A Briefer History of Time

Book Synopsis

A Briefer History of Time is author Stephen Hawking's wish to make the content of his original worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, more accessible to readers. He also wanted to bring it up-to-date with the latest scientific observations and findings. Although literally somewhat "briefer," A Briefer History of Time actually expands on the great subjects of the original. The purely technical concepts, such as the mathematics of chaotic boundary conditions, are gone. Conversely, subjects of wide interests that were difficult to follow because they were interspersed throughout the book have now been given entire chapters of their own, including relativity, curved space, and quantum theory.

Critical Reviews

Hawking's A Brief History of Time, published in 1988, was a surprise best-seller but a tough read for most people who tackled it. Hawking received many requests for a version that would make his discussion of deep questions about the universe more accessible. This book does that. Hawking and Mlodinow, a physicist turned science writer, proceed by small and careful steps from the early history of astronomy to today's efforts to construct a grand unified theory of the universe.

"Hawking and Mlodinow provide one of the most lucid discussions of this complex topic ever written for a general audience.... [They] maintain the same wry, lively tone that made the original Brief History such a delight."
Publishers Weekly, starred review (online annex)

About the Author

Stephen William Hawking (born 8 January 1942) is a British theoretical physicist. Hawking is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes, and his popular works in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general. These include the runaway popular science bestseller A Brief History of Time, which stayed on the British Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. The popular science book tries to present quantum mechanics, string theory, and other topics in an easy to understand manner. The book also informs the reader of new frontiers of science.

Hawking's key scientific works to date have included providing theorems regarding singularities in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical discovery that black holes emit radiation, which is today known as Hawking radiation, or sometimes as Bekenstein-Hawking radiation. His scientific career spans more than 40 years and his books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity and world-renowned theoretical physicist. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Hawking is disabled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sometimes called Lou Gehrig's Disease. It is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement.

About the translators

Dr.Ahmad Abdulla Al Samahi, PhD.
Professor of Physical Chemistry at Suhaj University, Egypt.
Translated and wrote numerous scientific books for the Higher Council of Culture, Al Ain Publishing and for the Academic Library in Egypt; and for the Arab organization for Translation, in Beirut.

Dr. Fathalla Al-Sheikh, PhD
Professor of Physical Chemistry at Suhaj University, Egypt.
Wrote and translated numerous scientific books and articles for the Higher Council of Culture and Al Ain Publishing in Egypt, For A’alam Al Ma’arifah in Kuwait, Al Dar al Arabia Library in Lybia, and for the Arab Organization for Translation in Beirut.