A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
A physicist explains the Big Bang, black holes, and the nature of time for general readers. Ambitious and famous, though it takes concentration. Read the full description
Best for: Curious readers interested in the universe
A Brief History of Time is #77 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 54 out of 100.
A Brief History of Time: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, A Brief History of Time’s reading interest has run from #77 to #97 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
A Brief History of Time was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 400 times in the past 12 months, peaking in October 2025 with 59 (77% above its monthly average of 33). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 48% on the three months before. 82% of the adds were “want to read”, 10% “currently reading” and 8% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 118,238 times in the past 12 months, peaking in September 2025 with 12,480 views. The latest three months were down 7% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article A Brief History of Time.
Adaptations
- A Brief History of Time (film), 1991
Adaptations are listed from Wikidata; a release date near a rise in the charts above is context, not proof of a cause.
What the data says about A Brief History of Time
- Moderate swings. Monthly shelf adds averaged 33 with some ups and downs.
- Busiest and quietest months. October 2025 was its busiest month (59 adds), about 4.5 times its quietest, June 2026 (13).
- Attention and shelf adds move together. Months with more Wikipedia views for A Brief History of Time were also months with more shelf adds (correlation 0.63), which suggests the same events, such as new editions, adaptations or social media, drive both.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 0.4% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #84 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 1988 (38 years ago), it is older than 68% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
A Brief History of Time on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #77 | 54 |
Is A Brief History of Time rising or falling?
Cooling It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level.
On Open Library, A Brief History of Time ranks #153 this week, #167 this month, and #152 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why A Brief History of Time made the Top 100
A Brief History of Time made the list mainly on being read right now (+16.4 points) and momentum (+15.2 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for A Brief History of Time
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have A Brief History of Time open right now than 36% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Science books
It is #1 of the 1 Science books on this month’s list.
About A Brief History of Time
A physicist explains the Big Bang, black holes, and the nature of time for general readers. Ambitious and famous, though it takes concentration.
Why it’s here: It is the touchstone of popular science, and readers keep trying it.
Best for: Curious readers interested in the universe
At a glance
- First published
- 1988
- Genre
- Science
- Also described as
- popular science, essay
- Length
- about 241 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- English
- Languages
- editions in 15 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 120 on Open Library
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- The universe and black holes
- The Big Bang
- The nature of time
What reading it is like
Dense but written for general readers.
At about 241 pages it is a medium-length read: roughly 5 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
First published in 1988. Later editions were updated.
The premise
Stephen Hawking explains the Big Bang, black holes, and the nature of time for general readers, with minimal math.
What you’ll get
- Big questions about the universe
- A landmark of popular science
- A short read that rewards concentration
You might skip it if you find abstract physics hard to follow.
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #76 and #78
Questions about A Brief History of Time
What rank is A Brief History of Time on the Top 100 books?
A Brief History of Time is #77 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 54 out of 100.
Is A Brief History of Time rising or falling?
Cooling. It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level. On Open Library, A Brief History of Time ranks #153 this week, #167 this month, and #152 over the past year.
Why is A Brief History of Time on the Top 100?
A Brief History of Time made the list mainly on being read right now (+16.4 points) and momentum (+15.2 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0).
How many people are reading A Brief History of Time right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 219 readers currently reading A Brief History of Time, 2,451 who want to read it and 265 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has A Brief History of Time had over the past year?
400 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak October 2025, 59); latest three months down 48% on the prior three; 118,238 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 7% over the latest three months); Adaptations on Wikidata: A Brief History of Time (1991). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is A Brief History of Time best for?
Curious readers interested in the universe.
Ask a question about A Brief History of Time
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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