The Illustrated A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking)
The classic Hawking book made easier with pictures, though some chapters still take real effort.
The short version
- Curious adults and teens who want the standard popular account of cosmology
- Readers who learn better from diagrams and photos than from text alone
- Gift buyers looking for a good looking science book
- You want the latest findings in cosmology
- You want a light, quick read
- You want the math behind the ideas
What owners like
- Hawking explains hard physics with clarity, analogies and some wit
- The illustrations make abstract ideas, such as curved spacetime, far easier to picture
- A handsome book that is pleasant to browse as well as read
- One of the most influential popular science books, with over 25 million copies of the original sold
Common complaints
- Several chapters remain hard going, and the original is known as a bestseller many buyers never finished
- The time travel chapter feels thin to some readers
- The science reflects the state of physics in the mid 1990s
Based on The Penguin Random House listing and its quoted press reviews, the Wikipedia article on the book's history and reception, and a long form reader review on kara.reviews..
Research scores
Scored from the maker's specs and what owners report. Drew's own notes and photos will refine these.
Ownership
- Sep 2015
First bought.
Drew's hands-on notes for this product are on the way. Long-term updates will be added to this timeline.
What it does
The updated and expanded 1996 hardcover of Stephen Hawking's famous book on the universe, rebuilt around more than 240 color illustrations.
- Covers the history of astronomy, relativity, the expanding universe, quantum uncertainty, particles and forces, black holes, the arrow of time and the search for a unified theory
- Adds a new introduction and a new chapter on wormholes and time travel, with the original chapters updated
- Satellite images, Hubble Space Telescope photos and computer generated diagrams of three and four dimensional ideas
- Written for general readers, with famously almost no equations
- Large format that works as a coffee table book as well as a read
A good pick for curious readers who want the classic explanation of the Big Bang, black holes and time, with pictures doing much of the heavy lifting. The trade-offs are that some chapters still demand real concentration and the science stops in the mid 1990s, so readers after recent discoveries will need a newer book alongside it.
How it compares
Specs
- Author
- Stephen Hawking
- Publisher
- Bantam
- Edition
- Illustrated, updated and expanded (1996)
- Format
- Hardcover
- Pages
- 256
- ISBN
- 9780553103748
- Illustrations
- More than 240 full color images
Questions
What is different in the illustrated Brief History of Time?
Hawking added a new introduction and a new chapter on wormholes and time travel, updated the original chapters, and the book adds more than 240 full color illustrations.
Is A Brief History of Time hard to read?
It uses almost no math, but several chapters on quantum theory and black holes take effort. The illustrations in this edition help, and A Briefer History of Time is the easier option.
Is the illustrated edition still in print?
Penguin Random House lists the Bantam hardcover as available.
Is A Brief History of Time out of date?
The core ideas still stand, but this edition dates from 1996, so later discoveries are not covered.
Sources
- Penguin Random House: The Illustrated A Brief History of Time
- Wikipedia: A Brief History of Time
- kara.reviews: The Illustrated A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell
Researched 2026-10-02. We bought this product; our page is built from the maker's details and what owners report across reviews and forums. We never copy Amazon customer reviews.