"Easy", probably not, "fulfilling", yes, indeed, but it depends on what you mean by "easy". It requires you to think about what you are reading. It helps if you are prepared to do a bit of work to understand the maths[1]. Penrose pays the reader the compliment of assuming intelligence and does not pander to "modern" demands for instant gratification and deceptively pretty packaging of profound issues into trite sound-bites. If you want something that you can just "veg out" to, or something that expects you to believe the assertions without questioning them (as with most "alternative" science), then this is most certainly not the book for you. However, if there is an easier route to a similar level of understanding that is possible through this book, then I have yet to find it.

I could perhaps summarise it by saying that, whereas a lot of "popular" science writing is a triumph of style over content (but some of it lacks even the style!), this book is an overwhelming triumph of content over style (and it does not lack style!). At my time of life I want content -- I don't feel I have the time to waste on the dross that so often accompanies or obfuscates it.




[1] The comments in the Amazon reviews about needing an advanced degree in maths are tosh (like many Amazon reviews) -- I did a bit of maths in the first year at university (now almost entirely forgotten), and a bit more in the final year with respect to fluid mechanics, but otherwise I have no formal maths education beyond secondary school (A-level)).

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Stephen