Hawking defied all expectations
IN 1982, Stephen Hawking decided to put his years of groundbreaking research in theoretical physics into book form. His goal, he said, was to “explain how far we had come in our understanding of the universe”, and how humankind might be close to finding a unified theory of the cosmos.
It would not be a dry, technical work designed for experts. Hawking wanted readers. He contacted a literary agent and said he hoped to write “the sort of book that would sell in airport bookstores”, as he recalled in the Wall Street Journal in 2013.
Several years and many rewrites later, Hawking’s A Brief History of Time defied all expectations. The first run sold out in the US in a matter of days, and soon the 200-page account of the origin and fate of the universe was flying off the shelves worldwide. It spent 147 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and a record-breaking 237 weeks on the Times of London bestseller list. To date, more than 10 million copies have been sold and was translated into dozens of languages.
How many people actually read the book from cover to cover remains a running joke, which even Hawking found humorous.
But A Brief History of Time launched Hawking, who died yesterday aged 76, into popular culture. Already renowned in academia for his contributions to cosmology, Hawking grew into a cultural icon and one of the world’s most celebrated science communicators.
What exactly was it that gave the book such sweeping popular appeal? Black holes, superstrings and deep dives into the finite yet boundless nature of the universe don’t necessarily make for great airplane reading. Hawking himself wrestled with the question long after the book’s 1988 publication – “It’s difficult for me to be objective,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
The manner in which Hawking broke down complex concepts in theoretical physics, along with his deft use of humour and analogy, clearly won over many readers who might have otherwise found themselves intimidated by such material.
On publication, the New York Times called Hawking’s work “a jaunty and absolutely clear little book” that shared his ideas about the universe “with everyone who can read”.
“His book is a rare sharing of confidence by a scientist with uncommon courage, a dazzling vision and an impish sense of humour,” the review read.
On Goodreads, the social book review database, many users give it high marks for its plain language, wit and simplicity.
Peter Guzzardi of Bantam Books, pressed Hawking for numerous rewrites to make the book more understandable to non-scientists, Hawking wrote in the Journal. He can also be thanked for the title. Hawking had originally proposed From the Big Bang to Black Holes: A Short History
of Time. Guzzardi changed it to the more concise A Brief History of Time.“It was a stroke of genius and must have contributed to the success of the book,” Hawking wrote. – Washington Post