I know Hawkins dumbed it down for us commoners but I still got lost. It was understandable to some extent but it didn't take long for me to get lost and just end up flipping through the pictures and graphs. ( )

This special double-book volume contains Professor Hawking’s updated and expanded edition [a new chapter on wormholes and time travel] of “A Brief History of Time,” all prepared to give readers the latest understanding of cosmology and the search for the heart of time and space. Filled with graphics, illustrations, and photographs, readers will find much to ponder as they travel through the magnificent wonders of the universe. Also included are mini-biographies Albert Einstein, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton and an extensive glossary.

“The Universe in a Nutshell” seeks to reveal the secrets of the universe to the reader through an understanding of relativity and the shape of time. It goes on to discuss predicting the future, protecting the past, and an interesting look at whether or not our future resembles the one depicted in “Star Trek.” Again, charts, illustrations, and photographs accompany the narrative; an extensive glossary and suggested reading list follows.

There’s much to learn here, much to consider; Stephen Hawking’s inimitable style ensures readers will find both works comprehensible and intriguing. Take a journey through ages of scientific discovery with these extraordinary books that should be on everyone’s must-read list.

Highly recommended. ( )

This was a wonderfully informative book. It was written so that it's fairly easy to understand also. ( )

This book is as good as its previous account, the brief history of time, or maybe better. This book makes use of the previous knowledge from the brief history and expands it more by adding more descriptive comments and interesting examples of theory of the universe. Although the book was great, it became more and more complex near at the half. ( )

A great overview of many interesting scientific principles for those of us who would love to understand physics and can't. ( )