Click here to learn about
projects that address
important issues relating
to successful engineering
of AAC devices.

5. A review of Stephen Hawking’s latest book

Stephen Hawking, who has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), is a world-class physicist, best selling author, much sought after lecturer. And arguably the best known non-oral person on the planet. His A Brief History of Time¹⁰ was on the best seller lists in the United States for over a year. During his tour of the states, Hawking paced college auditoriums and people hung on every word as he expounded on the History of the Universe. He is a scientist-superstar of the first rank.

Hawking has a new book, called Black Holes and Baby Universes.⁹ In it he muses on such questions as Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics? and Is Everything Determined? Just the sort of stuff you’d discuss with your wife over morning coffee.

Mixed in with scientific essays are short biographical pieces that give glimpses into Hawking’s childhood and education. Although he tries to portray himself as growing up in an average family, clearly this family is far from ordinary. Both his parents were Oxford graduates. His father was a doctor, and young Stephen used to pal around with the son of poet Robert Graves. We should all lead such ordinary lives. Hawking liked to disassemble mechanical toys and build model airplanes, and by the age of thirteen he knew he wanted to study physics. He writes, "physics and astronomy offered the hope of understanding where we came from and why we were here. I wanted to fathom the far depths of the universe."

Perhaps the best of these personal articles is " A Brief History of Time" in which Hawking explains why and how he wrote his best seller. Why? He wanted to explain how far we have come in our understanding of the universe, and more pragmatically, he needed to raise money for his daughter’s education. How? He simply went about writing a best selling book. Hawking turned down a lucrative offer from an American publisher of academic books to go with the mass market oriented Bantam Books, because they knew how to "put books on airport book racks." The rest is history.

Hawking has been accused of helping his publishers shamelessly exploit his disability to sell more books, a charge Hawking vigorously denies. He points out that his contract with Bantam did not give control of the cover art of the American edition, which uses an absolutely miserable photo of Hawking superimposed on a picture of the cosmos. The whole thing looks rather ridiculous, like a stellar driver’s license photo. He says Bantam has refused to change the photo on subsequent editions of A Brief History…because the public now identifies that photo with that book. Don’t you just love the public relations mentality?

So why did the book sell so well? Surely the sympathy factor didn’t hurt. That photo makes some people reach in their pockets and cough up the necessary cash. Then there is the great person factor. Some people like to buy books by Shakespeare, Homer and Virgil and put them on their bookshelves like so much intellectual decoration. I’m sure that a book by the hottest scientist around looks mighty impressive up there on the shelf. One British reviewer suggested A Brief History…could become a "cult" classic. Hawing notes with some pleasure, "my wife was horrified, but I was rather flattered to have my book compared to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I hope, like Zen, it gives people the feeling that they need not be cut off from the great intellectual and philosophical questions."

I bought A Brief History….because I wanted the thrill of owning a book by a scientist who is the equal of Albert Einstein, and I wanted to support one of our own, a non-oral person who has beaten all odds and is now at the top of his profession. When I read one of his books or see him on television, I know Hawking’s accomplishments will encourage more people with severe disabilities to consider careers in science. This option was not available to me when I was growing up; in fact, the educational powers at the time discouraged me from taking science classes, because they feared the possibility of some horrible accident. I am the poorer for it. What little science I know comes from books such as Hawking’s and I appreciate that he has taken the time to write them.

This article appears in AS Volume 1, # 1.

You may order this issue by clicking on Ordering

Back to Articles On Line

Home Page • Online Ordering
Augmentative Communication News • Alternatively Speaking • Social Networks
ISAAC Book Series • Talking Photo Album • Articles On Line
Funding • Presentations On Line • ACI Links • Site Map

One Surf Way, #237 Monterey, CA 93940 Phone : (831) 649-3050 FAX : (831) 646-5428   e-mail: