Brief Answers to the Big Questions

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By Stephen Hawking

Publisher Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The world-famous cosmologist and author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the biggest questions facing humankind.

“Hawking’s parting gift to humanity . . . a book every thinking person worried about humanity’s future should read.”—NPR

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Forbes • The Guardian • Wired

Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues.

Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe’s greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet—including climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and the development of artificial intelligence—he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us.

Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history.

Featuring a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar playing Stephen Hawking, an introduction by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, and an afterword from Hawking’s daughter, Lucy, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a brilliant last message to the world.

Praise for Brief Answers to the Big Questions

“[Hawking is] a symbol of the soaring power of the human mind.”—The Washington Post

“Hawking’s final message to readers . . . is a hopeful one.”—CNN

“Brisk, lucid peeks into the future of science and of humanity.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Hawking pulls no punches on subjects like machines taking over, the biggest threat to Earth, and the possibilities of intelligent life in space.”—Quartz

“Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and—where it matters—witty.”—The Guardian

“This beautiful little book is a fitting last twinkle from a new star in the firmament above.”—The Telegraph

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1182 Reviews

4.0

Created 2 days ago

“This is a difficult book to review. It was an earlier book from Stephen and Lucy Hawking that cemented my early love of physics, and a latter book by Stephen Hawking that, inadvertently, set me on a path to explore faith. For me, this was a nostalgic book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It also helped dust the cobwebs off some of the material from my Physics undergrad but I digress, on with actual review... The title "Brief Answers to the Big Questions" is not entirely correct. The responses certainly are brief and very clearly and intuitively explained in Stephen's concise and whitty manner. The questions are also big - both in scope and also font size. The term I dispute is answers and feel it should be replaced by thoughts or remove some of the questions. For the astrophysics questions, they are indeed answers and no one can doubt Stephen's extensive knowledge in this field. Outwith his expertise of astronomy (e.g. faith, AI, ethics) the answers are scant, incomplete and shallow. The response to "Is there a God?", doesn't discuss faith acting through quantum mechanics via the inherent uncertainty - which I would have liked to read Stephen's thoughts on. The AI response, although already dated, misses the greater concerns of AI on privacy, data quality and scale, and steering society to the will of a few mega companies. Additionally Stephen doesn't acknowledge that, currently, AI exacerbates inequality rather solves it. His knowledge of the "Kill Switch Problem"' in AI seems somewhat lacking and, to my knowledge, this problem was equally prevalent at Stephen's time of writing. Greater questions were also missed focusing on "should" rather than "how". That is, for space colonisation, as a species that has displayed a parasitic behaviour to our host planet, should we release ourselves to planets and moons further afield? The crux of my issues with this book come from the fact that Stephen is not an ethecist, nor a proponent of equality (feminist, anti-racist, etc.), nor an expert in AI but seems to potray himself as such. This would be perfectly fine if the responses were portrayed as "thoughts from a physicist" rather than "answers". Sadly, this book falls short on that well trodden path of "expert has answers to questions outside of their expertise".”

Beautifully-written Easy to read Witty

Alyssa

Pelle

Sandeep S

Cassie DeCocq

About Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years and the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His books for the general reader include My Brief History, the classic A Brief History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universes, The Universe in a Nutshell, and, with Leonard Mlodinow, A Briefer History of Time and The Grand Design. He also co-authored a series of children’s books with his daughter, beginning with George’s Secret Key to the Universe. Stephen Hawking died in 2018.