REVIEWS:
“It’s a book every thinking person worried about humanity’s future should read. . . . Hawking’s parting gift to humanity.”—NPR
“[Hawking is] a symbol of the soaring power of the human mind.”—The Washington Post
“Hawking’s final message to readers . . . is a hopeful one.”—CNN
“[Brief Answers to the Big Questions offers] brisk, lucid peeks into the future of science and of humanity.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Hawking pulls no punches on subjects like machines taking over, the biggest threat to Earth, and the possibilities of intelligent life in space.”—Quartz
“Brief Answers is effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and—where it matters—witty.”—The Guardian
“This beautiful little book is a fitting last twinkle from a new star in the firmament above.”—The Telegraph
Physicist Marcelo Gleiser, reviewing the book for NPR, writes: "Stephen Hawking is one of those rare luminaries whose life symbolizes the best humanity has to offer ... [his book is one] every thinking person worried about humanity's future should read ... 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 ... His answers to the big questions illustrate his belief in the rationality of nature and on our ability to uncover all its secrets. His optimism permeates every page ... Although Hawking touches on the origin of the universe, the physics of black holes and some of his other favorite topics, his main concern in this book is not physics. It's humanity and its collective future ... Focusing his attention in the book on three related questions – the future of our planet, colonization of other planets, and the rise of artificial intelligence – he charts his strategy to save us from ourselves ... Only science, Hawking argues, can save us from our mistakes ... Hawking believes that humanity's evolutionary mission is to spread through the galaxy as a sort of cosmic gardener, sowing life along the way. He believes ... that we will develop a positive relation with intelligent machines and that, together, we will redesign the current fate of the world and of our species."[14]
According to award-winning science editor Tim Radford, writing for The Guardian, Hawking's book is "effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and – where it matters – witty." Radford quotes Hawking, "If the universe adds up to nothing, then you don't need a God to create it. The universe is the ultimate free lunch"; "our worst mistake ever" [if we are dismissive about artificial intelligence]; "Our future is a race between the growing power of our technology and the wisdom with which we use it. Let's make sure that wisdom wins." and "If humanity is to continue for another million years, our future lies in going boldly [with more manned space exploration] where no one else has gone before." Radford writes, "People who argue for good education for all, a decently funded NHS (National Health Service) and serious investment in research will rediscover him as a friend."[8]
Reviewer Abigail Higgins, writing for Vox, notes that author Hawking, in the book, is "funny and optimistic, even as he warns us that artificial intelligence is likely to outsmart us, that the wealthy are bound to develop into a superhuman species, and that the planet is hurtling toward total inhabitability ... [the] book is ultimately a verdict on humanity's future. At first blush, the verdict is that we’re doomed. But dig deeper and there's something else here too, a faith that human wisdom and innovation will thwart our own destruction, even when we seem hellbent on bringing it about."[15] According to a book review by science journalist Matin Durraniin, current editor of Physics World: "Hawking ticks off all the big ideas you’d expect from one of his books. General relativity. The Big Bang. Inflation. Galaxy formation. Gravitational waves ... This book will stand as Hawking's manifesto. Optimistic, upbeat and visionary, it sees science – and scientific understanding – as vital for the future of humanity."[9]
ABOUT BOOK:
The world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work. How did the universe begin? Will humanity survive on Earth? Is there intelligent life beyond our solar system? Could artificial intelligence ever outsmart us? Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unraveled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time, and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet. And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind. Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humor, BRIEF ANSWERS TO THE BIG QUESTIONS, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next.
The book is divided into four sections: "Why Are We Here? Will We Survive? Will Technology Save Us or Destroy Us? How Can We Thrive?".[7]
Stephen Hawking at NASA's StarChild Learning Center, 1980s
The ten big questions that are considered include: Is there a God? How did it all begin? What is inside a black hole? Can we predict the future? Is time travel possible? Will we survive on Earth? Is there other intelligent life in the universe? Should we colonise space? Will artificial intelligence outsmart us? How do we shape the future?[5]
The book discusses many of today's challenges, including the biggest threat to the planet (an "asteroid collision", like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago ... "we have no defense" against that),[4][6][10] climate change ("a rise in ocean temperature would melt the ice caps and cause the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide ... [making] our climate like that of Venus with a temperature of 250 °C (482 °F)"), the threat of nuclear war ("at some point in the next 1,000 years, nuclear war or environmental calamity will 'cripple Earth'"), nuclear power ("that would give us clean energy with no pollution or global warming"), the development of artificial intelligence (AI) ("in the future AI could develop a will of its own, a will that is in conflict with ours") and humans ("a genetically-modified race of superhumans, say with greater memory and disease resistance, would imperil the others").[3][5][6][11]
The book also discusses the "big questions", including life ("in the next 50 years, we will come to understand how life began and possibly discover whether life exists elsewhere in the universe"), time ("You can't get to a time before the 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 to be spontaneously ... and with it, brought time into existence, there's simply no 'before' to consider." Further, Hawking believed the universe could reach an end point, either through an eventual cosmic "crunch or an expansion" ... "In the interim ... We are all time travelers, journeying together into the future. But let us make that future a place we want to visit"),[12] the possibility of time travel ("asking if time travel is possible is a 'very serious question' that our current understanding cannot rule out"),[13] and God ("knowing the mind of God is knowing the laws of nature ... My prediction is that we will know the mind of God by the end of this century";[12] further, "if you like, you can call the laws of science ‘God,’ but it wouldn't be a personal God that you would meet and put questions to ... [nevertheless] the simplest explanation is that God does not exist and there is no reliable evidence for an afterlife, though people could live on through their influence and genes").[3][5][6][11]
According to Hawking in the book, education and science are "in danger now more than ever before", and urged young people "to look up at the stars and not down at your feet ... Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist ... It matters that you don't give up. Unleash your imagination. Shape the future."
About the Author
Stephen Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years and the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His books for the general reader include My Brief History, the classic A Brief History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universes, The Universe in a Nutshell, and, with Leonard Mlodinow, A Briefer History of Time and The Grand Design. He also co-authored a series of children’s books with his daughter, beginning with George’s Secret Key to the Universe. Stephen Hawking died in 2018.
