On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Ultimate Concept

A Rare Breed of Authentic Science Books
After reading Hawking’s *A Brief History of Time*, and Kipp Thorne’s *Black Holes and Time Warps*, I had the impression that Hawking is not only a great scientist but also a deep philosopher of science. He is a rare breed of scientist who combines solid technical skills with profound insights. He is able to see both the forest and the trees. All this with little “ego” to be seen in his writings or in his followers. Hertog’s book confirms these conclusions.
Hertog is a student-cum-fellow of Stephen Hawking. He is an outstanding physicist that knows what he is writing about. The book analyzes how scientific debate is motivated by philosophical positions. In particular, the book explains the journey that Hawking traveled from the position of Einstein to that of Lemaître. I will not summarize these positions so as not to spoil your appetite to read the book! It is an interesting journey that is worth the struggle.
The book elegantly weaves scientific theories with the history of science. The style and prose are simple and clear.
The discussion of time is subsumed into the discussion of quantum holography. The author emphasizes that spacetime and gravity are “emergent phenomena.” “Holography ingrains a fundamental element of emergence into the very roots of physics—into the fabric of spacetime itself.” According to the author, “Holographic cosmology excises the multiverse like Ockham’s razor.” An important insight is that “there is an upper bound on the amount of information that black holes can store.” In contrast, “multiverse cosmology assumes that our cosmological theories can contain an arbitrarily large amount of information without affecting the cosmos they describe. But holographic cosmology paints a very different picture.”
The last chapter is mostly philosophical. The main message is that we ought to be “At Home in the Universe.” This is quite enlightening. But the discussion overall is not as stimulating as the rest of the book. The author probably needs to take another look at that chapter.
Overall, despite the many books on black holes, relativity, and quantum physics, this book presents a unique perspective. It also shows the profound value of Hawking’s contributions to modern science and philosophy.

I worked my way through this excellent book quite carefully, absorbing as much of the physics as my limited mathematical skills allowed. Nevertheless, I still was able to grasp the concepts (I think) that are presented so well for the layman. The final pages of the book delve more into the philosophy of Hawking’s theory, and I found that part equally fascinating and enlightening.
A great book, if you can stick with it and work your way through.

Very thought provoking analysis and development some important questions in quantum cosmology.

Ich lese gerne und viel. Dies ist eines der wichtigsten Bücher, das ich je gelesen habe. Fazinierend unter so vielen Aspekten. Ich kenne kein anderes Buch, das en passant so gut erklärt wie theoretische Physik “funktioniert”. Allein diese Eigenschaft, sollte das Buch zur Pflichtlektüre für alle “Wissenschaftsskeptiker” machen. Wie anschaulich der Autor die komplexen Zusammenhänge der jüngeren Physik (Quantenphysik, Relativität, Kosmologie) aufdröselt ist ganz großes Kino. Zudem gibt es wunderbare Einblicke in das angelsächsische Uni-System (ich hatte das Glück bei einem Briten zu studieren und habe manches wiedererkannt). Dann zeigt es insbesondere uns Deutschen (die Menschen mit Behinderung gerne in Werkstattbetriebe abschieben, währen man die z. B in NL deutlich häufiger als Kolleg*innen trifft), was diese Menschen großartiges leisten können, wenn man sie lässt. OK, Stephen Hawking war sicher ein Ausnahmetalent, aber trotzdem ist das ein deutlicher Fingerzeig. Am Ende gelingt es dem Auto, den Bogen zwischen Physik und Philosophie zu verbinden. Zwei Fachrichtungen, die sich mit unterschiedlichen Methoden ähnliche Fragen widmen. Kaufen, lesen, weitergeben!