"A Brief History of Time" (1988) - Stephen Hawking's Best-Seller about the Origins of the Cosmos

[DonRocks]

I read Stephen Hawking's (R.I.P.)  "A Brief History of Time" not long after it was published in 1988, and even though everyone is saying how simple it is, I'm pretty much in the Charles Krauthammer camp: I found it almost 'incomprehensible' at the time.

Granted, I'm much, much more educated now than I was then, so maybe it would be a walk in the park for me now, but it was not easy reading for me at age 28-ish. 

(I should add that Richard Feynman's book, "Six Easy Pieces," put me in the same boat: They were *not* easy. And then, I was foolish enough to tackle "Six Not-so-Easy Pieces," which I read more as a personal challenge than anything else - I remember nothing about it.)

I think the problem might be that, while these are two scientific geniuses, they aren't great authors. Honestly, I question the myriad of five-star reviews, and all the comments saying they were reading "Six Easy Pieces" to their grade-school children. I don't believe it! There are two kinds of people who say they enjoy these books: those with a degree in physics, and those who are trying to impress people - I am neither. Grade-school children, my eye.