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The Books of Stephen Hawking
He sold tens of millions of copies by making the universe legible. Every major work, reviewed, with links to read them.
Stephen Hawking believed that if you could not explain your physics to an ordinary curious reader, you probably did not understand it yourself. He turned that conviction into one of the most successful writing careers any scientist has ever had. A Brief History of Time alone sold in the tens of millions and put cosmology on bedside tables around the world.
This section reviews every major book: what is inside it, who it is for, and where to start. The landmark A Brief History of Time is the obvious beginning, with the gentler A Briefer History of Time as an easier alternative and the illustrated The Universe in a Nutshell as its richer companion. For his most philosophical argument, see The Grand Design; for his warmest and most personal writing, Black Holes and Baby Universes and the short memoir My Brief History. His final, posthumous book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, is the single best distillation of how he thought. And for younger readers there is the George's Secret Key series, written with his daughter Lucy.
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Not sure where to begin? See which Hawking book to read first.
Which Stephen Hawking Book Should You Read First?
With eight books to choose from, where should you start? A simple guide to the best Stephen Hawking book for you, by reader type, whether you are a total newcomer or buying for a child.
Read →A Brief History of Time
The 1988 landmark that sold tens of millions of copies and put cosmology on bedside tables worldwide. What's inside, why it mattered, and whether to start here.
Read →A Briefer History of Time
The 2005 rewrite with Leonard Mlodinow: clearer, updated, and far gentler on the beginner. The best entry point if the original defeated you.
Read →The Universe in a Nutshell
The lavishly illustrated, prize-winning 2001 follow-up that carries Hawking's story into string theory and extra dimensions.
Read →The Grand Design
Hawking's most philosophically provocative book, with Leonard Mlodinow (2010): why, he argued, the laws of physics make a creator unnecessary.
Read →Black Holes and Baby Universes
A 1993 collection of essays, lectures and an interview, and the closest thing in print to hearing Hawking think and reminisce aloud.
Read →Brief Answers to the Big Questions
Hawking's final book, published after his death in 2018: direct, plain-spoken answers on God, the beginning of the universe, AI, time travel and humanity's future.
Read →My Brief History
Hawking's short, candid 2013 memoir: the constraint and the life, told plainly in his own words across barely 120 pages.
Read →George's Secret Key to the Universe
The warm 2007 children's series, co-written with daughter Lucy Hawking, that smuggles real, carefully checked cosmology into a set of space adventures.
Read →