Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Graham Farmelo’s Hawking: His Life and Work looks beyond the familiar image of Stephen Hawking as an inspirational genius. Drawing on newly available family records, letters, and diaries, Farmelo portrays both the physicist’s extraordinary contributions to our understanding of black holes and the universe and the more complicated person behind the public legend. This deeply researched, accessible biography invites readers to consider how we remember brilliant people, and what gets overlooked when a life is reduced to an inspiring story.
I give Hawking 4 out of 5 stars. I admire the depth of research behind this biography, though at times it felt overwhelming. I also struggled with time jumps in the middle of chapters and a plodding pace in some sections. Still, this is a masterful work of humanizing one of the most famous scientists of the last 100 years. Learning about Hawking’s preferences and physical abilities before illness took them from him casts him in a new light.
Readers interested in Stephen Hawking and his life’s work will find this biography compelling, as it builds the backstory for the scientific breakthroughs of his career. Because it discusses ALS, the strain on caregivers, domestic disputes, and mortality, it may not be the right choice for every reader. If you enjoyed Walter Isaacson’s Einstein: His Life and Universe or Robert Kanigel’s The Man Who Knew Infinity, you will enjoy this book!
Hawking: His Life and Work will be released on November 24, 2026. You can grab your copy on our Bookshop.org page!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Silent Calvary, Howell Raines
- Current audio book: Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones
- Book I’m most looking forward to: The Good Indian, Elaine Yellow Horse
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