Was there a beginning of time?, Could time run backwards? and Is the universe infinite are just some of the questions considered in this book for the non-scientific layman. The author begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein and then delves into the secrets which lie at the heart of space and time.

String theory proclaims that all of the wondrous happenings in the universe are reflections of one grand physical principle and manifestations of one single entity: microscopically tiny vibrating loops of energy. This text relates the scientific story and the human struggle behind this theory.

'A magnificent challenge to conventional ideas' Financial Times 'I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It manages to be both challenging and entertaining: it is highly recommended' the Independent '(Greene) send(s) the reader's imagination hurtling through the universe on an astonishing ride.

The story of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution, transforming matter and life into consciousness, how science and civilization grew up together and the forces and individuals who helped shape modern science. The book aims to make scientific ideas accessible and exciting.

Unravelling the latest amazing breakthroughs in theoretical physics, Stephen Hawking guides the reader through the evolution of Einsteinian physics to a universe of ten dimensions and a so-called theory of everything.

The bestselling author of Fermat's Last Theorem and The Code Book tells the story of the brilliant minds that deciphered the mysteries of the Big Bang. A fascinating exploration of the ultimate question: how was our universe created?

The Astronomer Royal shows how the behaviour and origins of the universe can be explained by just six numbers

Covering subjects ranging from the personal to the scientific, this is a collection of Stephen Hawking's essays and other pieces. They reveal him as scientist, man, concerned world citizen and imaginative thinker. A transcript of his conversation on Desert Island Discs is included.

The author, one of the pioneers of string theory, has produced an accessible guide for the general reader to some of the most formidable modern concepts of mathematics and physics. These include string theory itself, hyperspace, non-Euclidean geometry, Kaluza-Klein theory and supergravity.

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely in his own study at home, he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. This book is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization.

Getting a grip on the creation and ultimate fate of the universe is one of the great scientific stories of the twentieth century. In the twenty-first, the story is expanding to enfold many universes. This book tells this story. Using astronomical data, the author explores the Big Bang, theories of everything, and our cosmic future.

In this revised edition, Stephen Hawking includes recent developments in the field of cosmology. Explaining his theories through a visual dimension, the book is designed to help the lay reader to understand abstract ideas, such as the big bang , black holes, and particle physics.

The Road to Reality is the most important and ambitious work of science for a generation. It provides nothing less than a comprehensive account of the physical universe and the essentials of its underlying mathematical theory. It assumes no particular specialist knowledge on the part of the reader, so that, for example, the early chapters give us the vital mathematical background to the physical .

During the past years, dramatic improvements in methods of observing astrophysical phenomena space have added to our knowledge of the universe. This book presents an overview of physical cosmology, and also discusses the attempts to understand the origin and structure of the universe.

The author, one of the world's foremost cosmologists, sets out to answer the vexed question surrounding the Big Bang Theory: if matter can neither be created nor destroyed, how could so much matter arise from nothing? This is the story of Guth's quest to understand the origins of the universe.

Aims to tackle various questions and introduces discoveries that have allowed scientists to piece together story of universe.

Gives us a glimpse into our future. This book allows the reader to understand the questions that scientists deal with at the frontiers of research. It explains the kind of problems that extra dimensions might solve and the kind of speculation that is needed even to imagine them.

Presents an account of the scientific achievements and lives of cosmologists from Babylonians to Newton.

A study of the anthropic cosmological principle, with reference to various scientific disciplines. The work also includes chapters on the nature of life, extraterrestrial intelligence and the quantum theory.

This book tells that story and will reveal results of the most advanced experiments in cosmology ever conducted. It's also an intensely human story - a tale of men solving the insoluble, of the controversy and intense competition abd rivalry between individuals and laboratories pursuing the same goal.