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a brief history of time - stephen hawking

has anyone read this ?

what did you think ?

i put it on my personal statement for UCAS that i ahd read it, but im not past my first chapter yet :O

im so lazy lol

Reply 1

Mimo

I say well done to anyone has picked the book up!
It's... challenging, I think, but interesting in a rather surreal way. I'm a biology, thus you can imagine why.

Reply 2

wilbur

1

God that book was dull. I'm sure its rivetting if you enjoy physics anyway, but I barely made it past the first 100 pages.

Reply 3

Tyler Durden

17

I believe he's written a slightly further pared-down version.

Reply 4

Axiom

1

englishstudent

I believe he's written a slightly further pared-down version.

Yes, it's called A Briefer History Of Time, and I've read most of that. The original contained concepts that I just could not get my head around at all. I don't really have much of a mathematical mind.

Reply 5

Ferret_messiah

8

It was an interesting read, even if he has changed his opinion on blackholes since it was written.

Reply 6

Angelica

10

It's quite difficult to get in and sometimes I had to reread paragraphs to actually take in what he was saying but definitely an interesting read.

Reply 7

beecher

2

If you enjoyed it, you might be interesting in reading something by Feynman and Brian Greene

Reply 8

screenager

2

Feynman is good, I have read a few of his books but to be honest Stephen Hawking doesn't make it as interesting or easy to understand as Feynman. A Brief History of Time wasn't the most riveting book I have ever read.

Reply 9

halfoflessthan50p

12

haha i put so many books on my personal statement that i hadnt read properly or had not read at all. (i said i worked in a charity shop too. that was a lie.) they never check really lol at least not in Physics interviews

I thought a Brief History of Time was good actually. Quite clear and accessible.

Feynman has the best writing style of any pop-physics writer you'll find. He even managed to make me genuinely laugh and smile at some points. Read '6 not so easy pieces' if your up to it (some very complicated stuff [I'll admit, i didnt understand some bits of it] but their explained very clearly using great analogies, examples etc)

However my fav pop-science book would definately be:

Chaos- James Gleick

I read it three times because i found it so interesting. Bits are conseptually quite hard but its the most interesing thing when you get it. Its like all these things you just presume, are totally proven wrong and you understand exactly why. Chaos Theory is more interesting than quantum physics and astrology to read about too. Great read

Reply 10

Metalmayhem

7

halfoflessthan50p

haha i put so many books on my personal statement that i hadnt read properly or had not read at all. (i said i worked in a charity shop too. that was a lie.) they never check really lol at least not in Physics interviews

I thought a Brief History of Time was good actually. Quite clear and accessible.

Feynman has the best writing style of any pop-physics writer you'll find. He even managed to make me genuinely laugh and smile at some points. Read '6 not so easy pieces' if your up to it (some very complicated stuff [I'll admit, i didnt understand some bits of it] but their explained very clearly using great analogies, examples etc)

I wouldn't be too sure about interviewers not caring about the books you've read - well when I was interviewed at Cambridge they asked me tons of questions (tough questions) about 'The Elegant Universe', by Brian Greene, which is a great book but I couldn't remember an awful lot of it.

Brief History of Time was OK, not great, or as great as Brian Greene and definitely not as good as Feynman, I definitely agree he has an excellent writing styel for the budding physicist.

Reply 11

halfoflessthan50p

12

I had an interview at Emmanuel Cambridge. They couldnt care less about my personal statement. They literally said hi, introduced themselves then started with the confusing physics problems

a brief history of time - stephen hawking

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