Stephen Hawking dazzled readers worldwide with a string of bestsellers exploring the mysteries of the universe. In My Brief History, the most brilliant cosmologist of our age turned his gaze inwards, looking - for the first and only time in print - at his own life and intellectual evolution.
My Brief History recounts Stephen Hawking's improbable journey, from his post-war London boyhood to his years of international acclaim and celebrity. Lavishly illustrated with rarely seen photographs, this concise, witty and candid account introduces readers to a Hawking rarely glimpsed in previous books: the inquisitive schoolboy whose classmates nicknamed him `Einstein'; the jokester who once placed a bet with a colleague over the existence of a black hole; and the young husband and father struggling to gain a foothold in the world of academia.
Writing with characteristic humility and humour, Hawking opens up about the challenges that confronted him following his diagnosis of motor neurone disease aged twenty-one. Tracing his development as a thinker, he explains how the prospect of an early death urged him onwards through numerous intellectual breakthroughs, and talks about the genesis of his masterpiece A Brief History of Time - one of the iconic books of the twentieth century.
Clear-eyed, intimate and wise, My Brief History opens a window for the rest of us into Hawking's personal cosmos.
I've read a few other non-fiction books where scientists talked not just about their research, but about themselves and their world. Stephen Hawking's was just as enjoyable as the others, although he certainly used the fewest words to do so. He's matter-of-fact about his accomplishments and weaknesses, and has a very dry sense of humor that had me laughing a number of times. Although he's clearly mimicking the title of his famous A Brief History of Time, this little book is quite brief, and he doesn't spend too much time talking about any one subject.
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20 September, 2013:
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