The Universe in a Nutshell
by Stephen Hawking

Hawking's previous book, A Brief History of Time, caught the attention of many people and made it a best-seller. Unfortunately, it turned out that some people who bought it couldn't understand it. Hopefully, a similar fate will not happen to this book but the odds are some people will not understand some parts of it; I know I didn't grasp everything in the book but it is still a fascinating read for those who are interested in what mainstream scientists are thinking about the universe.

As the cover says, this book covers the entire universe in a nutshell. It starts from where most explorations of time, space and the universe begin; Einstein's Special and General Theory of Relativity and the implications of the theory (the speed of light is a constant, space and time are connected, gravity is an expression of the distortion of space-time by mass, etc.).

The next chapter cover the nature of space and time and possible ways to reconcile the conflicting views of space given by Relativity and Quantum Theory. The ideas behind string and m-brane theory and extra dimensions are outlined and how different versions of string (and other) theories could be combined into one underlying 'M-Theory'.

Following that, Hawking gives a look at how we discovered that the universe is expanding. This implies that there is a beginning (and possibly an end) to space and time. He shows how 'inflation' needs to be considered in order to allow stars, galaxies, planets, etc. to form, giving rise to intelligent life that is able to contemplate the universe.

He next looks at black holes and explores some of the strange things that can happen near a black hole's 'event horizon': falling objects appear to 'freeze' at the horizon, information may (or may not) be lost in a black hole and black holes eventually evaporate.

The next few chapters are speculative but fascinating. Hawking looks at ideas like traveling back in time (probably not because nature does not allow it), improving humanity via genetic engineering and the possibility that other universes exist and how to detect them (via their gravitational influence on our universe).

For a surprisingly thin book that tries to cover the entire universe, Hawking covers a lot of ground in showing what we know and what the universe (and other universes) may be made of. Some subjects, like imaginary time, are only briefly covered and may puzzle some readers. I don't know if Hawking expects every reader to understand every word in the book but most readers may be able to understand enough to realise that the universe is a very complicated place at all scales (from the very small to the very large). Perhaps that is the message, in a nutshell, that Hawking gives in this fascinating book.

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The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking

The Universe in a Nutshell
by Stephen Hawking