Book · 1998 · Science
A Brief History of Time
#143 of 16,685 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- mentions
- 25
- people
- 16
- podcasts
- 10
- episodes
- 20
- recommendation
- 1
I think like many people my first real introduction to black holes was Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time and I think that book must have come out in the 1980s and it sold millions and millions of copies probably one of the bestselling science books of all time.
Steve Levitt · People I (Mostly) Admire · Nov 2025 Listen at 23:23 What they say about it
- Read it long ago“read A Brief History of Time a long time ago”3
- On everyone's shelf but unread“nobody's actually read this book”3
The best things said about it
This is a book where you see it on everybody's shelf, but nobody's actually read this book, right?
Steve Levitt People I (Mostly) Admire · Jan 2023 And I read it was Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and I read those two books when I was like an eth grade and I was like this is trippy.
I've tried to read that book A Brief History of Time, yes, it's not so brilliant, didn't make it past the first ten pages, it should be more brief.
I heard that the publishers wanted to actually find out if people were reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking so for in some set of books they put in like a coupon and said mail this in and get a hundred dollars and like nobody mailed it in.
Neil deGrasse Tyson StarTalk Radio · Jul 2021 I have a couple books that I'm just like constantly slogging through: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
Tommy Vietor Pod Save America · Dec 2021 Which you would love the book to do for moral philosophy what A Brief History of Time did for astrophysics, I think something along those lines, which is a hell of a goal.
Tim Ferriss The Tim Ferriss Show · Jan 2022 Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
1
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7
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3
1
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How it comes up
16 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Stephen Hawking's landmark popular science book has served as an iconic introduction to cosmology and black holes for millions of readers worldwide. Steve Levitt joked on People I (Mostly) Admire about the ironic phenomenon of finding the bestseller on countless bookshelves despite many owners never having finished it. Alex O'Connor quoted Hawking's poetic reflections on the nature of the universe during an appearance on On Purpose with Jay Shetty. Jordan Peterson mentioned reading the astrophysical work long ago to explore questions regarding entropy and the arrow of time on his podcast. David Grusch told Joe Rogan that Hawking's book, alongside Carl Sagan's Cosmos, sparked his childhood fascination with astronomy in the eighth grade. Bobby Azarian recalled the volume as a defining pop-science staple of his 1999 high school graduation era, while Steve Levitt frequently mused about how interviews with scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson inspire people to tackle complex texts like Hawking's.
Every mention
Steve Levitt It makes me think maybe I could go read A Brief History of Time, and maybe if Neil were sitting next to me,… 5
Discussed
“I think like many people my first real introduction to black holes was Stephen Hawkings book a brief history of time and I think that book must have come out in the 1980s and it sold millions and millions of copies probably one of the bestselling science books of all time.”
Discussed
“maybe I could go read A Brief History of Time”
Recommended
“It makes me think maybe I could go read A Brief History of Time, and maybe if Neil were sitting next to me, I'd actually understand A Brief History of Time!”
Discussed
“have ever told you the story of the Stephen Hawking book A Brief History of Time”
Discussed
“Have I ever told you the story of the Stephen Hawking book A Brief History of Time? No, so this is a book where you see it on everybody's shelf, but nobody's actually read this book, right?”
Brian Cox in the last edition of a brief history of time that stephen added to there's a great story at the end where… 3
Discussed
“in the last edition of a brief history of time that stephen added to there's a great story at the end where he said it”
Discussed
“and he says in brief his fifth time given what we've just discussed about you know the things and the ashes and the smoke and all the information he said”
Discussed
“there's a great little explanation in Stephen Hawking's brief history of time about this that the idea that you can't tell whether you're moving or not demolish is the notion of absolute space”
Jack Black Well, no, for instance, I've tried to read that book A Brief History of Time... It's not so brilliant. 2
Critiqued
“Well, no, for instance, I've tried to read that book A Brief History of Time... It's not so brilliant.”
Discussed
“for instance i've tried to read that book a brief history of time yes it's not so brilliant didn't make it past the first ten pages it should be more brief”
Neil deGrasse Tyson I heard it from the person who said it that the original editor for Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Ti… 2
Discussed
“I heard it from the person who said it that the original editor for Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time this was at Cambridge press warned him that for every equation he put in that book”
Discussed
“I heard that the Publishers wanted to actually find out if people were reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking so for in some set of books they put in like a coupon and said mail this in and get a hundred dollars and like nobody mailed it in”
Sturgill Simpson I got this from a Steph Hawkin book it's it's a it's like an old comedic reference to the infinite regress… 2
Discussed
“so the the I got it from a Stephen Hawking book”
Discussed
“I got this from a Steph Hawkin book it's it's a it's like an old comedic reference to the infinite regress problem in cosmology”
Alex O’Connor Steven Hawking at the end of a brief history of time quite famously, I wish I could recite it from memory.… 1
Discussed
“Steven Hawking at the end of a brief history of time quite famously, I wish I could recite it from memory. It's so beautiful.”
Bobby Azarian um so most of the popular books at that time like that was like you know i graduated high school in like 19… 1
Discussed
“um so most of the popular books at that time like that was like you know i graduated high school in like 1999 and so popular books were like stephen hawking's a brief history and time”
David Grusch and I read it was Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and I read those two books when I was like an et… 1
Discussed
“and I read it was Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and I read those two books when I was like an eth grade and I was like this is trippy”
Gale Anne Hurd Stephen Hawking's brief history of time mirror matter 1
Discussed
“Stephen Hawking's brief history of time mirror matter”
Joe Rogan there was a step Hawking book A Brief History of Time or whatever right and I had that on my desk 1
Discussed
“there was a step Hawking book A Brief History of Time or whatever right and I had that on my desk”
Jordan Peterson you know I read um A Brief History of Time a long time ago um so I have I want to ask a couple of questions… 1
Discussed
“you know I read um A Brief History of Time a long time ago um so I have I want to ask a couple of questions about that”
Malcolm Gladwell it's like the the remember when Stephen Hawking's a short history of time was a bestseller and there was a… 1
Discussed
“it's like the the remember when Stephen Hawking's a short history of time was a bestseller and there was a kind of an open joke about whether anyone who was buying it was reading it”
Roger Penrose it was roughly the same time Stephen Hawking this writing his brief history of time and Hades at some point… 1
Discussed
“it was roughly the same time Stephen Hawking this writing his brief history of time and Hades at some point the book you're talking about the emperor's new mind”
Tim Ferriss which you would love the book to do for moral philosophy what a brief history of time did for astrophysics… 1
Discussed
“which you would love the book to do for moral philosophy what a brief history of time did for astrophysics i think something along those lines which is a hell of a goal”
Tom Scott and I read it again in like 2011 or something like that maybe 12 and I was reading a brief history of time… 1
Discussed
“and I read it again in like 2011 or something like that maybe 12 and I was reading a brief history of time at the same time same time reading those two books and you know ii read zen and the art however many years later i don't want to do the math 20-some years later which but totally different”
Tommy Vietor I have a couple books that I'm just like constantly slogging through A Brief History of Time by Steven Hawking 1
Discussed
“I have a couple books that I'm just like constantly slogging through A Brief History of Time by Steven Hawking”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“I'm a precocious teen reading like brief history time and you know Isaac Azimov and I'm learning about the Draco equation”
Ad read
“So, I think when I read Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time, which is going to be 20 years ago, or approximately. Oh, it's almost 40 years old!”
Passing
“Actually, it wasn't just a rumor; I heard it from the person who said it that the original editor for Stephen Hawking's 'A Brief History of Time' at Cambridge Press warned him that for every equation he put in that book, the available audience would be cut in half.”
Passing
“it was like you know it's a it in the way that people bought A Brief History of Time the Steven Hawking book like they just wanted to own it and nobody read it”