A Brief History of Time
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkingby Stephen Hawking
Shares rank 12 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
Recommended as a clear, approachable introduction to cosmology that sparked careers. Critics call it weaker than other books on the topic.
Recommended as a clear, approachable introduction to cosmology that sparked careers. Critics call it weaker than other books on the topic.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Sparked interest in science and careers
“It was great reading and played a significant role in my choice of research as a career.”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “Astrophysicists Puzzle over Webb's New Universe” “was one of my favorite books as a pre-teen beginning to wonder how the world works”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What are young technically minded people reading?” “But it created a spark which laid the groundwork for my entire career.”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “Astrophysicists Puzzle over Webb's New Universe” Clear, approachable and readable writing
“the book is pretty approachable, like were Sagan's books and so on”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “Astrophysicists Puzzle over Webb's New Universe” “it is a very clear and readable book”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “Astrophysicists Puzzle over Webb's New Universe” Enjoyable, great read
“It was great reading and played a significant role in my choice of research as a career.”
Comment from 4 Jul 2026 in “Astrophysicists Puzzle over Webb's New Universe” “A Brief History of Time is an awesome read.”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “I should have loved biology”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| A Brief History of Timeby Stephen HawkingThis page | 6 | 2 | 75% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Compared to some other books on the same topic, A Brief History of Time is a poor book.”
“A Brief History of Time is an awesome read.”
“It was great reading and played a significant role in my choice of research as a career.”
“the book is pretty approachable, like were Sagan's books and so on”
“it is a very clear and readable book”
“But it created a spark which laid the groundwork for my entire career.”
“ABHOT was so popular for being a book no one actually read”
“was one of my favorite books as a pre-teen beginning to wonder how the world works”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.