In Culture
Books & Films About Stephen Hawking
Beyond his own writing, Hawking has been the subject of memoirs, biographies and films. A guide to the best books and films about Stephen Hawking, including the one behind The Theory of Everything.
Last updated 23 May 2026 · How we research
Stephen Hawking wrote many books of his own, but he has also been the subject of a rich literature and several films. If you want to understand the man and his life rather than read his physics, these are the best places to look.
The memoir behind the film
The most famous book about Hawking is Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, the memoir by his first wife, Jane Hawking. It is a frank, moving account of their marriage, of caring for him through the early decades of his illness, and of the strains success and disability placed on the family. It became the basis for the acclaimed 2014 film The Theory of Everything. You can find Travelling to Infinity on Amazon.
The major biographies
For a thorough, well-regarded account of his life and science, Kitty Ferguson's Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind is widely recommended and was written with Hawking's cooperation. Find it on Amazon here. An earlier and also respected biography is Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science by John Gribbin and Michael White, available on Amazon.
For a more critical, analytical take on how Hawking became a global icon, Charles Seife's Hawking Hawking: The Selling of a Scientific Celebrity offers a thought-provoking counterweight to the more admiring accounts; it is on Amazon here.
The films and documentaries
On screen, the landmark is The Theory of Everything (2014), with Eddie Redmayne's Academy Award-winning performance, covered in full on its own page. Before that, the 2004 BBC television film Hawking starred a young Benedict Cumberbatch as the student Hawking. There are also several documentaries, including Errol Morris's 1991 film of A Brief History of Time and the 2013 documentary Hawking, narrated by the man himself. These are explored on the documentaries page.
Where to go next
For Hawking in his own words rather than others', see his books and his views on the big questions. For the screen portrayals, start with The Theory of Everything.
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