Fascinating and incredibly stupid all at once. Hawking again does a great job of teaching very complex ideas in very understandable and even memorable ways. That portion of the book was amazing. What was stupid was the inclusion of a great deal of philosophy (from the opening line of the book on) in what was supposedly a purely scientific answer to design theory. Hawking and Co. have great mathematical arguments and insights but they cannot escape from a creator. It was interesting that the last few chapters talked a lot about the "creation" - not a term you would expect if everything just randomly popped into existence. And that popping into existence thing - it only works if there is already a space with zero energy - but if there is a space like that then you already have a universe (blast!) which means that ultimately all this book does is push the need for a Creator one step further away from us but no closer to being gone.

This book was wonderful. A bit of a review in some parts but superbly enlightening in others. I will admit to having to reread certain parts because it sounded all too alike to a DC Comics summer crossover event when discussing multiverses and alternate histories. It was even worse to have to shed those comic misunderstandings to grasp the beginnings of understanding regarding what they actually mean and how they affect humanity.

Another part I think that may have been a bit overblown, or sensationalized, in the media to help sell the book is what Hawking does and does not say about the existence of God in his work. He begins with the goal to answer two questions: "Where did the universe come from" and "How/why can humans exist within the laws of the universe?"

It is a scientific book, no religion bashing like you'll find in a Dawkins, Hitchens or Harris book. Hawking isn't saying that God does not exist, what he does say is that there is no need for God to explain the universe. As for the human life part, he explains that many other universes were created spontaneously from nothing and all the universes have different laws of nature and we happen to live in one that has laws that are friendly to our existence.

I love that we have a brilliant astrophysicist who can explain complex material in a way that a neaderthal like me can understand.

Despite popular claims, Hawking's book didn't convince me of anything or even sway me in any particular direction, which made me kind of sad.

Super interesting, some real “thinker” moments in it. Well worth the time to read it. It’s a quick one and dense.

Short, sweet and straight to the point as I expect any Hawking book. It's pop cosmology but that's not a bad thing. Math can get in the way. Hell this has less math than Brief History which is saying a lot. Good short read, needs a spot in anyone's non-fiction library.

Reads like a text book aimed at elementary children, except the concepts are fairly challenging to incorporate. So maybe I'm not a physicist? Definitely.

In this book Hawking gives his reasons on why he believes M-theory will turn out to be the notorious Theory of Everything, and he also describes how science can explain everything from how the universe works to how it began without invoking a creator (i.e. God).

As always, Hawking does a good job of bringing most of these very difficult concepts in physics down to our level (by that I mean non-physicists). Although he didn't succed with all of them this time, at least for me. He touches on how all the forces work, and the attempt to unify them into the Theory of Everything. He also talks about the quantum world and how it plays by an entirely different set of rules than what we encounter in our everyday lives. But the heart of the book is The Grand Design of the Universe and how/why it came to be that way.

I'm glad I read it, though I wouldn't read it again. If you're looking to start reading something by Stephen Hawking, I would still recommend [b:A Briefer History of Time|2094|A Briefer History of Time|Stephen Hawking|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320449887s/2094.jpg|16552333].

I loved this book! It was easy to understand for someone who has a passion for physics but hasn't even sat exams in it. The cartoons were funny. Everything was explained thoroughly and if it wasn't there was a glossary at the back. My only problem is somewhat stupid. The book felt really heavy for its size because of the paper used! Hawking has an amazing mind for these reasons, I love this book