Stephen Hawking - Brief Answers To Big Questions (John Murray, 2018) ***½

This is the last non-scientific publication by astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, in which he explains the most important questions and answers of our time, some of which he was instrumental in answering.

The topics range from the (non-)existence of god, the origin of our universe, the possibility of other intelligent life in the universe, the inside of black holes, the possibility of time travel to the need to colonise space.

In the early chapters he also talks once in a while about himself, as a young researcher, the onset of his disease (ALS), his life at the university, and considering the value and the situation of Hawking, these are welcome, even if unusual in books of this nature. The early chapters are also the most scientific, presented in a clear an easy to understand language for some of the most complex topic that exist. In the later chapters, when discussing time travel, or the need to colonise space, or the future of artificial intelligence, he talks more about possibilities and things that need to be done or organised rather than about what already is. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but these are more his personal ideas and viewpoints rather than scientifically substantiated claims.

Regardless, the book is worth recommending only because of the author's wonderful depiction of our universe, its origin, evolution and hard to fathom size and weird structure. Not every aspect will be understood by lay readers, but those parts of the text are rather limited. The rest is fascinating.