A Brief History of Time

Stephen Hawking

I'm going to be honest with you up front, I did not read this entire book.  I am of the firm belief that the presence of this book on Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime should have come with a disclaimer like-

"Warning: Don't read this book if you at one time thought you were intelligent because Stephen Hawking will make you feel extremely inferior."

I feel that recommending this book as one of the essential books to read in your lifetime, is like me saying you must read Robert Hughes' Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History.  Though I will rave about this book in my review, I would never recommend it to someone who does not nerd out on Roman history as much as I do.

That said, I'm not saying this book was bad.  In fact, I learned an incredible amount which I then attempted to impart on a less-physicsy-more-4th-grade level to my students during our Space unit.  In the end I mostly ended up saying to them, "OK it's hard to explain but this book I'm reading is insane you guys, it's like on another level of smart."

How I felt for most of the book

In case you are not already aware, (I was not) A Brief History of Time is exactly what the title implies.  It chronicles the scientific explanations for the development of our universe up until now.  It also, details Quantum Physics for the better part of the ending.  I did read in full the part about black holes and the potential for time travel, because that seemed like a very interesting topic.  So, if you have any interest in learning A LOT, I do suggest you pick up this book and attempt to peruse.  However, I would not really say it would be on my personal list of books to read in a lifetime.