Stephen Hawking

The first biography of the genius of the century

When Stephen Hawking began his research in the early 1960s, his field, cosmology, was a sleepy discipline. By the time he died in 2018, it had become perhaps the most exciting area of research in physics, garnering one Nobel Prize after another. And Stephen Hawking was widely regarded as the best physicist, if not the smartest person in the world. This thrilling, at times unsettling biography reveals how this came to be.

In his doctoral thesis from 1965, Hawking demonstrated that the Big Bang, from which the universe originated, must have been an infinitely small point where the laws of physics do not apply. This singularity theorem propelled his career. He then made spectacular discoveries about black holes and the early universe that astonished his colleagues. Due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, his physical abilities began to decline; by the 1980s, he was completely paralyzed and could no longer speak. Fortunately, he had become an international celebrity and the author of the bestselling "A Brief History of Time" in 1988; only a wealthy man could afford the army of caregivers that allowed him to live at home, work, communicate, maintain relationships, and travel the world. The public and the media largely ignored his discoveries but were obsessed with his disability, his private life, and his statements. Every scandal, such as his preference for swinger clubs, contributed to the legend. Science journalist Charles Seife not only explains Hawking's complex science more clearly than Hawking himself but also paints a disturbing portrait of a deliberate myth-making.

The first thoroughly researched biography after his death
The true man behind fame and legend
Stephen Hawking - complex, fascinating.