A Brief History of Time
Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
The Illustrated A Brief History of Time
The Universe in a Nutshell
My Brief History
With Leonard Mlodinow:
A Briefer History of Time
The Grand Design
With Lucy Hawking:
George’s Secret Key to the Universe
George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt
George and the Big Bang
George and the Unbreakable Code
George and the Blue Moon
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‘Do Black Holes Have No Hair?’ first broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 26 January 2016.
‘Black Holes Ain’t As Black As They Are Painted’ first broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 2 February 2016.
First published by arrangement with the BBC in Great Britain in 2016 by Bantam Books
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Stephen Hawking 2016
Stephen Hawking has asserted his right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
The illustrations were produced by Cognitive (wearecognitive.com) for BBC Radio 4.
The BBC Radio 4 logo is a trade mark of the British Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence.
BBC Radio 4 © 2011.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473541986
ISBN 9780857503572
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Everything about Stephen Hawking is a source of fascination: the plight of a genius trapped in an ailing body; the hint of a smile brightening a face in which only a single muscle can move; the distinctively robotic voice inviting us to share the exhilaration of discovery as his mind roams through the strangest corners of the Universe.
Against all the odds, this remarkable figure has transcended the usual boundaries of science. His book A Brief History of Time sold a staggering ten million copies. Cameo roles in popular comedy shows, invitations to the White House and a well-received movie about his life have confirmed him as a celebrity. He has achieved nothing less than becoming the most famous scientist in the world.
In the 1960s, he was given two years to live when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. But more than half a century later he is still researching, writing, travelling and regularly appearing in the news. His daughter Lucy, explaining this extraordinary drive, describes him as ‘enormously stubborn’.
Whether through the pain of his personal story or his ability to enthuse, Hawking captures the imagination. He recently warned that humankind faced a series of disasters of its own making – from global warming to artificially engineered viruses – and an article reporting his words was the most-read on the BBC website that day.
It is a terrible irony that such a great communicator cannot have a normal conversation. For interviews, the questions have to be sent in advance. Some years ago, his staff warned me not to attempt small talk because his answers even to the briefest questions take so long to compose. In the excitement of meeting him, however, I could not resist blurting out: ‘How are you?’ – and then had to wait guiltily for his reply. He was fine.