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Hawking Hawking: The Selling of a Scientific Celebrity

Hawking Hawking: The Selling of a Scientific Celebrity

by Charles Seife

Basic Books ·2021 ·400 pages ·Science
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Bottom of the Pile
I Index
16/99
Bottom of the Pile

18/99

Critics

Bottom of the Pile

15/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

3/99

Rating

34/99

Volume

18/99

Rating

12/99

Volume

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About This Book

In Hawking Hawking, science journalist Charles Seife explores how Stephen Hawking came to be thought of as humanity's greatest genius. Hawking spent his career grappling with deep questions in physics, but his renown didn't rest on his science. He was a master of self-promotion, hosting parties for time travelers, declaring victory over problems he had not solved, and wooing billionaires. In a wheelchair and physically dependent on a cadre of devotees, Hawking still managed to captivate the people around him—and use them for his own purposes. In this exposé and biography, Hawking Hawking uncovers the authentic Hawking buried underneath the fake. It is the story of a man whose brilliance in physics was matched by his genius for building his own myth.


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Reviews

"Some of Seife's other criticisms—designed to shake the myth of Hawking's all-surpassing brilliance—might baffle the professional scientist."

Samanth Subramian· The New Republic Read review ↗ Near the Top

"It is what a great scientist deserves, and should expect."

Frank Wilczek· The New York Times Read review ↗ Near the Top

"He aims to find the human lost inside the myth, so he must first chip away a gaudy shell ..."

James Gleick· New York Review of Books Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Seife, to his credit, explicates Hawking's considerable scientific contributions at length."

Joseph Barbato· The New York Journal of Books Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

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