Stephen Hawking : a life in science / Michael White and John Gribbin.

Revised and updated edition.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 421-430) and index.

The day Galileo died -- Classical cosmology -- Going up -- Doctors and doctorates -- From black holes to the big bang -- Marriage and fellowship -- Singular solutions -- The breakthrough years -- When black holes explode -- The foothills of fame -- Back to the beginning -- Science celebrity -- When the universe has babies -- A brief history of time -- The end of physics? -- Fame and fortune -- A brief history of time travel -- Stephen Hawking : superstar -- God and the multiverse -- The topsy-turvy universe of a global icon.

"An updated edition of the definitive biography on Stephen Hawking that marries biography and science to tell the story of one of the most remarkable men in history. Stephen Hawking is no ordinary scientist. He has broadened our basic understanding of the universe and his theoretical work on black holes and the origins of the cosmos have been groundbreaking, if not downright revolutionary. He has also spent much of his adult life confined to a wheelchair, a victim of ALS. But his physical limitations have done nothing to confine him intellectually. Hawking would already be remarkable for his cutting-edge work in theoretical physics alone. However, he has also managed to popularize science unlike anyone else. He achieved almost cult-like fame with his A Brief History of Time and has since become a household name by making the complexities of cosmology accessible to millions of people. In Stephen Hawking, science writers White and Gribbin have painted a compelling portrait of a scientific mind that seemingly knows no bounds. Weaving together clear explanations of Hawking{u2019}s science with a detailed, balanced, and sensitive personal history, readers will come to know and appreciate both sides of this incredible man. Includes new updates in Hawking{u2019}s biography and the recent discovery of the Higgs-Boson (or ?God?) particle" --