CHARLES SAFE
The real Hawking is the creation of a famous scientist
trans.: Andreas Michaelides
ed. Metaihmio, 2022, p. 560

To what extent can a myth fit into reality? Who cherished the personality of Stephen Hawking for many years. The man who popularized physics and, with his cheerful spirit, in contrast to his cheap body, was a model of cheerfulness, was a classic case of a large physiognomy. Especially since life was not kind to him.

But who really was Hawking? Does his catalytic public image, masterfully crafted by himself, silence the man behind the scientist? The biography of Charles Seif, The Real Hawking – the Creation of a Famous Scientist, published by Metaichmio, translated by Andreas Michaelides, although not approved by Hawking’s entourage, so he did not have at his disposal the full materials from his personal biography, tries to throw back the veil that closes the phenomenon of a scientist, and show us his somewhat more truthful and somewhat disappointed image. However, without his intention to destabilize the person.

Seif knows the man he had to fight. He is also an accomplished science writer and professor of journalism at New York University.

His main conclusion is that Hawking was “as much a brand as he was a person”. To the extent that his scientific achievements, including his advances in the understanding of space and time, paled in comparison to the general public’s image of him.

“He knew that his disability greatly affected how he was perceived by the public, turning him from a mere person into a living metaphor.”

Hawking played with the rules that define and shape celebrity. He spoke on a variety of topics outside of his specialty, from virtual reality to military technology, borrowed his voice box with which he communicated with filmmakers, and allowed screenwriters and writers to write for him.

He managed to make the image of a man chained to a wheelchair, painstakingly constructing sentences at a speed of three words per minute, habitual.

All of this has made him a subject of intense public interest as well as a notable pop icon thanks to appearances in Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Simpsons. The public, on the other hand, went crazy when it came to time travel and extraterrestrial life. In general: he built his legend with point moves.

Safe writes this biography in a paradoxical way: he begins with the last years of Hawking’s life and ends with his childhood. This reversal of the linear sequence doesn’t really have the desired effect, or at least doesn’t change the core of the book.

The opinions of his students and collaborators, carefully collected by Safe, are interesting, as is his account of all of Hawking’s scientific achievements.

However, it doesn’t just stop there. The book is not shy about talking openly about the gray areas of Hawking’s character. Suddenly this shows him as selfish, with a heightened libido (I had a craving for strippers), while it is almost proven that he accepted naked women in his space and asked them to dance for him.

The general impression is that Hawking worked feverishly until the end of his life, but the truth is that in recent years he contributed very little to his science, while there are several of his colleagues who do not even rank him at the top of the pyramid of physicists who have contributed significantly contribution.

So what does this biography offer us? An opportunity to see Hawking from a human point of view. As short-tempered and arrogant as he was, he was also a warm and witty person. Of course, Hawking fans will be upset at some points in the book, as they will see his portrayal coming apart at the seams or appearing less than flattering to them. However, this does not detract from his brilliance and unique personality.

Let’s not forget that he was the man who in November 1995 filled London’s Royal Albert Hall (capacity 5,900) for a lecture, and that his book, A Brief History of Time, has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

“Hawking knew that his disability profoundly affected the way he was perceived by the public, turning him from a mere person into a living metaphor,” writes Seif eloquently.