A Brief History of Time

I really enjoyed this book. It helped me better understand many of the great advances in physics, astronomy, and cosmology of the 20th century. The narration was great and included a couple jokes and personal notes about/from the author that lent a human touch to the subject.

As good as the book is, I think it would be a real struggle for those who don?t already have a familiarity with some of the topics. Further, because of the books age some of the ideas are out of date (e.g. the latest evidence is that the universe is not only expanding, but doing so at an ever increasing rate). Nonetheless, the book is worth reading and re-reading (as I?ll do).

I'm going through this for a second time a year or so after the first and am loving it. The writing is personal with insight into the creative scientific process. The narrator and sound quality are wonderful: good inflections. The narrator sometimes hesitates on words in a way that makes it sound like he's thinking or recalling, it's delightful.

Content - This is a "pop physics" classic. Fairly complex topics are covered in an entertaining and clear manner. There is a "leap" in the book in moving from the macro to the micro, but this isn't so much a function of the book, but of the science at this point.
Math isn't really needed, but a scientific mindset helps

Adaptation - as it is unabridged, there is little in the way of adaptation. The "voice" of the book is of a "lecture" type which translates well. There are figures in the printed work that help clarify things, but these are few and only minimally impact the experience

Narration - Solid. It is a fairly emotionally even subject and the reader doesn't attempt to "overdress" the text.
I have heard Hawking lectures read by Hawking and, sadly, the mechanical voice can be stressful to listen to at first (you do get used to it), but a professional human reader is easier

This book dives right in and tells a story that helped me understand how many of the 20th century advances in theoretical physics relate to my world/life.

A few people said here that the book was boring because they already knew all the concepts... I couldn't DISagree more. I'm a physics/astrophysics student in my senior year, and know all these concepts like the back of my hand, but this book was still such a pleasure to listen to. Hawking writes in such a way that this book was one of the best I've ever encountered (on these topics), and has the potential to really intreague anyone and everyone. I'd recommend it to anyone!

As you already know what this book is about, I will tell you how it affected a student with limited mathematical background and none in physics. Well, it was wonderful- this is one of the only audiobooks for which I must abandon all other sources of distraction. Hawking's descriptions and analogies are spot-on for my taste, and I rarely had to re-listen to any of it to grasp the concepts.
The narration is good too. Jackson, thankfully unique from most stoic-sounding professionals, actually gets caught up in what he is reading! I believe that speaks volumes, as it were, about the book itself. Even (and perhaps especially) if you're not a fan of these topics, take this chance to culture yourself with this mind-expanding prize.

I also own this book in hardcover. As an unscientifically trained person with a passion for reading the latest news in scientific theory, this is an excellent resource to go back to for clarification on certain points.

My only complaint would be with the narrator, who seems not to have read the script beforehand and sometimes forgets he is making a recording- even acting surprised at the material and stopping midword or midsentence at times.

While the content from Stephen Hawking is interesting, it's difficult to follow due to the narrator's very strange vocal cadence. Not only is his timing odd, but it sounds as if it's the first time he's glanced at the manuscript, stumbling over words.

For a thirty-something who hasn't studied much science since high-school biology, this was a bit challenging...but rewarding.

Hawking delivers a summary of the popular theories on the origin of our planet, it's place in the universe, and everything we know and don't know about the laws that govern it.

He does a good job of helping the layman understand what may be unfamiliar concepts (they were to me anyway) like the second law of thermodynamics, the event horizon, relativity and red shift by use of analogy and "for example" type descriptions. The best audience would seem to be a college science major who has a bit of a passion for astronomy or physics or the like.

I found the reader's voice a bit monotone and I could often hear more excitement and animation in Hawking's words by re-reading them aloud in my own mind.

You really need to have a little background on the topic to understand this book fully. If you have that, I'm sure it's probably a lot more interesting.