I am a scientist by training (graduate school level), and I thoroughly appreciate and understand the scientific process. I absolutely respect Hawkings for what he has accomplished given the disability thrust upon him. But this book is just ramblings of one person. No proof is offered, although I am sure that his "proofs" are available in an assortment of journals. There is no laboratory models that you can set up to prove or disprove his hypothesis, so it is all done with mathematical calculations (I assume??); but how can you prove anything or something which is arguably impossible to even comprehend? You use "mathematical models" to validate concepts that may not even exist (no real prove either way); there may be "laws" governing behaviors which we can not even imagine exist; all of this is viewed from the lens and mind of "us," a very anthropomorphic, self centered approach, presented in terms which are comprehensible to "us."I have no issue at all with the scientific process or the curiosity to think along these lines, but we must be careful to realize that these are not scientific pacts, but in and of themselves just speculations. Hawking's own timelines of future discoveries by man and understandings measured in "100-500 years" timelines, should suggest that these are musings at best...interesting to read(?). For the more serious student, I would instead recommend Neil deGrasse Tyson's book "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry." Much better....
