The authorized biography of a brilliant theoretical physicist and science communicator, featuring revelations from never-before-seen personal records, by an award-winning writer and biographer

“Deeply researched, unfailingly honest, and accessibly written for readers who are not scientists . . . I warmly recommend it.”—Kip Thorne, emeritus professor at Caltech and Nobel Laureate in Physics

“When one is faced with the possibility of early death, it makes one realise that life is worth living.”—Stephen Hawking

An insatiable curiosity and appreciation for life powered Stephen Hawking to the furthest reaches of the universe and human achievement: during his remarkable lifetime he shed light on many of the mysteries of black holes and made key contributions to our understanding of the beginnings of the universe, all while captivating the world and selling more than twenty-five million copies of A Brief History of Time.

A brilliant theoretical physicist, Hawking lived one of the most extraordinary lives of the past century. And yet none of this should have been possible. Diagnosed with ALS at age twenty-one, he was given only a few years to live—and spent the next fifty-five showing what can be achieved despite near-hopeless odds.

Drawing on his parents’ previously unseen letters and diaries, and exclusive interviews with Stephen’s family, friends, and closest colleagues, Costa Award-winning biographer and physicist Graham Farmelo reveals the complex man behind the theories and global celebrity—and the resilience, fortitude and support that enabled him to defy his life-limiting diagnosis.

Vividly told and rigorously researched, Hawking is the definitive portrait of an exceptional man and an extraordinary intellect.