A Briefer History of Time

StephenHawking'sworldwidebestseller,ABriefHistoryofTime,hasbeenalandmarkvolumeinscientificwriting.Itsauthor'sengagingvoiceisonereason,andthecompellingsubjectsheaddressesisanother:thenatureofspaceandtime,theroleofGodincreation,thehistoryandfutureoftheuniverse.Butitisalsotruethatintheyearssinceitspublication,readershaverepeatedlytoldProfessorHawkingoftheirgreatdifficultyinunderstandingsomeofthebook'smostimportantconcepts.ThisistheoriginofandthereasonforABrieferHistoryofTime:itsauthor'swishtomakeitscontentaccessibletoreaders-aswellastobringitup-to-datewiththelatestscientificobservationsandfindings.Althoughthisbookisliterallysomewhat'briefer',itactuallyexpandsonthegreatsubjectsoftheoriginal.Purelytechnicalconcepts,suchasthemathematicsofchaoticboundaryconditions,aregone.Conversely,subjectsofwideinterestthatweredifficulttofollowbecausetheywereinterspersedthroughoutthebookhavenowbeengivenentirechaptersoftheirown,includingrelativity,curvedspace,andquantumtheory.Thisreorganizationhasallowedtheauthorstoexpandareasofspecialinterestandrecentprogress,fromthelatestdevelopmentsinstringtheorytoexcitingdevelopmentsinthesearchforacomplete,unifiedtheoryofalltheforcesofphysics.Likeprioreditionsofthebook-butevenmoreso-ABrieferHistoryofTimewillguidenonscientistseverywhereintheongoingsearchforthetantalizingsecretsattheheartoftimeandspace.Thirty-eightfull-colourillustrationsenhancethetextandmakeABrieferHistoryofTimeanexhilaratingadditioninitsownrighttotheliteratureofscience.