"Writing the book has been the greatest privilege of my life," says biographer Graham Farmelo
Credit: Chris Williamson/Getty; Penguin Random House
NEED TO KNOW
- A new authorized biography of Stephen Hawking, written by Graham Farmelo, will be released on Sept. 29
- The biography reveals new insights into Hawking’s life and legacy
- Hawking’s children collaborated on the book, providing exclusive access to personal records and family archives
The first and only authorized biography of Stephen Hawking will be arriving soon, and PEOPLE has a first look at its cover.
Written by award-winning science writer and biographer Graham Farmelo, Hawking: His Life and Work will trace the late astrophysicist and cosmologist's early beginnings through his becoming one of the world's most recognized figures.
The biography, which will be published by Bantam Books, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, was written in collaboration with Hawking's children Lucy, Robert and Tim, who provided exclusive access to the family's personal records, resources, and contacts.
Farmelo tells PEOPLE that he knew he would also have access to Stephen's archive at Cambridge University, but had "no idea that his parents each kept fascinating diaries, which give astonishing insights into his young life and his development into a very bright but unfocused university student in the early 1960s."
Credit: Penguin Random House
"His closest friends, from his school days onwards, generously shared with me their recollections, as well as letters and other documents, giving new insights into his personality, especially into his almost super-human determination," Farmelo says.
Throughout the writing process, Farmelo discovered new revelations about Hawking, including that he considered becoming a politician or an actor in his late teens.
"Like every biographer, I wanted to know about my subject's youth in order to understand how they ‘ticked' and began to develop the talents for which they became well-known — in Stephen's case, internationally famous," says Farmelo.
"Thanks to the testimonies of his friends, his birth family and to hundreds of pages of diaries, I was able to shed bright light on how he became the unique character, admired by people all over the world," he adds.
Credit: Andrea Kane
That has enabled the author to create "perhaps the most detailed picture yet of the crucial, formative years of a great scientist."
Farmelo hopes the book will give new insights into Hawking's life and "give readers — including ones who are scared of science and math — clear explanations of his scientific ideas and why they proved so enduringly important."
"Writing the book has been the greatest privilege of my life," he says.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Hawking will hit shelves on Sept. 29 and is now available for preorder wherever books are sold.
We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.
Read the full article here
