#12 in Popular science
Brief Answers to the Big Questions
- 256
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 13 weeks on the list, peaked at #4
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Our view
“Brief Answers to the Big Questions” is Stephen Hawking at his most approachable, taking on God, time travel and the fate of Earth in short essays. Drawn from his articles, lectures and speeches, the pieces pair imagination with the conviction that science can help solve the planet’s problems. Some readers wish the answers went deeper, and some find the terminology hard going in places. It works well as a first Hawking.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a popular science book written by physicist Stephen Hawking, and published by Hodder & Stoughton (hardcover) and Bantam Books (paperback) on 16 October 2018. The book examines some of the universe's greatest mysteries, and promotes the view that science is very important in helping to solve problems on planet Earth. The publisher describes the book as "a selection of [Hawking's] most profound, accessible, and timely reflections from his personal archive", and is based on, according to a book reviewer, "half a million or so words" from his essays, lectures and keynote speeches.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.5 across 317 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 68% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Popular science average of 8.3. That is how 8.4 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.6 | 28 | 9% |
| Hardcover | 8.5 | 289 | 91% |
Frequently asked
How long is Brief Answers to the Big Questions?
It has 256 pages — shorter than 73% of the ranked books in Popular science.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Popular science — with scores between 8.3 and 8.5, closest to this book.
