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The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition (Hardcover) (精装)
by Stephen Hawking
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Science, Physics, Technology |
| Market price: ¥ 398.00
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¥ 378.00
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
MSL Pointer Review:
A modern classic by Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, this book answers such questions as what physicists now think the world is made of and how it got that way.
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AllReviews |
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Thomas Luttrell (MSL quote)l, USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time was originally published in 1988 and helped thousands of lay-people keep up with the latest ideas about the nature of the universe. This 10th anniversary edition adds the latest advances in science and technology in the last decade and adds a new chapter on the subject of time travel and wormholes. (This is my rehash.)
Since the beginning of history, mankind has pondered the origins of the universe. In ancient civilization, humans believed the earth was flat. Aristotle was perhaps one of the first people to postulate that the earth was not flat, but spherical. However, prior to Copernicus, it was believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Now we know that our sun is just one in millions of stars in a vast array of galaxies. It was Edwin Hubble that demonstrated that the universe was expanding. The idea that the universe is expanding means that there must have been a beginning, and a beginning of time. This was the first time that the origin of the universe had become a matter of science.
Newton's theory of gravity was always assumed to be accurate, until Einstein came along with the general theory of relativity. Einstein came up with the theory that no mass can travel faster than the speed of light. In his formula, E=mc, the more energy an object has, the more mass it has, and thus the more resistance. The only constant that can be really sure is speed, or rate, while time and distance can be relative. Time, is another dimension of our universe. Because of the distance of the stars and galaxies away from us, we are seeing what happened in the past.
Prior to the uncertainty principle, scientists held a very deterministic view of the universe that reflected the modernistic Enlightenment era. The uncertainty principle shows that you cannot predict the future state of a particle. This showed that there is a limit to which science can predict future events based on the laws of physics. As a result of the uncertainty principle, quantum mechanics was formulated to deal with the limitations arising from the uncertainty principle. Rather than trying to define the exact locations of particles, they had a quantum state which factored position and velocity.
Democritus, the Greek philosopher who coined the term atom, was perhaps the first philosopher who thought that there was an indivisible element of matter. It was not until the past century that it was discovered that an atom itself had an internal structure. According to quantum mechanics, an atom's particles move in waves because of the nature of its wave/particle duality. The exclusion principle says that a particle cannot exist in the same state or location at the same time. The exclusion principle explains why matter does not collapse into a very high density.
Hawkings describes how force-carrying particles can be grouped into four categories based on varying strength: gravitational force, electromagnetic force, weak nuclear force, and a strong nuclear force. There have been attempts to combine these forces into a grand unified theory. However, grand unified theories do not include the force of gravity, which has been the subject of general relativity. A future quantum theory of gravity would hopefully unite quantum mechanics with general relativity.
The affect of gravity on light was not clarified until after the theory of general relativity. It was hypothesized that a star could have such a large gravitational force that light could not escape-that would be a black hole. Black holes are difficult to detect. There currently is evidence for a number of black holes, and even some hints that there are black holes at the center of galaxies.
At the big bang, the universe was infinitely small. Hawking notes something interesting in that if the rate of expansion was any slower, then the universe would have recollapsed under its own gravitational forces. Hawking suggests that it is possible that God might have picked the initial configuration of the universe, but that the weak anthropic principle states that we see the universe the way it is because if it was not that way, then we would not be here to see it. The strong anthropic principle says that there may be many different universes (multiverse) or many different regions in the universe so that the odds are that intelligent life may form somewhere. I believe that the universe appears to be so finely tuned for life because it was created that way, not because we happened to have lucky odds. The strong anthropic principle was developed as a way to avoid the idea of an intelligent designer. If there was a Creator, then we can believe that the universe was created this way on purpose. The "inflationary" model of the beginning of the universe has been formulated in order to show that many different initial configurations of the universe could have been possible so that life could be sustained. This means that the universe once expanded at an increasing rate, faster than today.
Nevertheless, even if we discover all of the laws of the universe, we still would not know why the universe was here to begin with. As Hawking asks, "Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?" |
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Barron Laycock (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
For those of us who were actually curious enough to actually open the covers of this remarkable exposition of very sophisticated scientific concepts laid simpler and comprehensible in Professor Stephen Hawking's disarmingly straightforward style, update and expanded original version of the originally published text is indeed a veritable treasure trove of layman's explanations for some wondrous scientific phenomena. Hawking, who is still a Lecturer in Physics at Cambridge University despite an progressively debilitating neuro-muscular disease, has a rather unique capability to eschew anything other than the bare minimum of all the otherwise stupefying scientific mumbo-jumbo as he explains various aspects of the expanding universe as black holes, the nature of time, the so-called "big bang", and then again, even the phenomenon of gravity itself. Hawking addresses the fundamental nature of physics as he proceeds to sift through these fascinating and long enduring mysteries of the universe.
As a result, then, his somewhat rhetorical questions are presented for the single purpose of elucidating some interesting, provocative, and fairly indisputable answers to the nearly timeless ponderings we all seem to harbor about this wider world we all inhabit. Still, one's consciousness seems to struggle in vain to consider the sheer scale of such conceptual configurations, with concepts that appear to be so immense and so dislocated to anything within our common experience while absorbed in our ordinary day-to- day time-space continuum as to give any among us a pregnant pause while contemplating the nature of the universe. Of course, such a realization merely serves to magnify the sheer scope of the author's accomplishment in conceptualizing and executing such an approachable and accessible text, one that so vividly describes the origins and nature of our universe. This is a marvelous book, and one I can heartily recommend. Enjoy!
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FrKurt Messick (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
The mark of a true educator, which Stephen Hawking certainly is, is that he would take time (very valuable time, in his case) away from research and contemplation of the great mysteries of the universe to write a piece that would serve to help explain to the greater number of less-scientifically-adept persons the fruits and implications of modern scientific research from the cutting edge of physics. Hawking is ranked in popular and scientific thinking on a par with Einstein, and has motor neuron disability that severely restricts his ability to move, even to type or write, so, when he takes time to write something for general consumption, it is probably going to be worthwhile. And indeed, this is.
'Someone told me that each equation I included in the book would halve sales. I therefore resolved not to have any equations at all. In the end, however, I did put in one equation, Einstein's famous equation. I hope that this will not scare off half of my potential readers.'
Hawking begins by exploring the large scale structure of the universe (time being part of the `fabric' of the universe, in spacetime), the connections of space and time as a relatively new concept in thinking of the universe, and the way the universe "acts" (cosmological dynamics). From there, he explores the universe at a very basic level, as elementary particles and forces of nature, introducing quarks.
'There are a number of different varieties of quarks: there are thought to be at least six "flavours", which we call up, down, strange, charmed, bottom and top. Each flavour comes in three "colours", red, green and blue... We now know that neither the atoms nor the protons and neutrons within them are indivisible. So the question is: What are the truly elementary particles, the basic building blocks from which everything is made?'
From this discussion Hawking proceeds to black holes (and the fact that they aren't so black and permanent as popular belief holds them to be), which circles back around to the origin and destiny of the universe (which relates back to the large-scale structure), which ultimately brings us to time. This is where things begin to get interesting.
'When one tried to unify gravity with quantum mechanics, one had to introduce the idea of "imaginary" time. Imaginary time is indistinguishable from directions in space. If one can go north, one can turn around and head south; equally, if one can go forward in imaginary time, one ought to be able to turn around and go backward.'
Hawking explains variations of the thermodynamic, psychological and cosmological laws that regulate the direction of time's arrow, which, despite the theoretical flexibility of time with regard to scientific principles, always apparently goes in one direction.
Finally, Hawking explores the most current topic in theoretical physics: unification theories, which may or may not be a wild goose on the loose. Hawking also explores what such a grand unified theory (also called sometimes the "theory of everything") would mean, and what it wouldn't mean. But Hawking assures us that the quest for understanding is worthwhile even it won't be the final word on everything. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-09 00:00>
Are the praises for this book really recognition of Hawking's accomplishments or that he achieved them despite his physical infirmities? I approached this book years ago and was swiftly and completely lost. Years passed and I found a wonderful (if dated) primer, Knowledge and Wonder by Weisskopf. My success in understanding K&W (I get quantum physics now and can easily explain it to others) convinced me to reapproach Brief History.
The book remains for informed insiders; perhaps not the inner circle, but definitely "you gotta know it to get it." Hawking consistently gives very short descriptions of theories that he then refers to throughout the text, but in ways that have little to do with the aspects he defined and in fact require more complete information. For example, I was frustrated trying to use his explanation of the theory of general relativity (p 30) in re: subsequent references. Luckily, in the years between my earlier attempt and this reading, the web has burgeoned and I was able to find a more complete and yet still brief but comprehensible explanation of this theory. And oh my goodness, Hawking now made sense. Obviously the connection is clear in Hawking's mind, but it never made the transition to words on the page.
Despite all, I did get it. But unfortunately, rather than finishing with a desire to learn more I am just tired and glad to be done with it. I feel like I subjected myself to a badly presented lecture series.
Hawking's writing is poor. Ideas ramble, tangential information occasionally takes over so the actual subject at had gets lost, recapitulation is erratic. Some of the self-references are conspicuously self-serving. True, for a scientist it's decent, but the book's writing should not be judged by a different standard than any other writing. That's what editors are for, and apparently this book's editor was so overawed by Hawking that he forgot to do his job.
This book should not be iconized. Nor should it be touted as accessible to the layperson. The information is interesting, but you have to want it and work for it. And when you're done, what you get may not have been worth the effort you put in. It was for me, but just barely.
(A negative review. MSL remarks.) |
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