A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Illustrated, Updated and Expanded Edition by Stephen Hawking, Bantam, October 1996.
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In this revised edition of A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking includes the most recent developments in cosmology, many forecast by himself. The book contains illustrations and computer images to help you understand multi-dimensional concepts like the "the big bang", "wormholes", and black holes.
Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, unlike The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose, does not contain a single equation. Instead, Stephen Hawking explains the intuitive concepts behind the equations. In the easiest possible manner, you gain an understanding of how the Universe is constructed. You will not be able to calculate the deflection of light in a gravitational field after reading this book, but you will understand why it bends. In the same way, you will gain an intuitive understanding of how the Universe was created in the big bang, and how black holes work.
So why should you trust Stephen Hawking's account of the universe. Firstly, he holds the same chair in mathematical physics that was held by Isaac Newton Secondly, Stephen Hawking, with Roger Penrose, proved that our universe was originally contained within a sphere of zero radius. That is, all space and matter was contained within a point called a singularity. They also proved that space, time and matter would explode in what is called the big bang. This is probably the most important result in theoretical cosmology since the second world war, and is one reason why Stephen Hawking is widely regarded as the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Einstein.
In summary Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time is probably the best introduction to mathematical physics, by one of today's best theoretical cosmologists.