On Hawking's Brief History of Time

I’ve always been fascinated by the universe. For a couple of years, I’ve been self-learning Physics (honorable mention: Susan Rigetti’s post) on and off. But, recently, I’ve been so focused on HYVOR that I missed this part of myself. I was re-motivated after recently reading news of the strong evidence of alien life.

If you searched “most popular physics books”, you cannot miss Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’. It is an introductory book to physics and the universe. This blog post is an attempt to read out the thoughts I had while reading this book.

The only equation in the book is E=MC². The language of physics is math. But, Hawking attempts to explain our knowledge of physics without math, in a theoretical way that is much more accessible to the general public.

He not only explained the concepts, but also provided context and trains of thought of the great minds who came about to discover the great mysteries. Some examples are Newton and Einstein.

I thought that the fact that I could read the thoughts of a great scientist like Stephen Hawking alone is mind-blowing. I admired how he talked about others and even placed bets on some scientific findings. Reading this book, you get two experiences: how we came to discover the universe as we know it today, and how an extraordinary person like Stephen Hawking thinks. Both are invaluable!

I liked how he explained our understanding of the universe from both a physical and a philosophical viewpoint. The conversation about a creator/God was a recurring topic throughout the book.

He allowed the reader to question the origin of the universe, the evolution of it, and the end of it. The book introduces the reader to concepts like quantum mechanics, elementary particles, black holes, relativity, and even wormholes.

Most importantly, it gives perspective on our place in the universe: how significant and insignificant we are at the same time.

The book concludes with the future of physics, which, as we understand now, is the unification of gravity and quantum physics.

This book helped me refresh my thoughts on why it is valuable to spend time drowning in the mysteries of the universe, which I very much plan to do.

In conclusion, I think this book can be impactful for anyone, no matter what they do and their beliefs are. For those who learn physics, it could be a ‘vacation time’ to see the big picture.