Stephen Hawking: Quest for a Theory of Everything Book

This is the story of one of the most remarkable figures of the twentieth century: Professor Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge University genius who has earned an international reputation as the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Einstein. His book A Brief History of Time has sold five and a half million copies worldwide and familiarized a whole generation with complex and intensely exciting scientific theories.

When Kitty Ferguson approached Stephen Hawking with the idea of writing a book about him and asked him to make certain she understood his theories, he agreed to do so and in addition supplied her with material about his childhood and life. She also interviewed other eminent physicists about the next frontier of physics. The result is a book that is not a biography per se. Rather, it is the story of one man's quest to find the Theory of Everything--a theory that would be nothing short of an explanation of the universe and everything that happens in it.

Illustrated with personal photographs and numerous charts and drawings, this highly praised book is an invaluable volume for all who would like to know more about the man and his work.

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-- Ferguson alternates descriptions of periods in Hawking's life with nonmathematical explanations of his studies in physics. She uses numerous diagrams to help readers visualize the discussions; even so, the scientific sections become progressively harder to comprehend. In the end, it is difficult to imagine that many people will plow all the way through. Those with little background will simply give up; others with enough mathematical knowledge will want to see some of the equations that lead to Hawking's startling, counterintuitive results. Such criticism can justly be leveled at Hawking's A Brief History of Time (Bantam, 1988), which also convinces readers in the opening pages that all will be comprehensible at the end. The author provides a uniquely accurate popularization of a complex subject; some bits and pieces of insight improve upon Hawking's own book. The sections on the man are very readable, certainly less repetitive and mawkish than Sheridan Simon's Unlocking the Universe (Dillon, 1991), which omits more theory and thereby makes fewer demands on his readers. Nevertheless, all three books vary as to their readability, with peaks and valleys that reach different levels. --Margaret Chatham, formerly at Smithtown Library, NY