Cover of A Briefer History of Time

A Briefer History of Time (2005, ISBN 0-553-80436-7) is a popular-science book from the English physicist Stephen Hawking and the American physicist Leonard Mlodinow. It is an update and rewrite of Hawking's 1988 A Brief History of Time. In this book Hawking and Mlodinow try to present quantum mechanics, string theory, the big bang theory, and other topics in a more accessible fashion to the general public. The book is updated with newly discovered topics, and informs of recurring subjects throughout the book in greater detail.

It is a science classic made more accessible, more concise, illustrated, and is updated with the latest research of the time. The authors address the nature of space and time, the role of a god in creation, and the history and future of the universe.

Contents

1. Thinking About the Universe
2. Our Evolving Picture of the Universe
3. The Nature of a Scientific Theory
4. Newton's Universe
5. Relativity
6. Curved Space
7. The Expanding Universe
8. The Big Bang, Black Holes, and the Evolution of the Universe
9. Quantum Gravity
10. Wormholes and Time Travel
11. The Forces of Nature and the Unification of Physics
12. Conclusions

de:Die kürzeste Geschichte der Zeit pt:Brevíssima História do Tempo