Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time Remembered

Released in 1988, A Brief History of Time catapulted its author Stephen Hawking, into the public consciousness to a level that no scientist before or since Einstein had achieved. Those who opened the book found a witty, warm, and surprisingly accessible introduction to some of the Universe’s greatest mysteries and ultimately, its finest mind.

January 8th 2019 marks what would have been Stephen Hawking’s 77th Birthday, if not for his passing in 2017. Whilst Hawking leaves behind a body of work that is not to be sniffed at, it is not this work that brought him to public prominence. Nor was it his numerous appearances in television shows, cartoons and science fiction fantasy. Rather it was his work of pop-science literature ‘a Brief History of Time’ that made Stephen Hawking the second most recognisable scientist figure after Albert Einstein.

In hindsight, it’s somewhat ironic to call A Brief History of Time — first published in 1988 — a pop-science book. That genre didn’t really exist before it was published, it may well be responsible for the creation of an entire literary class.