First-time poster here, hope you don't mind me starting a thread. I'm planning to jump into reading the new Hawking book.

Anyone read Landsburg's The Big Questions?
http://www.thebigquestions.com/reviews/

I'm almost done with it, it's an interesting read. Specialists in the many subjects he dabbles in here will no doubt have a field day criticizing it. Having read Landsburg's work before, his arguments can sometimes be frustrating, as he is deliberately provocative (see his other book's title, "More Sex is Safer Sex") at the expense of being comprehensive on an issue, but I think he is worth reading. Someone without an economics background may find his moral reasoning to be questionable at best, as he essentially makes the case for efficiency (cost/benefit analysis) to judge behavior. But I think it's a view that's worth thinking about, and is often more persuasive than you might think.