Stephen Hawking’s phenomenal, multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief Histo r y of Time , introduced the ideas of this brilliant theo r etical physicist to readers all over the wo r ld. Now, in a majo r publishing event, Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel that unravels the mysteries of the majo r breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book. The Universe in a Nutshell • Quantum mechanics • M-theo r y • General relativity • 11-dimensional supergravity • 10-dimensional membranes • Superstrings • P-branes • Black holes One of the most influential thinkers of our time, Stephen Hawking is an intellectual icon, known not only fo r the adventurousness of his ideas but fo r the clarity a nd wit with which he expresses them. In this new book Hawking takes us to the cutting edge of theo r etical physics, wh ere truth is often stranger than fiction, to explain in laymen’s terms the principles that control our universe. Like many in the community of theo r etical physicists, Professo r Hawking is seeking to uncover the grail of science — the elusive Theo r y of Everything that lies at the heart of the cosmos. In his accessible a nd often playful style, he guides us on his search to uncover the secrets of the universe — fr om supergravity to supersymmetry, fr om quantum theo r y to M-theo r y, fr om holography to duality. He takes us to the wild frontiers of science, wh ere superstring theo r y a nd p-branes may hold the final clue to the puzzle. a nd he lets us behind the scenes of one of his most exciting intellectual adventures as he seeks “to combine Einstein’s General Theo r y of Relativity a nd Richard Feynman’s idea of multiple histo r ies into one complete unified theo r y that will describe everything that happens in the universe.” With characteristic exuberance, Professo r Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extrao r dinary voyage through space-time. Copious four-colo r illustrations help clarify this journey into a surreal wonderla nd wh ere particles, sheets, a nd strings move in eleven dimensions, wh ere black holes evapo r ate a nd disappear, taking their secret with them, a nd wh ere the o r iginal cosmic seed fr om which our own universe sprang was a tiny nut. The Universe in a Nutshell is essential reading fo r all of us who want to understa nd the universe in which we live. Like its companion volume, A Brief Histo r y of Time , it conveys the excitement felt within the scientific community as the secrets of the cosmos reveal themselves.