Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking

About the Author :

---> Stephen Hawking:  Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who, at the time of his death, was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. He also contributed as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. 

Hawking was born in Oxford on January 8, 1942, into a family of physicians. He has done a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, specializing in general relativity and cosmology. Sir Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with an early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neuron disease that gradually, over the decades, paralyzed him. After the loss of speech, he communicated through a speech-generating device initially through the use of a handheld switch and eventually by using a single cheek muscle. With a feeling of great sorrow, we lost the genius on March 14, 2018.

Hawking's scientific works included research on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that Black Holes emit radiation often called Hawking radiation etc.

Hawking was a great author, He expressed all his learnings and imagination in his works. All his books were bestsellers worldwide. Some of his books are Brief Answers to the Big Questions, A Brief History of Time, Universe, in a Nutshell, The Theory of Everything, The Grand Design, etc.

About the title :

---> Brief Answers to the Big Questions: Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a popular science book written by Physicist Sir Stephen Hawking. It was published on October 16, 2018, which could be indeed his last work. 

The book's title delivers the answer in a very simple language to the most notorious and mysterious question with due respect to the universe and the imagination of mankind.

The book was incomplete at the time of Sir Stephen's passing in March 2018, but was completed with "his academic colleagues, his family, and the Stephen Hawking Estate."

About the Book / Plot :

---> About the book: The book examines, and promotes the view that science is very important in helping to solve the problems on the planet Earth. The book is described as "a selection of Sir Stephen Hawking's most profound, accessible, and timely reflections from his personal archive." 

---> About the plot: As the book reflects science its plot would include the understanding of basic concepts of science and imagination. The book treats four main subjects: "Why are we here? Will we survive? Will Technology save us or destroy us? How can we  Thrive? " in ten chapters, one for each specific question.

Questions/in the Books:

---> Characterization: As the book is a work of pure science, factual conclusion, and logical imagination the book has no fictional/main character. But the book contains a questionnaire that reflects a matter of great deep learning and thinking. 

The ten Questions that are considered include:

1. Is there a God?    

2. How did it all Begin?             

3. What is inside a Black Hole?

4. Can we Predict the Future?

5. Is time travel possible?

6. Will we survive on Earth?

7. Is there any other intelligent life in the Universe?

8. Should we Colonise Space?

9. Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?

10. How do we shape the future?

---> The part I loved the most: The part which fascinated me the most was Question 1 and Question 4 of the book as both were related to TIME. Now, I would like to brief on one of these concepts in the next section.

--> Is there a God: The existence of God is well illustrated in this section, Sir Stephen Hawking's conclusion believes that God doesn't exist, and now I too believe that the entity does not exist. Sir Stephen Hawking has explained this with some logical and factual statements.

We can't get to the time before Big Bang because there was no time before the Big Bang. If the concept of time only exists within our universe and the universe came spontaneously and with it, brought time into existence, there's simply no 'before' to consider. Sir Stephen Hawking used the simile, that there is nothing on Earth south of the South Pole. So, if we observe carefully the map of the microwave sky. It is the blueprint for all the structures in the universe. We are the product of quantum fluctuations in the early universe. The simplest explanation is that God does not exist and there is no reliable evidence for an afterlife, though people can live on through their influence. As for the need for a God to cause the Big Bang, Sir Stephen Hawking stated that "The laws of nature itself tell us that not only could the universe have popped into existence without any assistance, like a proton, and have required nothing in terms of energy, but also it is possible that nothing caused the Big Bang." For any task to be defined we need a time like this task was done at this time, that at this time and more, Then how could we define the God if there was no time for the God to cause Big Bang as time never existed before the Big Bang. Big Bang was caused by a singularity in which energy was converted into matter and antimatter [dark matter also] and the universe was formed by the formula given by Einstein [E=mc^2] and the concept of an afterlife is too totally wrong as at the initial phase the way energy converted into matter, in the same way, the mass once decomposed gets converted into energy. If the mass doesn't convert into energy and mass converts into mass it would contradict the law of conservation of energy and mass.

Theme/Message of the Book:

If there is a unifying theme across the book, it is Hawking's deep faith in science's ability to solve humanity's biggest problems — be they in theoretical physics or the future of our species on Earth. His answers to the big questions illustrate his belief in the rationality of nature and in our ability to uncover all its secrets. His optimism permeates every page.