This is Stephen Hawking's updated, expanded and illustrated edition of his celebrated work which includes the most recent developments in the field, many of which were forecast by him. At the same time, he explains his complex theories through a fresh visual dimension. Over one hunded and fifty stunning colour illustrations have been specially commissioned for this purpose to help the reader understand what have become popular mythic images of our century, but which nonetheless remain difficult, abstract ideas to grasp. It includes a new introduction written specially for this edition.

Amazon.com With a title inspired as much by Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker series as Einstein, The Theory of Everything delivers almost as much as it promises. Transcribed from Stephen Hawking's Cambridge Lectures, the slim volume may not present a single theory unifying gravity with the other fundamental forces, but it does carefully explain the state of late 20th-century physics with the great scientist's characteristic humility and charm. Explicitly shunning math, Hawking explains the fruits of 100 years of heavy thinking with metaphors that are simple but never condescending--he compares the settling of the newborn universe into symmetry to the formation of ice crystals in a glass of water, for example. While he explores his own work (especially when speaking about black holes), he also discusses the important milestones achieved by others like Richard Feynman. Though occasionally an impenetrably obscure phrase does slip by, the reader will find the bulk of the text enlightening and engaging. The material, from the nature of time to the possibility that the universe has no beginning or end, is rich and deep and inevitably ignites metaphysical thinking. After all, Hawking is famous for his "we would know the mind of God" remark, which ends the final lecture herein. --Rob Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.