A Briefer History of Time

By: Stephen Hawking

Narrated by: Erik Davies

Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Stephen Hawking's worldwide best seller, A Brief History of Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its author's engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he addresses is another: the nature of space and time, the role of God in creation, and the history and future of the universe. But it is also true that in the years since its publication, readers have repeatedly told Professor Hawking of their great difficulty in understanding some of the book's most important concepts. This is the origin of and the reason for A Briefer History of Time: its author's wish to make its content more accessible, as well as to bring it up-to-date with the latest scientific observations and findings.

Although this audiobook is literally somewhat "briefer", it actually expands on the great subjects of the original. Purely technical concepts, such as the mathematics of chaotic boundary conditions, are gone. Conversely, subjects of wide interest that were difficult to follow because they were interspersed throughout the production have now been given entire chapters of their own, including relativity, curved space, and quantum theory. This reorganization has allowed the authors to expand areas of special interest and recent progress, from the latest developments in string theory to exciting developments in the search for a complete, unified theory of all the forces of physics.

Like prior editions, but even more so, A Briefer History of Time will guide non-scientists everywhere in the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.

©2005 Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow (P)2005 Random House Audiobooks

This is Not a sequel - It's a minor re-write!

I was disappointed in this audio book. For no reason other that is was not clear from the precis that is was a revision of the original "A Brief History of Time". I can't fault the material and the 5 minutes or so of audio were up to the usual standard. But it leaves a poor taste in my mouth to spend a audio book credit on an audiobook that I, essentially, already had. Well done on Stephen Hawking for making his material more accessable to a broader audience. But I understood enough of the original that I would never have felt the need to purchase both and I just wish it had been made more clear. If you have not read (or heard) ther original this is probably the version to get but if you have and you enjoyed it you won't get any more out of this updated release.