Stephen Hawking is best known for his multi-million copy selling A Brief History of Time and this book, The Universe in a Nutshell is the sequel. Unfortunately I haven't read the original so I am not in the best position to compare the two. However, there are a couple of well-known differences. The first, as mentioned in the prologue, is that the structure of the new book is different to the original. The original's text flowed in logical progression from beginning to end so if you got stuck early on you wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the rest. And getting stuck (or bored, whichever came first) was apparently a commonplace occurrence as many of those who bought the book never got around to finishing it. Nonetheless A Brief History of Time was in the London Sunday Times bestseller list for over four years.

The Universe in a Nutshell deviates from the original's tradition. The book gives the reader a set of core knowledge in the first two chapter and the following chapters can thus be read in any order. Also, there is much more extensive use of diagrams and figures to aid the reader along, hopefully to make the job of understanding the complex physics a bit easier.

The book starts off with the fundamental concepts of Relativity and Quantum theory and goes on to describe time and M-Theory (the current Theory of Everything). After this the branching starts and a further five chapters go on to explain the origin of the universe, multiple histories, time travel, black holes, string theory, supergravity, and more. Numerous theories are expounded upon with a minimum of mathematics. Many of the greatest physicists and mathematicians of history including Feynman, Einstein, Newton, and Maxwell and their theories of the universe are mentioned and explained. Thus, it's difficult to identify all the topics covered in the book but there is certainly a great deal to read about.

However, the universe is a fantastic thing and isn't very easy to grasp. Its nature is very abstract to humans and thus is very difficult to understand for the average layman (me that is). It was with this realization that I bought this book and unfortunately I was disappointed.

The chapter on relativity was surprisingly confusing and I had to return to my high school physics text to revise the theory. It doesn't get much better later on as I found chapters required at least more than one read to grasp the concepts. Even then there were certain sections which I still do not understand such as Richard Feyneman's Theory of Multiple Histories.

However, I don't think that this is entirely the author's fault. The subject matter is such that one can not simply refer the theories to the experiences we normally have in our everyday lives. Quantum mechanics take place at the nano scale and the macro stuff is far too large and far away for us to visualize. For example, what does one really mean when one refers to fabric of the universe being spacetime? Or how is it exactly that imaginary time helps scientists to solve problems in certain situations when it is nothing more than a theory conjured up in a mathematician's mind? Although the author does a good job in citing as many examples and analogies from real life as possible, it's still all very abstract. Hawking refers to the positivist approach to science in which one does not ask whether a theory describes what is in actual reality but whether the theory is in line with observations. Had the author gone through these observations the book would be in volumes. The reader simply has to settle with what is given in the text as being the undisputable truth.

Nonetheless, there are sections in the book that did interest me. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Black Holes and how science is expected to develop in the future. Even the more hardcore chapters would occasionally captivate a dozing mind. For example, the Theory of Multiple Histories (a theory which states that the universe has a different beginnings and we are currently living in just one of the many possible) seems to come straight from a science fiction book. M-Theory and the like also makes one feel like explaining the subtleties of string theory to anyone who would care to admire your prowess.

Stephen Hawking is even sensitive to religious issues in his book and acknowledges the limitations of man and how what he writes about is simply science and observations about the universe in which the human race lives. Even then, however, there are a couple of unfortunate remarks such as saying that "all the evidence is that God is quite a gambler" after Einstein expressed doubt in the uncertainty principle saying, "God does not play dice".

All in all The Universe in a Nutshell was an interesting read and now maybe I can hold my own the next a time a great breakthrough graces the covers of Discovery.

Overall Score: 3/5

Read the book? What do you think?