Stephen Hawking

Judith led me in. There was Stephen, sitting in his famous wheel­chair, behind his famous desk. He was looking down toward his computer screen. His face appeared young for someone sixty-four. He wore a blue button-down shirt with the top button or two undone, exposing his stoma the hole at the base of his neck through which he breathed. It looked like a dark red circle of blood the size of a dime. He was very thin, and his shirt and gray dress slacks were correspondingly baggy. The only mus­cles Stephen could move with regularity were those in his face. His other muscles had deteriorated, so there was a limpness to his body that affected his posture. His head sat unnaturally low between his shoulders as if it were sinking in, and it had a slight tilt. On television this was all part of his look, but viewed in person, it was disconcerting, and though I d worked with him at Caltech, I wasn t yet used to it. Still, he was an icon, and I felt a bit star-struck who was I to merit all the time we were going to spend together, to merit him clearing his entire schedule for a week or more at a time to accommodate my visits?
 
Hi, Stephen, I said, though he hadn t looked up. Good to see you. And great to be here. I love Cambridge!
 
He still didn t look up. I waited a minute. It got awkward. Then, to fill the silence, I said, I m excited to start the book.
 
As soon as I d uttered the words, I regretted them. A dumb cliché, I thought, and in any case they didn t fill a whole lot of the silence. Also, what I d said wasn t technically true. We d put in some work already, on Stephen s last couple of visits to Caltech. But all we d done then was discuss what the book would entail. We hadn t yet actually written anything.
 
I tried to think of something else to say. Something more intelligent. Nothing came to me. Finally, I noticed Stephen twitching his cheek. That was how he typed. His glasses had a sensor that detected the twitches and

LEONARD MLODINOW received his PhD in theoretical physics from the University of California, Berkeley, was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute, and was on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology. His previous books include the best sellers The Grand Design and A Briefer History of Time (both with Stephen Hawking), Subliminal (winner of the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award), and War of the Worldviews (with Deepak Chopra), as well as Elastic, Euclid's Window, Feynman's Rainbow, and The Upright Thinkers.

Mlodinow s memoir genuinely has something to add, insights that are not to be found elsewhere . . . A vivid and compelling account of Hawking s character, its many strengths and its occasional deep flaws . . . Mlodinow is very good on the small details of Hawking s condition . . . Mlodinow understands very well, and can explain very clearly, the twists and turns of Hawking s physics as it developed from his doctoral thesis to the breakthroughs of his mature years.
Ray Monk, The Wall Street Journal
 
Tremendously entertaining . . . This affectionate memoir by a friend of the great physicist is a marvel of concision and clarity . . . Mlodinow is himself a theoretical physicist, and rather unfairly a brilliant writer to boot.
Steven Poole, The Daily Telegraph

Fascinating . . . Fresh and worthwhile . . . As a serious theoretical physicist who co-wrote two books with Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow saw the great man from a unique vantage point. He can delve into intimate details and survey the intellectual high ground . . . Hawking s significance is made clear . . . A compelling read.  
The Sunday Times

  An intimate exploration of the complex man who's groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology left its mark on the science world and beyond.  
Pittsburgh City Paper

Leonard Mlodinow has done the impossible. He has skillfully woven together a thoughtful, insightful, intimate, and engaging portrait of Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest minds of our times, while being scrupulously faithful to the physics. Hawking would have been proud of this book. Based on his 15 year association with Hawking, he also answers one of the most puzzling questions asked by the public: How was Hawking consistently able to make breathtaking discoveries in physics while suffering from a paralyzing, debilitating illness that would have crushed any mortal?