May 2006 - This book was recommended to me about 10 years ago by my collaborator, Steve Schrum. At the time, he felt that there were some interesting ideas that I might appreciate. While writing a paper on Intelligent Design, I picked up the 10th Anniversary Expanded edition as part of my "priority book reading" effort for the summer of 2006. I always thought that the only reason I was able to pass Physics in college was because of an imaginative and well written paper on time travel (inspired by Dr. Who), so I was particularly interested to see what Hawking had to say about it.

I easily finished almost the whole book on Memorial Day weekend, mostly because I just couldn't put it down, but also because it is a rather quick read - despite the sometimes mind-bending scientific discussion.

What I liked most about the book was Hawking's humor, and the fact that he never seems to talk down to the reader. The other thing I admired was that Hawking very deftly works a divine creator into his equations without ruling it out. In some ways, his theories even make the case for such a creator. Hawking leaves this point open for debate without belittling anyone or using science as a soapbox, which was refreshing.

For me, Hawking's most interesting observation is something that doesn't take up much space, but has significant impact for our time. He notes that we've become so specialized in our knowledge, and technology has created so many new fields of study that philosophers no longer have the advantage of understanding the many disciplines that make up our existence. Instead, Hawking fells that philosophers have been relegated to the study of language and no longer see the big picture. As a student of rhetorical theory and criticism who started his journey on a more philosophical slant, this hit home for me.

My only criticism is that I would have liked more drawings. I see that there is an illustrated version of the book available, which would probably be much better as the concepts sometimes lack clarity without a visual aid.