Georges Secret Key to the Universe - Lucy Hawking Stephen Hawking Taschenbuch

Like most of the world, I struggled with "A Brief History of Time" and gave up completely confused.This book is certainly not a "Brief History of Time For Dummies" but presents in an entertaining and witty way a great many of the fundamental principles of physics in a simple easy to understand way without (a) actually making you feel that you are being "taught" anything and (b) without being patronising.Our son - just turned 8 - loves it and has been talking enthusiastically about many of the things discussed, including the origin of the universe, the nature of different planets, atomic structure, the periodic table (yes, I kid you not).As a chemistry graduate I found this book is a great way to introduce many of the concepts that will be encountered during school science lessons - even if not for a few years. Critically, and unlike many science books for younger children the Hawkings manage the difficult task of simplifying difficult concepts with being simplistic. I often found myself admiring the clear succinct and accurate explanations given.The story is entertaining revolving about a lonely lad, whose interest in all things technical is not exactly nurtured by his "eco-friendly" parents who see science as a force for evil and generally nasty things. When new people move in next door, a girl and her slightly loopy scientist father, George starts to learn about things he had never even dreamed about, and discovers lots about the universe along the way, including that science is not necessarily a bad thing, but that bad people can do bad things with it.The narrative is written in a lively quirky way and quickly my son and I were spotting several nods in the direction of the late great Douglas Adams (yes I confess to having inflicted HHGTTG on a seven year old).Anyone who is keen to get their children interested in science should get this book, and be prepared to have a crash revision of their own school science to answer the questions that will inevitably follow.Lucy and Stephen Hawking have done the cause of science a great service by presenting not only some core concepts in an easy to understand way, but they also provide a very balanced presentation of the dabate about whether science is good or bad without preaching or becoming dogmatic. A very difficult task.5 Stars for a book that should be read by everyone, and not just by/to children.

Ich habe das Buch den Kindern meines Freundes geschenkt (10 Jahre), da beide ziemlich an Wissenschaft interessiert sind und etwas in English lesen wollten. Beide sind begeistert. Die Geschichte von George ist gut geschrieben und die "wissenschaftlichen" Fakten werden altersgerecht eingestreut, so dass das Buch nie langweilig oder zäh wird. Sogar mein Freund und ich lesen das Buch sehr gerne und wir haben noch einiges über den Weltraum und die Dinge, die diesen umgeben gelesen. Das Englischlevel ist angelegt für Kinder und Jugendliche, die einen soliden Wortschatz in der englischen Sprache haben. Für Beginner etwas zu schwer meiner Meinung nach. Ansonsten ein wirklich tolles Buch.