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A Brief History of Time
- From Big Bang to Black Holes
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Categories: Science & Engineering, Science
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries?
These are just some of the questions considered in the internationally acclaimed masterpiece by the world renowned physicist - generally considered to have been one of the world's greatest thinkers.
It begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time, from the Big Bang to black holes, via spiral galaxies and strong theory. To this day A Brief History of Time remains a staple of the scientific canon and its succinct and clear language continues to introduce millions to the universe and its wonders.
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What listeners say about A Brief History of Time
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anthony
- 21-03-17
Interesting and intelligible
This book has a famous reputation as being the most popular unread book on the market.As a result I thought long and hard about buying it thinking I wouldn't be able to understand it.However,apart from the penultimate chapter on string theory I followed it (relatively) easily.It is also very well narrated by John Sackville.
54 people found this helpful
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- Erdferkel
- 18-10-16
Wonderful narrator
Like most people, I had heard of this book - it is quite famous after all. But despite a layman's interest in the subject I somehow always assumed it would be way over my head. Seeing the good reviews on Audible I decided to pick it up - great decision! It is easily accessible and in fact, since Hawking has been such a prominent figure in physics in the last decades, much of what he talks about I was already familiar with from other popular science books on the subject. He makes the subject feel easy to understand (which I'm sure is a delusion on my part) and very interesting.
I particularly want to mention the performance by John Sackville, who has such a wonderfully calm and rich voice. He makes this a real pleasure to listen to.
69 people found this helpful
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- Mark James
- 04-11-18
Stellar
First time I’ve ever finished a book and felt MORE stupid! :-) Great listen. Mind blown.
5 people found this helpful
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- garry
- 18-12-17
Still a book that blows your mind
Would you listen to A Brief History of Time again? Why?
I need to listen to it until my ears bleed and even then I know in my heart that I will never understand its concepts.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Time itself.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
The first chapter. I was holding it together until the second started.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Coming to the realisation that you can never know certain things no matter how hard you try to.
Any additional comments?
I need another version of this book. Once written for idiots like me. Still it was Amazing to think that even though it seemed crazy at times its how our world works.
10 people found this helpful
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- Hannah-Jay
- 24-04-17
Very interesting!
If you're interested in all things space and time then you'll love this! Admittedly I'd hope Stephen Hawking would read it himself but John Sackville does a great job.
8 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-04-18
The classic account of the Universe.
Somewhere I have an early edition of this book, not an unread copy I hasten to add. Following the recent sad news of the death of Stephen Hawking I took the opportunity to buy it again on Kindle and to add the Audible performance. I was pleased to find that the book had been updated with some of the recent developments in the field. What more could I ask?
3 people found this helpful
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- Amjad
- 07-05-17
A Marvelous Book
This is one of the best books on time and universe. Worth your time and a must read for cosmologists.
3 people found this helpful
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- AJ the Tramp
- 23-01-18
difficult to fully understand but worth a read
it's one of those books that people say you "must read" and I agree; just don't expect it to be an easy read. Some very difficult, hypothetical theories. Some are well explained in layman's terms, others are touched upon as though you should already know the basics. Overall definitely worth a read, and did enjoy it, though it took nearly a month to get through it as it wasn't exactly a page turner.
10 people found this helpful
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- christopher meth-cohn
- 04-10-16
opened my mind
Hawking is adept at visualising the most complex scenarios.
a brief history of time is a great insight into to the minds of our planets greatest thinkers.
9 people found this helpful
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- qwerty
- 16-05-18
Why five stars for science?
I am not a clever man. I'm good at my job and quite knowledgeable about my subject. Obviously I'm no scientist either but this book brought me closer to an understanding of the scientific methodology, history and context of the search of human kind for answers. You don't have to be a genius to know that it's a massive subject but this extraordinary person has reasoned and led me in relatively basic terms to an appreciation for this sphere and those who have partaken in it from time immemorial to just about now. It deserves the time you need to listen. I feel a bit richer for the experience. Hence five stars.
5 people found this helpful
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- Adrian
- 25-10-16
Good depth on black holes and universe
Better narator and recording than other versions of this book.
Learned new stuff about black holes and time travelling.
A lot of times I found myself rewinding back so I can understnd the concepts, so its not an esy book if you want to understand it, even naively explained.
2 people found this helpful
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- Christian R. Unger
- 30-04-18
Probably something that is better read
Fantastic book, by a brilliant physicist. No surprises here, it is as good as people say and the only drawback is that some things are easier understood if read (and re-read).
1 person found this helpful
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- Romed Bucher
- 11-04-17
Great Stuff,
Or not stuff, after hearing this you might be in doubt about everything - or nothing
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 27-02-21
A wonderfull book full of knowledge
I've always been fascinated by the universe and been attracted to vulgarisations. However, it is the first time that the knowledge explained actually make sense, and does not looks like a summary or image to somewhat understand the laws of physics. A strong recommendation to anyone fascinated by physics.
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- Adrian
- 23-11-20
Fascinating!
Great book for people with or without knowledge of black holes or the big bang. The book goes into enough detail about the different themes, but not so much that it goes above the head of most listeners. The book had well timed moments of humor and breaks to keep the listener engaged.
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- harmony
- 11-01-20
New perspective to the universe
I had been very reluctant to start reading the book, being afraid that the book would be hard to understand. It turned out to be quite entertaining. Mr. Hawking uses example vividly brings out his ideas through every day object. Making the untouchable so approachable and interesting.
The book summarizes some greatest ideas in the past century. It is definitely worth reading.
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- Steve
- 20-09-19
Higher grade but awesome
I understood close to nothing in this book but learned a lot nevertheless (just don’t give me a test). It just added to my own personal development journey and maybe I should tackle it again a few years from now.
Hawking wants to understand the universe, I want to understand how some people get so clever.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-01-19
A great popular introduction into modern physics
This book is interesting not only because of the theoretical physics knowledge body, but also because it ia a great guide into the scientific method.