Free educational resource · 1942–2018
A mind that refused to look down at its feet.
Diagnosed with motor neurone disease at twenty-one and given a handful of years to live, Stephen Hawking lived another fifty-five, and spent them rewriting our understanding of black holes, time, and the origin of the universe. His life, his science, and his ideas, explained for everyone, for free.
A share of any revenue supports motor neurone disease research.
A free, independent educational resource on the life and science of Stephen Hawking. A share of any revenue supports motor neurone disease research.
The Science, Explained Simply
Black holes, Hawking radiation, the origin of the universe and the paradox he spent decades chasing, in plain English.
Explore →02 / LifeThe Life
Diagnosed at twenty-one and given a few years. He lived another fifty-five and changed how we see the cosmos.
Explore →03 / WordsThe Books
From A Brief History of Time to Brief Answers to the Big Questions, every major work, reviewed.
Explore →04 / QuotesIn His Own Words
On life, science, humour and the future, the lines that travelled far beyond physics.
Explore →05 / MNDMotor Neurone Disease
What MND is, how Hawking lived with it for over half a century, and how to support research today.
Explore →06 / CultureIn Culture
The Theory of Everything, the unmistakable voice, and the cameos that made him the world's most famous scientist.
Explore →07 / ConceptsKey Concepts Glossary
Event horizon, singularity, entropy, spacetime: the ideas behind the science, each explained in plain language.
Explore →08 / PeopleKey Collaborators
Penrose, Thorne, Hartle, Bekenstein: the scientists whose work was woven through Hawking's own.
Explore →09 / ComparedHawking Compared
How he measures against Einstein, Newton and the other giants he is so often set beside.
Explore →10 / ViewsHis Views on the Big Questions
God, aliens, time travel, AI and the fate of humanity: what Hawking actually thought, in clear terms.
Explore →11 / ToolsInteractive Tools
Play with his physics: a black hole calculator, a time-dilation explorer, a size comparison, and quizzes.
Explore →“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.”
Stephen Hawking
Reading for a reason
Free to learn from. Built to give back.
Everything here is free to read, and a meaningful share of all revenue, including anything earned through book links, goes to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the charity Stephen Hawking served as a patron, to fund research into the disease he lived with for fifty-five years.