Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind Paperback – March 5, 2013

I enjoyed this story of a man with an outstanding brain who rose above a debilitating illness and contributed to our knowledge of the universe. The author helps make his complex theories understandable.

To many people Stephen Hawking is an icon of mathematical genius, a symbol somewhat like Einstein has become. Kitty Ferguson's biography does a terrific job of making Hawking a full-fledged human being, a statement that sounds silly until one sees the hero worship that often attaches to Hawking's name. She alternates between Hawking's personal life and his achievements in astrophysics. Readers in Britain may be much more familiar with the personal aspects of Hawking's life given the press coverage. But in the United States the man who held the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge (always followed by the note that Newton held this position) is much more unknown and this biography does a fine job of putting Hawking's entire life into written form.The role of Jane Hawking in Stephen's life cannot be overestimated. She was there for him through the most critical moments of his disease and it is hard to imagine what would have happened without her. Ferguson details Jane's work and her conflict between her own goals and her role as Hawking's wife. Some other reviews have criticized the book for skirting the charges of abuse to Hawking which followed him during his second marriage. More may be coming out at some point but when the biography was written Hawking refused to discuss the issue. Without his input Ferguson cannot do much more than mention the issue without speculating. Ferguson worked with Hawking closely not only on this book but in her earlier 1991 biography of him. This biography highlights the positive - Hawking's mathematical genius, his genuine sense of humor, his popular books to explain his ideas, and his work for the disabled. But it also goes into some detail about his flaws - his stubbornness, his lack of appreciation at times of those who helped him so much, and what appears to be an excessive love of the limelight. Some of the flaws may be attributed to issues that others may have about him but clearly some were Hawking's own and could be deeply hurtful. The reader gets a well-rounded view of Hawking as a person and the growing effect of the debilitating ALS on his life.As Ferguson notes, Hawking undercut his own assumptions several times in his work. His beautiful theories were always handicapped by a lack of empirical data, a problem that all theoretical physicists have today. For example, his theories about Hawking radiation, singularities, and wormholes (all of which Ferguson explains well) are utter masterpieces of mathematical reasoning but absolute verification may be impossible. I left the book wishing that the Nobel Committee would recognize theoretical physicists much more than they do. The argument most often made on their behalf is that a beautiful mathematical model may quite simply be wrong and that differing theories not only need unifying but need more proof. On the other hand, geniuses like Hawking have provided ways of mentally and mathematically seeing the options and, at a time when such models have become unbelievably difficult to build, have provided a path for potential research. One of the side effects of this book is that the reader comes to understand much better the interplay of theoretical and experimental physics. Hawking once said that he was fortunate to have gone into theoretical physics because his handicap did not hurt him nearly as much as in most other fields. It is to our lasting benefit that he did so. Flaws and all, Stephen Hawking has given us a stunning (if evolving) vision of the universe that is not only beautifully crafted but inspiring to those with even the smallest interest in astronomy. This book is a tribute to Hawking's life.

I saw "The Theory of Everything," enjoyed it a great deal, and took up again Stephen Hawking's "The Illustrated A Brief History of Time." I'd started it 5 years ago. This time I worked my way through it. getting a lot of what he was saying -- not at a deep level but as a general reader. The particles chapter, sure, I should go over it again, but I got the idea. It seemed he was writing for the ordinary person, and he really cared about people such as me grasping the big picture; not a hint of condescension. He really seems to believe in the value of ordinary folks getting a grasp of the wonders of our multiverse. That's a good teacher.I picked up Kitty Ferguson's biography next: "Stephen Hawking - An Unfettered Mind." For all the challenges of the motor neuron disease that has paralyzed him for more than four decades, this physicist says: "...In my mind, I am free." What a remarkable thing to be able to say! Yes, he's a rock star in cosmology, and no, as a physicist reviewer said in a GoodReads review, he may not be next to Einstein in his accomplishments. But he has opened up the wonders of black holes, baby universes, and m-theory to many non-physicists. What he is doing is doing physics, following his curiosity, pushing his ideas, not afraid to change his mind and say so, and to share his teachings with millions of people who have bought his books in an airport book store and given them a try.Kitty Ferguson has done a strong job in making his key ideas clear to the general reader. She sketches a balanced assessment of his work and his value as a popular teacher of cosmology. She examines large philosophical questions of the role of God beyond Hawking's science also in a balanced manner. A very helpful book.

Kitty Ferguson has written both a succinct biography of a fascinating character and a good explanation for the layman of some of the most far-out science any of us are likely to encounter. I can't claim that reading her book has made me an expert on cosmology -- a decade or more of study might get me to that point -- but she has managed to make some very complex concepts comprehensible in general terms, and that's no easy task. To top off her achievement, she has portrayed the scientific process itself with unusual clarity. When Hawking revisits and revises earlier ideas, he's practicing science at its best. No scientist gets everything right the first time around, and Hawking is a role model for researchers and theorists on the leading edge of whatever science they practice. His mind is unfettered in a number of ways, not least in his willingness to shake off the fetters of his own earlier ideas as new evidence accumulates.Ferguson's prose pulls you along through both the biography and the science. What are the odds that a book whose primary topics are a struggle with a brutally handicapping disease and a struggle with brutally difficult scientific theories would prove to be a near page-turner? It's even in one sense a whodunit, as Hawking works to determine what set our universe in motion and what keeps it going.If you found Hqwking's own books attractive, this book is made for you. And if you never even knew the name Hawking before tripping over this listing, you should get it and read it if it sounds at all like something you'd enjoy.

Great book. Well written and a good balance between coverage of Stephen Hawking as a man and the key elements of his theories as he developed them. An amazing man.

I have bought this as a present for Xmas so I can’t really comment on it at the time.

Ms Ferguson tells Stephen Hawkings personal story with so much heart and the technical stuff with an easy style that people will understand the complexity of space .

Looking forward to reading this so much!

Excellent have seen film that was brilliant. Thought I would buy the book as it will go into more detail......