to understand the universe, I want to understand how some people get so clever.

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Great Stuff,

Or not stuff, after hearing this you might be in doubt about everything - or nothing

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A wonderfull book full of knowledge

I've always been fascinated by the universe and been attracted to vulgarisations. However, it is the first time that the knowledge explained actually make sense, and does not looks like a summary or image to somewhat understand the laws of physics. A strong recommendation to anyone fascinated by physics.

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Fascinating!

Great book for people with or without knowledge of black holes or the big bang. The book goes into enough detail about the different themes, but not so much that it goes above the head of most listeners. The book had well timed moments of humor and breaks to keep the listener engaged.

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A great popular introduction into modern physics

This book is interesting not only because of the theoretical physics knowledge body, but also because it ia a great guide into the scientific method.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

not so bad...

nice introduction to physics from 0. There are better books, the point of this one is the writter

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Dissapointed

I just didn't understand a word of it! I must admit that I just don't have the IQ haha!

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