The Illustrated A Brief History of Time/The Universe in a Nutshell

To the best of my knowledge, this oversize hardback volume contains the most updated text of Hawking's Brief History of Time. It also includes his later Universe in a Nutshell. Better still, it's loaded with photographs and illustrations, and those illustrations sometimes helped this reader better grasp a particular point that would have otherwise been much less clear. The text is large and well spaced. In that respect, this edition is an easy read.Conceptually however, it's quite a different story. While there is no mathematics to speak of, the simple fact is that Hawking is trying to explain with words, ideas whose essence is mathematical, and that of the highest order. Many of these ideas have no analogy within our mental framework, by which to "visualize" them, if you will. For me at least, that constitutes a great part of being able to grasp a concept. Therefore, in places I had to accept that the best I could do is merely understand the words I read, without "getting it". But as Hawking himself alludes to in the book, even those who work in these fields deal with a certain level of that same disconnect.That said, I learned a great deal, and I can say that some things that were very vague and puzzling to me are much clearer now. For anyone who is curious about these mind-blowing realities that underlie our universe, this is a must-read. And I would strongly recommend getting a version such as this one, with illustrations, and the latest revisions from the author.

I was expecting an ordinary-looking book. And I was blown away by the large, elegantly bound volume. It's heavy in both a literal and figurative sense. The sturdy black fabric cover is gold-embossed with the universal atom symbol w/circling electrons and inlaid with a beautiful personal plaque by the late Stephen Hawking. The richly illustrated pages appear to be 80 lb. gloss text. They sparkle with vivid color photos, crisp diagrams, charts and drawings of world class quality.The book houses two unique volumes; each is complete in itself, yet intimately connected to the other. And together they paint an astonishing and eye-opening portrait of both the known and unknown universe. The book's well-organized contents, the brilliant text and the remarkably comprehensive scope of the material, all reflect the genius of the author. The book is enormously fascinating and worthy of serious study. In the months ahead I plan to immerse myself in the text and hopefully will emerge a bit less ignorant.Note: Why a book of such esthetic and intellectual caliber is less than 25 pesos remains one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe. The seller, Goodwill Industries, has my utmost appreciation, respect and thanks for the care they exhibited in delivering this item to me promptly and in perfect condition.(If this review was helpful in any way, please click on the "Helpful" key below, or write a comment. Thanks).

Book was offered Used with only 1 copy left from Thriftbooks (always wanted to try them out!) and ended up coming brand new for only $11! Retailed for almost $50 @ B&N. Love it. Looks exactly like the picture.

Good product, easy to obtain.

We liked the sturdiness of the bindings and the illustrations can help explain and appreciate the scope of the material. Our 15-year old was curious about Stephen's work so this was a good buy, 2 bodies of text and illustrations in a hardback. Looks good on the shelf too.

2 great books in one. Spectacular cover

Stephen Hawking. Enough said! Brilliant book, I read it many years ago in college. I simply bought this one to keep in our library.

Wonderful book; beautifully bound and illustrated, Read the book,"A Brief History of Time," years ago, paperback, illustrations like pen and ink drawings. Very crude, but it got the points across. This was like watching a movie.

El libro se encuentra con maltrato en las esquinas, las pastas estan deterioradas y raspadas. No es un buen detalle encontrarlo de esta manera.

Un libro extraordinario por uno de los mayores genios que ha habido.

Bien écrit et cette edition a des bellles illustrations et le livre est de haute qualité. Une très bonne affaire - moins chère qu'aux Etats-Unis !

Stephen Hawking illustra in modo facilmente comprensibile i progressi raggiunti dalla fisica nell'ultimo secolo. Per ciascuna teoria, vengono discusse in modo chiaro le implicazioni per la struttura dell'universo. Si tratta di argomenti che difficilmente si studiano alle scuole superiori, mentre in università sono presentate solo nei corsi di fisica, quindi penso che la maggior parte di noi ne sia a digiuno. Sono però concetti fondamentali per avere una visione dell'universo sufficientemente aggiornata. Leggendo questo libro mi sono reso conto di avere avuto per molti anni una concezione dell'universo incredibilmente arretrata.Infine, il prezzo del libro è ridicolmente basso anche considerando le bellissime illustrazioni a colori che aumentano i costi di stampa (io l'ho pagato 10 euro, adesso costa ancora meno).

An amazing book. If you have a background in physics you may find the book over simplified and at times mind-numbingly simplified but on the whole it is a great book.If you don't have a background in physics then you should have no trouble in understanding what the Stephen Hawking is trying to explain as simple analogies and comparisons are used liberally.