Doc Kinne reviewed Stephen Hawking by Kristine Larsen
Review of 'Stephen Hawking' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
There are many biographies about Professor Hawking. This one, however, is actually special. Why?
Dr. Kristin Larsen has managed to lightly dance (perhaps in a Brownian motion type of way?) between personal and scientific, and popular and intellectual, planes. While many biographies of Professor Hawking detail his scientific theories and accomplishments, Larsen has uniquely, in my experience, been able to interweave Hawking's life into the world's larger cultural context. At the same time, while quite readable by the average person, I think, this is not a pop version of Hawking's life as chapter titles including "Physics and Metaphysics?: The 'No Boundary' Proposal," and "Plays, P-Branes, and Polls: Private Lives and Public Pronouncements" show.
Larsen has not stopped with Hawking himself, but has been able to include interesting details of Hawking's children, especially as those children themselves have begun to assert themselves on their own stages, quite apart from their father.
…
There are many biographies about Professor Hawking. This one, however, is actually special. Why?
Dr. Kristin Larsen has managed to lightly dance (perhaps in a Brownian motion type of way?) between personal and scientific, and popular and intellectual, planes. While many biographies of Professor Hawking detail his scientific theories and accomplishments, Larsen has uniquely, in my experience, been able to interweave Hawking's life into the world's larger cultural context. At the same time, while quite readable by the average person, I think, this is not a pop version of Hawking's life as chapter titles including "Physics and Metaphysics?: The 'No Boundary' Proposal," and "Plays, P-Branes, and Polls: Private Lives and Public Pronouncements" show.
Larsen has not stopped with Hawking himself, but has been able to include interesting details of Hawking's children, especially as those children themselves have begun to assert themselves on their own stages, quite apart from their father.
In short Stephen Hawking: A Biography may be, at a high level, one of the most readable and culturally comprehensive biographies of the man. Read it.