Who was the real Hawking? While we know quite a bit about the scientist, how much do we know about the man behind the myth? In this provocative biography, Charles Seife reveals the personality and work of Stephen Hawking, critically focusing on the many facets of his life: Hawking as a physicist, as a celebrity, as a showman, as a husband and father, Hawking as a man.

By resorting, among other things, to conversations with those close to him and utilizing the trick of reverse chronological order – starting from the end and going back to childhood – Seife showcases the brilliant scientist as well as the master of self-promotion, the man who built his myth by unraveling the deepest mysteries of the universe.

If you reverse the flow of time, what emerges is a man who is eccentric, arrogant, heartless, yet also warm, witty, and intelligent. Complex. Compelling. Unique.

THE PRESS WROTE

An important work that chronicles the life of Stephen Hawking as it really happened. New York Times

An excellent, though not especially flattering, biography of a giant of 20th-century physics. Kirkus

One of the top 10 biographies of the year Prospect Magazine

The true tragedy and triumph of Stephen Hawking can only be found in his chaotic human nature. […] His triumph was that he discovered something new, which radically changed our understanding of the universe – and he did it more than once. […] The main tragedy of the man Hawking is quite different from that of the symbol Hawking.

Hawking did not retreat into his mind as a result of his illness: from a young age, Hawking was a highly cerebral person. Even at a time when it was uncertain whether he would finish school, his source of self-esteem was the superiority of his mind. It was what he wanted to be known for.

Yet, at the moment he achieved that goal, his desire was thwarted. […] Hawking suspected that, to a large extent, his fame – even his academic success – was the reward for his disability and not for his mind.