Hawking

'When one is faced with the possibility of early death, it makes one realise that life is worth living.' Stephen HawkingAn 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 25 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. Aged 21, 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 extraordinary intellect.

Graham Farmelo is an award-winning science writer and biographer, and the winner of the 2012 Kelvin Prize and Medal. Formerly an academic, museum professional and undercover restaurant critic, he is now a Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge, and a regular Visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. His biography of Paul Dirac, The Strangest Man, won the 2009 Costa Biography Award and the 2010 Los Angeles Times Science Book Prize. www.grahamfarmelo.com @grahamfarmelo