Stephen Hawking rose to fame as a leading expert on black holes and cosmology, authoring the popular book A Brief History of Time that sold over 13 million copies and encouraging readers to explore the cosmos. Yet his father expressed worries during the physicist’s university years and transition to adulthood. Frank Hawking noted in coded diaries that his son showed little drive and spent time idly at home rather than focusing on studies. These records form part of family documents now accessed by biographer Graham Farmelo for an authorized account due in September from publisher John Murray. The materials include entries from Hawking’s parents detailing his upbringing and the 1963 diagnosis of motor neurone disease at age 21, which left him largely immobile yet allowed him to live until 2018. Farmelo described the papers as offering direct views into those early challenges and the period after the diagnosis, which doctors initially expected would prove fatal within two years. Hawking later reflected on maintaining curiosity about the universe despite difficulties. In 1961 his father, a specialist in tropical medicine, recorded concerns that his son lacked ambition compared to his own youth and questioned his interest in physics over other fields. Frank maintained detailed journals for decades, using a personal code that the biographer decoded. The upcoming book draws on interviews with family members and presents a full account of Hawking’s life and work.
