SOURCE: "Stephen Hawking and the Mind of God," in Commonweal, Vol. CXVII, No. 7, April 6, 1990, p. 218.

In the following review, Raymo suggests why A Brief History of Time has enjoyed such popular success.

The longevity of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes on international best-seller lists is itself a phenomenon worthy of scientific investigation. As I write, the book has been on the American list for more than ninety weeks. For a work on relativity and quantum physics to achieve this distinction is unprecedented.

Hawking is a physicist with a particular interest in cosmology. He has achieved theoretical insights of remarkable originality, particularly with regard to the quantum physics of black holes. In A Brief History of Time he describes his personal discoveries within the context of our current understanding of the origin, evolution, and ultimate fate of the universe.

Hawking...