The Grand Design

By: Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow

Narrated by: Steve West

Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A whirlwind tour of fundamental physics and cosmology.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Fascinating . . . a wealth of ideas [that] leave us with a clearer understanding of modern physics in all its invigorating complexity.”—Los Angeles Times

When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? What is the nature of reality? Is the apparent “grand design” of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion—or does science offer another explanation? In The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present the most illuminating scientific thinking about these and other abiding mysteries of the universe, in nontechnical language marked by brilliance and simplicity.

According to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence or history. The authors explain that we ourselves are the product of quantum fluctuations in the early universe and show how quantum theory predicts the “multiverse”—the idea that ours is just one of many universes that appeared spontaneously out of nothing, each with different laws of nature. They conclude with a riveting assessment of M-theory, an explanation of the laws governing our universe that is currently the only viable candidate for a “theory of everything”: the unified theory that Einstein was looking for, which, if confirmed, would represent the ultimate triumph of human reason.

A succinct, startling, and lavishly illustrated guide to discoveries that are altering our understanding and threatening some of our most cherished belief systems, The Grand Design is a book that will inform—and provoke—like no other.

©2010 Steven Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Introduces the reader to topics at the frontier of theoretical physics . . . more clearly for general readers than I have seen before.” (Steven Weinberg, The New York Review of Books)

“Provocative pop science, an exploration of the latest thinking about the origins of our universe.” (The New York Times)

good exploration of various topics related to univ

good exploration of various topics related to universe explained in simple language. good narration. enjoyable book.

Interesting, but not super-accessible

This book was an interesting, if opaque, introduction to some of the most recent, promising, and alien theories in physics. If you're interested in cosmology, this book has some great information. As a graduate student in physics, I found this book to be inspiring.

It is not, however, an easy listen. It's virtually impossible to plainly explain some of the concepts in this book, and though Hawking and Mlodinow did an admirable job, I had a hard time understanding some of the content. In fact, it's been about a year since I listened to it, and I can recall very little of what I learned.

This could be a great choice for a motivated listener with some background in the subject, but those with only a passing interest should probably steer clear.

Narrator is VERY BAD. Unpleasing listening

Would you try another book from Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow and/or Steve West?

perhaps

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

It is horrible. His entonation is weird, Unacceptable. Very distracting and very unpleasing

Any additional comments?

Change the narrator!!

No clear audience

While the overall book was good, it's lacking in having a consistent target audience. It will explain some simple concepts in detail (that anyone reading the book ought to already know), then skip over more complex (physics-related) topics, that many readers might not understand. So while it has some good material, it spends too much time on details of simple concepts, and not enough on new theory on the harder stuff. It just wasn't consistent in the level of detail presented, which seriously detracted from the overall impression of the book.

existential crisis intensifies

I had to listen to this book to get
it's just the way it is.

Thought provoking

I really enjoyed this book. It is makes modern physics accessable to those of us who are not career physicists. it is a bit of a hard read but the understanding one gains is well worth the read.

A good refresher book on current theories.

A good refresher book on the current theories in modern physics. The book is very straightforward with the first half going over basic stuff and the second half delving into quantum theory, Feynman's multiple histories, and M theory. It'€™s not anything that hasn't been discussed in more detail in other books but a good cohesive explanation. Some of the implications Hawkins discusses are fascinating.

The book doesn't ™get wrapped up in technical details such as Planck length calculations, etc. which other books on string theory and quantum mechanics tend to.

Solid, but just solid.

I've consumed a lot of content in this area (books, videos, etc). I felt like the authors were a bit distracted here. What is M theory. A discussion of creation myths and how they map to our desire to understand. I felt that the book jumped around a bit. I felt the treatment of M theory to be a bit lacking. I did learn some things. I came away with a much greater appreciation for Feynman, especially. But I was also a bit disappointed. I'm not sure how to compare the content of this book to that of Brian Greene, but Dr. Greene does weave a better narrative.

Interesting but hard to listen

Don’t get me wrong this is a good book but the science is quite hard and deep. It would be interesting for most people who are interested in science, or even those who are interested in Science-fiction. If you are not into these, it would hard to listen.

Feels like the shallow end of the Hawking pool.

... Which is a good thing.
Clear and helpful explanations and interesting arguments, but way too many Armageddon-could-really-spoil-your-weekend-plans jokes. Even with the British accent, they get stale quickly.
The narrator comes off as more of a correspondence reader, certainly not a teacher whose passion for the subject would have been helpful.