Jordan Oates's Key Ideas from The Illustrated A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking

"The history of science has been a gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired." 

"Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it."

"Newton's laws of motion marked the definite end of the Aristotelian picture of the universe."

"Einstein's general theory of relativity completely revolutionized our understanding of gravity."

"In fact, both space and time are distorted, or warped, by the presence of matter and energy."

"The fact that the light from distant galaxies was shifted towards the red end of the spectrum suggested that they were all moving away from us."

"This discovery finally removed the need for a static universe and provided a possible starting point for the universe."

"The Big Bang theory seems to be supported by all the observations that we have made so far."

"One really cannot predict future positions and velocities if one cannot even measure the present position and velocity exactly."

"The more accurately you try to measure the position of a particle, the less accurately you can measure its speed, and vice versa." 

"Quantum mechanics thus introduces an unavoidable element of unpredictability or randomness into science."

"Everything in the universe is made up of a few fundamental particles and these particles are governed by just a few fundamental forces."

"The strong force holds the quarks together inside the proton and neutron, and also holds the protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom."

"The search is on for a complete unified theory that will describe all these forces as different aspects of a single force."

"A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape."

"The boundary of the region of spacetime from which it is not possible to escape is called the event horizon."

"Black holes are one of the most bizarre predictions of the general theory of relativity."

"It was a shock to everyone when I discovered that black holes should in fact emit particles."

"The radiation comes from just outside the event horizon of the black hole and is due to quantum fluctuations of the vacuum."

"This meant that black holes weren't completely black after all!"

"The Big Bang theory describes how the universe has evolved from a very dense early state."

"One interesting consequence of this picture is that the universe would not have had a boundary in space-time."

"If the universe really is self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither a beginning nor an end: it would simply be."

"There is a very marked difference between the past and the future."

"The second law of thermodynamics says that disorder or entropy always increases with time."

"Wormholes are rather like black holes in reverse."

"It seems that the laws of physics do not rule out the possibility of time travel."

"However, there seem to be a number of paradoxes associated with time travel."

"Scientists have therefore been trying to develop a 'unified theory' that would describe all four forces as different aspects of a single force."

"String theory is one attempt to provide such a unified theory."

"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star."

"However, ever since the dawn of civilization, people have not been content to see events as unconnected and inexplicable."

"If we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of why it is that we and the universe exist."