A Briefer History of Time (Schulman book)

A Briefer History of Time

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

A Briefer History of Time is a science humor book by the American astronomer Eric Schulman. In this book, 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 would later write a "sequel" entitled A Briefer History of Time. Hawking's publisher Bantam Books was aware the title had already been used in a popular science book, but went ahead since "The other book was published six years ago, and Professor Hawking is an international figure." ^{[4] [5]}

Laughing while learning is the intent of Schulman's book. The book shows why, even though the Universe is expanding, it doesn't get any easier to find a parking space. Furthermore, there is the 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 . . . ."). Some more of the fifty-three most important events are:

• A Shakespearean account of the production of helium soon after the Big Bang,
• Assembly instructions for terrestrial proteins (including consumer safety warnings),
• A prospectus for potential investors in the Mammalia Class of animals,
• A dragnet-style investigation into the rise and fall of the Earth's first empire, and
• A ballad about the creation of the World Wide Web.

Contents

1. Quantum Fluctuation
2. Inflation
3. Expansion
4. Particle-Antiparticle Annihilation
5. Deuterium and Helium Production
6. Recombination
7. Galaxy Formation
8. Turbulent Fragmentation
9. Massive Star Formation
10. Stellar Evolution
11. Iron Production
12. Supernova Explosion
13. Star Formation
14. Planetary Differentiation
15. Volatile Gas Expulsion
16. Molecular Reproduction
17. Protein Construction
18. Fermentation
19. Cell Differentiation
20. Respiration
21. Multicellular Organisms
22. Sexual Reproduction
23. Evolutionary Diversification
24. Trilobite Domination
25. Land Exploration
26. Comet Collision
27. Dinosaur Extinction
28. Mammal Expansion
29. Homo sapiens Manifestation
30. Language Acquisition
31. Glaciation
32. Innovation
33. Religion
34. Animal Domestication
35. Food Surplus Production
36. Inscription
37. Warring Nations
38. Empire Creation and Destruction
39. Civilization
40. Constitution
41. Industrialization
42. World Conflagrations
43. Fission Explosions
44. Computerization
45. Space Exploration
46. Population Explosion
47. Superpower Confrontation
48. Internet Expansion
49. Resignation
50. Reunification
51. World Wide Web Creation
52. Composition
53. Extrapolation

Notes