Rating: 
Summary: Engaging introduction to the man and his work
Review: This is a collection of seven related lectures by Hawking originally published in 1996 under the title, The Cambridge Lectures: Life Works. He does not cover as much ground here as in did in A Brief History of Time, but what he does cover he does so in a charming and engaging style. There are some few statements here that could be interpreted as less than modest--although not by me--and a mistaken prediction or two, which may be a reason that Hawking is not pleased with this book's publication. He might also object to the title, since neither a "Theory of Everything" nor a conclusive answer to the origin and fate of the universe are presented. However, Hawking does address these questions, and his expression is interesting to read and has the agreeable characteristic of being laconic. There are no equations in the book, no mathematics as such, and everything is explained in language that would be intelligible to a high school student. There are the usual droll Hawking jokes about God and His intentions, facetious, epigram-like understatements (I have done a lot of work on black holes, and it would all be wasted if it turned out that black holes do not exist. p. 66) and witty asides about the convergence of politics on physics, as when he mentions a particle accelerator the size of the Solar System that "would not be funded under current economic conditions." A good chunk of the book is devoted to black holes (about which Hawking is or was the world's foremost authority) and whether they have "hair" and "sweat" or not. Hawking avers on page 92 that if a primordial black hole is discovered "emitting a lot of gamma and X rays," he will get the Nobel Prize. This is an ironic lament since, as he explains later on, it is most likely that even if these very difficult to observe and very ancient black holes do exist, they are mostly evaporated by now, and so it is probable there will be no Nobel for Hawking. He also discusses a "no boundary condition" (p.119) of the big bang universe which seems to begin and end in a singularity in real-time while in imaginary time there are no singularities, just beginning and ending poles, like the north and south poles of the finite, unbounded surface of the earth. (p. 139) I especially like this idea since it does away with the infinite singularity and the theological implications that some draw from such a beginning of the universe. As Hawking asks rhetorically, in a "completely self-contained" universe with no boundary or edge--a universe "neither created nor destroyed"--what place would there be for a creator? (p. 126) He also addresses string theory, and I was pleased to read that he is no more enamored of all those little curled up dimensions than I am. He says the theory has several other problems that need to be worked out, not the least of which is that we still don't know whether all the infinities will cancel out. (p. 159) Hawking closes with his ideas about the prospect for a Theory of Everything. He gives three possibilities: (1) There is a "complete unified theory which we will someday discover..." (2) There's no ultimate theory, "just an infinite sequence of theories that describe the universe more and more accurately." (3) There's no theory, period: "Events...occur in a random and arbitrary manner." He seems to like (1) believing "that there is a good chance...[for] a complete unified theory by the end of the century..." Apparently--since he is speaking from circa 1996--he means the twentieth century. In that case he's wrong since we haven't yet gotten such a theory. For the record, I like (2). I think that our present "laws" are approximations that we will continue to improve on. I believe we develop the ability through science to better and better order our environment and to increase our knowledge. I don't believe we are actually discovering "ultimate truth." Hawking asks here as he has elsewhere, "Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?" Why is there anything at all? He believes that if we do discover a complete theory, we will then be able to answer this question, and then we would "know the mind of God."
Rating: 
Summary: ATTENTION!!! This is NOT Hawking's book!
Review: This is from the Stephen Hawking website:
"It has come to our attention that the book "The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe" has been published. Professor Hawking would like to make it clear that he has not endorsed this book. The text was written by him many years ago, however the material has already been published in books such as 'A Brief History of Time'. A complaint was made to the Federal Trade Commission in the US in the hope that they would prevent the publication. We would urge you not to purchase this book in the belief that Professor Hawking was involved in its creation. "
Rating:
Summary: ATTENTION!!! This is NOT Hawking's book!
Review: This is from the Stephen Hawking website:
"It has come to our attention that the book "The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe" has been published. Professor Hawking would like to make it clear that he has not endorsed this book. The text was written by him many years ago, however the material has already been published in books such as 'A Brief History of Time'. A complaint was made to the Federal Trade Commission in the US in the hope that they would prevent the publication. We would urge you not to purchase this book in the belief that Professor Hawking was involved in its creation. "
Rating: 
Summary: Lectures are better heard than read
Review: This short book is a collection of lectures given by this eminent physicist. Unfortunately, the content of the book reads more like a Sunday afternoon discussion than a serious and intense investigation into what the title of the book promises. I always hate to be mislead and the title of this book is misleading to me. If an author is going to be as bold as to adopt the title of his book as the "Theory of Everything" and the "Orgin and Fate of the Universe," then I expect something more than a recapitulation of a series of theories that may lead up to a theory of everything. The brevity of the book leaves so much unexplained. If I had not already read other books about string theory, quantum physics and relativity, I would have lost the significance of the thesis as the author "tip toes" lightly over these topics. This is a book written by a brilliant mind in a complex field of study. Frankly, I expected a lot more. Perhaps the author was targeting a certain audience, which I was not member. This is good example of going too far afield to reach a general readership.
Rating: 
Summary: Stimulate your mind.
Review: While I sympathize with Mr. Hawking's distress regarding the unauthorized publication of this book, I enjoyed it enormously none-the-less. Much of the material in this book has been published previously, but this format is more reader friendly to those of us with an average IQ. Several reviews have given "The Theory of Everything" a one star rating and have even encouraged others to refuse to buy or read the book. However despite the sensitivities regarding the publication of Hawking's work this is still a really good book which can be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in science.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Physics Text For The Average Citizen!
Review: With a wonderfully whimsical title and a slim volume of text containing an absorbing series of Stephen Hawking lectures to browse through, this straightforward and carefully paced series of essay-style lectures has much to offer the layperson regarding the nature of the universe that surrounds us. While Hawking does not offer the students either easy answers to complex questions or a single unifying theory that neatly ties together all of the aspects of 21st century physics, the lectures do provide a marvelous set of precepts for use in understanding the nature of the phenomena that we find ourselves enveloped within. For people with a math phobia, the text is quite friendly, exquisitely sidestepping any resort to such devices in describing, explaining and summarizing the total sum of the state of the art perspectives on 21st century physics. Thus, the lectures are both introductory in terms of the language employed in his expositions and occasionally are also quite metaphorical. Hawking uses a broad variety of authoritative sources, including everyone from Einstein to his contemporary (and colleague) Richard Feynman as well as his own provocative findings. Taken as a whole, the lectures (essays) are crisp, clear, and well accomplished, and while the reader will have to gird his loins occasionally to trudge through some difficult and vague areas within, the main thrust of the text is reader-friendly and easy to absorb intellectually. Professor Hawking provides a yeoman service to the populace at large in helping to make science and the theoretical underpinnings of modern society much more accessible to everyman. In a world increasingly oriented around high technology and the offspring of such theoretical constructs, it is critically important for ordinary citizens to understand more about the revolutionary explosion in scientific knowledge that so profoundly affects us. By sharing such knowledge with us in an eminently accessible fashion, Stephen Hawking helps us to become better informed and more involved citizens. I highly recommend this book for a general audience. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Short and Quick
Review: With its wide margins, large typeface, and slim 167-page profile, this collection of seven lectures almost qualifies as a pamphlet. You'll speed through it in no time, but it is pleasantly written. If you have an interest in popular science, you've likely seen much of the information before; the book is really just highlights of Hawking's previously published works. But it is a nice survey of current theories about cosmology, black holes, and the nature of time. Heavy subjects, treated lightly.
| 
