"A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME" by Stephen Hawking is an international publishing phenomenon. It has been translated into at least 40 languages, and millions of copies have been sold worldwide. It is now considered a classic work. When it was first published in 1988, the ideas analyzed in its pages came from the forefront of Universe research. In the intervening period, significant advances have been made in the technology of observing both the microcosm and the macrocosm. Indeed, during this period, cosmology and theoretical physics entered a golden age. Professor Hawking is one of the greatest scientists and thinkers who contributed to this renaissance. In this fully revised and expanded edition of his famous book, the author includes the latest developments in the scientific field, many of which he himself had predicted. He has written a new preface and added a new chapter on cosmic tunnels and time travel. He has also revised many sections of the original text, thus making his knowledge and ideas about the fascinating nature of our Universe more accessible to the non-specialist reader. [Excerpt from publisher or edition presentation text]