Veteran science writer Graham Farmelo has authored a new biography of Stephen Hawking, presenting a comprehensive and accessible account of the physicist's life. The book acknowledges Hawking's brilliance and determination, particularly in the face of motor neurone disease, while also addressing personal flaws that the scientific community and public largely overlooked.
Farmelo's biography highlights Hawking's significant scientific contributions, including his 1970 paper with Roger Penrose on the big bang and his 1974 proposal of Hawking radiation, which suggested black holes are not entirely black. This work, which blended general-relativistic gravity, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and information theory, is described as the high point of his research career.
The book also details aspects of Hawking's character, including his ambition, self-promotion, and controlling behaviour. Accounts from those close to him, such as his father, sister, and mother, describe him as selfish and self-centred. His first wife, Jane, also experienced his authoritarian demands and indifference to her interests.