The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It’s almost impossible to imagine that Stephen Hawking has passed away. He was one of our brightest minds and reading this book has changed the way I perceive reality in quite a few ways. The book starts with this sentence: “We each exist for but a short time, and in that time explore but a small part of the whole universe.” Given just how mindbogglingly big our universe is, this sentence hit home right away for me.

Hawking then goes on to inspire us, by saying that the Human species is a curious one, in constant search of answers to questions. This book aims to answer a couple of the great ones in our lives. What is reality? Does God exist? Does a multiverse exist?

Each chapter in this wonderful book aims at giving an answer to these important questions. Hawking lays it all out in front of the reader in language that even the layman (like me) can understand. He does so with a smooth writing style and a touch of humour, which keeps things a bit lighter than they really are.

This is one of those books you really want to have in your collection for more than one reason. It aims to explain, but it will also spark your imagination, and make you want to learn more about our universe. I will definitely pick this one up again at some time, simply to remind myself just how brilliant a mind Stephen Hawking had and how science can possibly be our greatest hope of survival in this crazy, chaotic world we live in.

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