#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The world-famous cosmologist and author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the biggest questions facing humankind.“Hawking’s parting gift to humanity . . . a book every thinking person worried about humanity’s future should read.”—NPRNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Forbes • The Guardian • Wired Stephen Hawking was the most … • The Guardian • Wired
Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues.
Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe’s greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet—including climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and the development of artificial intelligence—he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us.
Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history.
Featuring a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar playing Stephen Hawking, an introduction by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, and an afterword from Hawking’s daughter, Lucy, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a brilliant last message to the world.
Praise for Brief Answers to the Big Questions
“[Hawking is] a symbol of the soaring power of the human mind.”—The Washington Post
“Hawking’s final message to readers . . . is a hopeful one.”—CNN
“Brisk, lucid peeks into the future of science and of humanity.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Hawking pulls no punches on subjects like machines taking over, the biggest threat to Earth, and the possibilities of intelligent life in space.”—Quartz
“Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and—where it matters—witty.”—The Guardian
“This beautiful little book is a fitting last twinkle from a new star in the firmament above.”—The Telegraph
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I had enjoyed reading Hawking’s classic A Brief History of Time several years ago, but I think I may have liked this book more, both because it is a bit more accessible, but also because I found it compelling to read Hawking’s perspectives on everything from the latest scientific achievements to the current political climate. The book is more personal, with Hawking sharing not just his thoughts but his experiences over the past decade that have shaped his world view. The result is a more personal book with great heart and a good amount of levity, which made reading it so bittersweet given that it was published posthumously. I highly recommend it.
A great mind with a very good sense of humor. This was a most enjoyable read. I had thought it was going to answer big philosophical questions, but it cosmological and time issues, and it used those to address the big questions for humanity. With a little imagination, one will have no problem understanding Hawking’s answers. We have truly lost a great treasure for humankind.
A great little book – lots of info for the reader without digging too deep
This is a hard book to rate. On one hand, Stephen Hawking’s humility, dry humor, and the devastating disease he overcame make him incredibly endearing and admirable. On the other hand, I don’t think all of the questions he answered in this volume pertain to his area of expertise. Apparently there was some dispute about this, because the volume was comprised of his answers to questions that he was asked often, and he himself did admit that some argue religious questions, for instance, should not fall under the purview of science. I’d agree to a point–I certainly did find that arguments in the opposite direction (apologetics) helped to convince me of the truth of the Bible back when I was searching for such answers. But science only gets you so far. There’s a last leap of faith still required.
Hawking, meanwhile, drew the conclusion that there did not appear to be any role for God for a few main reasons. First: after the Big Bang, the scientific laws seemed to march forward inexorably, without outside intervention. Prior to that, he said, time did not yet exist, and therefore the concept of causation makes no sense. Asking “what caused the Big Bang” is like asking “what is south of the south pole?” The question has no meaning. (I understand what he means, but that sounds like begging the question to me.) Second, because of the concept of positive and negative particles constantly annihilating one another, he saw no need for anything to have triggered the initial explosion either. While he acknowledged the incredible fine-tuning of the universe in which we live, he argued that this can be explained away with what I consider a very suspect philosophical argument: The Anthropic Principle, which essentially argues that things must be the way that they are because we are here to ask the question of why they are the way they are–and if they weren’t, we wouldn’t be here to ask the question. That seems like circular logic to me, though I suspect Hawking did not think so because of the multiple worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics (which is apparently attributed to Feynman). In that view, all possible worlds actually do occur–so no matter how statistically unlikely a particular world might be, it’s bound to happen at least once. And that world would be the one in which we exist to ask questions like probability. (The idea that multiple universes exist seems to violate the philosophical concept of Occam’s razor: the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Multiple universes would introduce infinite complexity. Why not the collapse of the wave function interpretation of quantum physics instead?)
He also evoked the concept of Panspermia to support evolution: an argument that life on earth was seeded from space, where, somewhere, there’s presumably a more advanced life form than ours. (This gets around the problem that even if the earth is the four billion years old accepted in most scientific circles, that’s still not enough time for random chance to have produced life, statistically.)
Aside from that, I did find the questions Hawking answered about black holes, space and time travel, and speculation about what our future may hold to be very engaging. His overall outlook of the future of mankind reminds me of Matt Ridley’s optimism, though tempered with some of Elon Musk’s caution about the potential dangers of AI.
Hawking’s politics seeps into the text on a number of occasions as well. And yet, he was just so darn likable, it didn’t bother me.
My rating: ***1/2
Language: none
Violence: none (it’s nonfiction)
Sexual content: none (ditto)
Political content: pretty heavy but somehow I overlooked it.
I’ve always had the greatest respect and awe for Professor Stephen Hawking but even so I had never read a book of his before. I’ve always wanted to but I just hadn’t gotten around to it, until this month. But oh I’m so very happy I read this book now. I highly enjoyed it and flew through it in no time!
The title of the book already gives away what this book is about. In it Stephen Hawking answers some of the big questions we all have. Some of these are is there a God?, is there other intelligent life in the universe?, what is inside a black hole?, will we survive on Earth?, will artificial intelligence outsmart us? and more!
One thing I was a little worried about before starting this book was if I were going to understand it well enough with all the science terms but I’m glad to say I shouldn’t have worried about that because the writing itself and the science-y words and such were all very understandable to me. There was even some humor in it, which I definitely adored.
Other things I loved about this book was the fact that the chapters weren’t too long. Brief answers, indeed! I also liked reading the foreword by Eddie Redmayne, the actor who played Stephen Hawking in the movie, The Theory of Everything, and the afterword by Stephen Hawking’s daughter, Lucy Hawking. Both the foreword and afterword were just so touching to read. I loved them.
“Brief Answers to the Big Questions” is a perfect book for anyone who wants to learn more about the universe, its laws, origin, and future. In accessible terms, Hawking explains the theory of the Big Bang, Einstein’s theory of relativity, quantum physics, string theory, and everything else that sounds terribly complicated but, in fact, is easily comprehensible. If you want to know what’s inside the black hole and what’s going to happen if you fall into one, how the world came to be, how the time itself originated, if there is a god, if we can travel to the past or the future, what happens if artificial intelligence outsmarts us and whether we should colonize space – read this book. I really can’t recommend it highly enough to everyone!
Fascinating!
Like Neil deGrasse Tyson’s books and Cosmos remake, Hawking is able to communicate many VERY complex topics in a way that we mere mortals can almost comprehend. I recommend this book for all of us that look up at the stars and wish we knew all the answers…
A surprisingly moving, deeply interesting, and…wait, wait — can you please expand on that?
This is a very short read…too short. But it provides glimpses into BIG modern physics and ethics questions. I’ve learned a lot and wished that somethings were explained in greater detail. Professor Hawking’s humor and incredible resiliency come through on every page…in every sentence. I particularly enjoyed the fact that his musings on AI, tech, and human development (in regards to space exploration) tracked very closely to the novel I just published a few months back: Harvest. It’s nice to have such validation. Hawking’s explanations of M-theory and multiple histories are also relevant for the book I’m writing now — the universe is amazing at serendipity. Thank you! You will be greatly missed…
I teresting. I had to read this one just to find out more about the author’s great contributions to our understanding of the world.
A very promising book. Not only does it answer some of the big questions humanity has to ask as its name suggests, but also provides a prospect for the future generations to work towards.
The author being one of the greatest minds of the century and the previous, puts up thought provoking reasoning in combination with his witty humor. A very great read, I would say. You can’t really stop reading it once you start.
Besides of the sciency stuff the author also gives us a glimpse into the struggles of his life which he had to overcome to be where he is now. Some personal views from the author himself makes the book more relatable and allows to feel the first-person experience.
I would recommend this not only to science geeks and astronomy lovers, but also anyone who wants to have a little taste of how it feels to perceive the whole humanity as a whole and explore through how our future might look(or where it might ultimately be) based on how we strive to build it now.
How fascinating to explore the universe we truly are the stuff of what stars are made Hawkings understanding of black holes may one day allow us to experience time travel and prevent us from becoming extinct