A Briefer History of Time (Schulman book)

A Briefer History of Time

Cover of A Briefer History of Time
Author	Eric Schulman
Language	English
Subject	History of the universe
Genre	Science humor popular science
Published	May 1999 (W. H. Freeman and Company)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (trade paperback)
Pages	171
ISBN	0-7167-3389-7
LC Class	QB982 .S38 1999

A Briefer History of Time is a science humor book by American astronomer Eric Schulman. In it, Schulman presents humorous summaries of what he claims are the fifty-three most important events since the beginning of time. ^{[1] [2] [3]} The title and cover are a parody of Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time . Coincidentally, Hawking later wrote a "sequel" entitled A Briefer History of Time . Hawking's publisher Bantam Books was aware that the title had already been used in a popular science book, but proceeded anyway, stating, "The other book was published six years ago, and Professor Hawking is an international figure." ^{[4] [5]}

In 2004, the author released the book under a creative commons license, CC BY-NC-ND 1.0, ^[6] as a free download on his website.

Description

Schulman's book is intended to be both humorous and educational. It explores why, even though the Universe is expanding, finding a parking space does not get any easier. Furthermore, the book contains a pulp version of the origin of life ("It was a dark and stormy night. In the shallow tide pool, a nucleic acid base collided with a sugar molecule. An amino acid sank beneath the murky depths . . . .").

References

1. Publishers Weekly , Volume 244, Issue 32 (August 10, 1998).
2. Science News , Volume 155, Number 22 (May 29, 1999).
3. Mercury Magazine, Volume 29, Number 2 (March/April 2000).
4. Hill, Paul. Times Higher Education Supplement (May 27, 2005).
5. Walden, Celia. The Daily Telegraph (May 31, 2005).
6. A Briefer History of Time "CC BY-ND-NC 1.0" (archived 2004)