A review by cloudtet
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Stephen Hawking
3.0
This was a rather uneven ride. The part before the chapter on black holes wasn't as interesting as the chapter on black holes and onward, and the explanations are sometimes good and sometimes incomprehensible, for instance. I also do find it a little comical how Hawking takes care to remind the reader time and time again that wavelengths are the distance between the crest of one wave and the next, and simultaneously expects the reader to readily make the connection between the Casimir effect and that space-time can be curved in the way necessary to allow time travel. There are numerous occasions on which the reader is expected to make connections that are not at all obvious and thus left hanging in ignorance. (I am perfectly aware that this could very well be a symptom of someone at a very high level of something trying to confer their knowledge to someone at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, whose perspective they have long since lost any trace of, but that's why you have editors and the like, to provide that perspective.)
Another issue is the choice to add a note basically saying that a significant portion of the book is now incorrect and tucking it away in the appendix, which a lot of people probably don't even read. I get that the book would require significant rewriting to accommodate our new understanding of the way in which the universe expands, and I also understand that it could certainly be illuminating in certain ways to leave the book as is, but at least mention in the body of the book itself in the relevant spots that this view is no longer correct, and possibly refer to the appendix.
Despite the writing being rather matter-of-factly, the sometimes lacking explanations and reasonings, and the overall unevenness, the interesting parts are many, and sometimes it gets very interesting, so this is still a book very much worth reading (just make sure to read the appendix as well).
All in all, I suppose just because a book is famous, it's not necessarily going to be great.
Verdict: 6−/10
R.I.P. all the poor unfortunate souls who never read the appendix.
Another issue is the choice to add a note basically saying that a significant portion of the book is now incorrect and tucking it away in the appendix, which a lot of people probably don't even read. I get that the book would require significant rewriting to accommodate our new understanding of the way in which the universe expands, and I also understand that it could certainly be illuminating in certain ways to leave the book as is, but at least mention in the body of the book itself in the relevant spots that this view is no longer correct, and possibly refer to the appendix.
Despite the writing being rather matter-of-factly, the sometimes lacking explanations and reasonings, and the overall unevenness, the interesting parts are many, and sometimes it gets very interesting, so this is still a book very much worth reading (just make sure to read the appendix as well).
All in all, I suppose just because a book is famous, it's not necessarily going to be great.
Verdict: 6−/10
R.I.P. all the poor unfortunate souls who never read the appendix.