is it worth reading "a brief history time"
Answers
Answer:
In 1982, Stephen Hawking decided to put his years of groundbreaking research in theoretical physics into book form. His goal, he said, was to “explain how far we had come in our understanding of the universe,” and how humankind might be close to finding a unified theory of the cosmos.
It would not be a dry, technical work designed for experts. Hawking wanted readers. He contacted a literary agent and said he hoped to write “the sort of book that would sell in airport bookstores,” as he recalled in the Wall Street Journal in 2013.
“He told me there was no chance of that,” Hawking said. “It might sell well to academics and students, but a book like that couldn’t break into bestseller territory.”
Several years and many rewrites later, Hawking’s A Brief History of Time defied all those expectations. The first run sold out in the United States in a matter of days, and soon the 200-some-page account of the origin and fate of the universe was flying off the shelves worldwide. It spent 147 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and a record-breaking 237 weeks on the Times of London bestseller list. To date, more than 10 million copies have been sold and the book has been translated into dozens of languages.
How many people actually read the book from cover to cover remains a running joke, which even Hawking found humorous. The number of people who read the book and actually understood it is also a matter of debate.
But A Brief History of Time launched Hawking, who died Wednesday at 76, into popular culture. Already renowned in academia for his contributions to cosmology, Hawking grew into a cultural icon and one of the world’s most celebrated science communicators.
What exactly was it that gave A Brief History Time such sweeping popular appeal? It’s hard to pinpoint any one thing. Black holes, superstrings and deep dives into the finite yet boundless nature of the universe don’t necessarily make for great airplane reading. Hawking himself wrestled with the question long after the book’s 1988 publication — “It’s difficult for me to be objective,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
The manner in which Hawking broke down complex concepts in theoretical physics, along with his deft use of humour and analogy, clearly won over many readers who might have otherwise found themselves intimidated by such material.
Upon publication, the New York Times called Hawking’s work “a jaunty and absolutely clear little book” that shared his ideas about the universe “with everyone who can read.”
“His book is a rare sharing of confidence by a scientist with uncommon courage, a dazzling vision and an impish sense of humour,” the review read. The Guardian offered similar praise years later, calling it “succinct, entertaining and brilliantly lucid.”
Explanation: