Author Q&A with Lucy and Stephen Hawking

An interview with Lucy and Stephen Hawking,
authors of George's Secret Key to the Universe.

Co-author Lucy Hawking:

Q: What gave you the idea for the book?

A: I came up with the idea of George and his journey through physics and the universe a couple of years ago. I have a nine-year-old son and I thought it would be wonderful if my father and I could write something together that would explain to my son the work of his grandfather. In the time that we've been working on the book, my father has gained a second grandson so the book is for him as well. In order to explain physics for kids, we decided to tell a story and use the events in that story to illustrate concepts of physics. When I looked around for inspiration, it was clear to me that there was a wealth of science fiction available for children but not very much "science fact" for kids to read. Science fiction can be exciting and very gripping but it doesn't tell us anything about the universe in which we live. We wrote an adventure story in which the adventures were based on real science rather than on fantasy. I thought it was very important to weave the science into a storyline because I wanted to make it entertaining and creative so that George's Secret Key might appeal to children who wouldn't otherwise pick up a book on physics. Obviously, we hope it will appeal to their parents, too!

Q: How did you work on the book?

A: I had an idea in mind right from the beginning, about this small boy called George who lived next door to the world's greatest living scientist--Eric. George comes to the world of science with very little knowledge because his parents are fundamentally opposed to science and technology, which they blame for the problems facing the planet Earth. Innocent as he is, George turns out to have the interest, curiosity, and imagination to understand the concepts that Eric, the friendly scientist, explains to him. Eric's daughter Annie and his super computer, Cosmos help to bring the world of physics alive for George and they all get drawn into the great challenge that presents itself.

However, to integrate the physics into the story was the big challenge. We wanted to make the book flow so that it didn't feel too didactic. It took hours and hours of conversation to find ways to express these quite complicated concepts via a simple art form. I worked with both my father and one of his former PhD students, Christophe Galfard, on the scientific element of the book. It was a fascinating process. My father has a lifetime's experience of working with and building some of the concepts we describe in the book. Working with him was a great thrill - he has the amazing ability to hold enormous amounts of information in his head, but also to pick out relevant details and make brief comments, which can completely transform your way of thinking. My father's career in explaining science in simple terms means he is probably one of the world's experts when it comes to framing difficult subjects in accessible language. He was an absolute pleasure to work with and I felt very honored to have this opportunity. Christophe Galfard who worked on the project with us also made a tremendous contribution in terms of the scientific story line, imagery, and detail.

Q: What role did Christophe Galfard play?

A: Christophe came to the project at the end of writing his thesis. What he did so brilliantly was to provide scientific content for me to translate into a story line. There were so many details to get right with this book and it helped me hugely to have someone I could consult closely throughout the process. One way to explain it is to say that the grand vision of the book is based on my father's forty-year career as a theoretical physicist.

Q: How did working on this book change your relationship with your father?

A: Working on this book together gave us the chance to form a relationship as adults, which was a great gift. In working on the George book, we got to spend a lot of time kicking ideas around, we learned so much about each other, and we had a lot of fun. It gave us something really special.

Q: What was it like growing up as the daughter of the world's most famous physicist?

A: When I was young, he wasn't the world's most famous physicist--the fame didn't arrive until the publication of A Brief History of Time by which time I was in my late teens. When I was a child, he was well known among physicists, but they are a fairly select, serious bunch, not much given to celebrity idolizing. As a young child, what was more striking about my father in terms of the way the public reacted to him, was the high level of attention his electric wheelchair attracted. I suppose that in the 1970's, it was quite unusual to see a disabled person drive themselves around in a wheelchair, and people really did stop and stare. He did drive his chair extremely fast and sometimes in a rather perilous fashion so I expect it did look rather eye-catching. Even so, as a kid, I used to stare back really hard at those people, to see how they liked it, but I don't suppose they noticed that for a second. I'm so glad that these days, disabled access is so much better than it was then and that disabled people are given more dignity by the general public ,than they were. I think that one big contribution my father has made is to show that having a disability does not bar you from leading a full and eventful life. Many people who have been through difficult times themselves have told me what an inspiration he has been to them. His recent Zero Gravity flight and plans to go into space show that the sky is literally the limit, as far as he is concerned!

Q: Did you feel any pressure to become a scientist yourself?

A: No, I didn't. From an early age, it was very clear that my interests lay in the arts subjects. My earliest ambition was to be a ballerina, but I was a bit small and round and prone to giggling too much--I lacked the necessary elegance to pull that one off! I think my dad would have been pleased if I had turned out a scientist because he truly believes that is the most interesting career open to anyone. But he also believes that you have to follow your own path in life and so he certainly wasn't going to push me toward theoretical physics when it didn't look like I was going in that direction naturally.

Q: You've recently had some exciting experiences on a tour of the USA?

A: I've just been on a research trip to the USA, looking into ideas and material for the second book. As part of this, I was very lucky to have some great experiences--I watched the space shuttle launch in Florida, which was just extraordinary. As you watch the shuttle lift from the ground, you see this incredibly bright light underneath it, brighter than anything you've ever seen before. But for the first few seconds, the launch seems to be completely silent and it's such a serene, ethereal event.. Then the noise bowls over the intervening landscape towards you and it's so intense that your chest pounds with the impact, buildings shake and the air crackles. I was surprised by how emotional I felt afterwards. I looked up in the sky and there was a very strange heart- shaped cloud formation, way up high. It made me want to cry but not from sadness, just from feeling overwhelmed.

As if that wasn't enough, the next day I took a zero gravity flight with the Zero Gravity Corporation (who else?) from the Kennedy Space Center. It was the most fun I've had since I was five years old--floating in zero gravity is just hilarious--you cannot stop laughing! Somehow, you think it might be quite scary to go from zero gravity to high gravity within seconds. But it felt so natural and was so much fun! They gave me a blue flight suit to take home with me. I'm going to be wearing it to parties.

Q: What's next for you and your Dad?

A: Next for me is writing the second book, which will focus on space travel and for my dad, a ride on Virgin Galactic! So you could say we are a pretty space-age family these days.

Co-author Professor Stephen Hawking:

Q: You have just written a science book for children that will explain the universe--and black holes. What made you write this book and how are you going to explain black holes in a way that even children can understand?

A: Children ask how things do what they do, and why. Too often they are told that these are stupid questions to ask, but this is said by grown-ups who don't know the answers and don't want to look silly, by admitting they don't know. It is very important that young people keep their sense of wonder and keep asking why. I'm a child myself, in the sense I'm still looking. Children are fascinated by black holes and ask me questions. I find they soon get the idea if it is explained in non-technical language.

Q: Will we ever be able to travel through time?

A: We are all traveling forward in time anyway. We can fast forward by going off in a rocket at high speed and returning to find everyone on earth much older or dead. Einstein's general theory of relativity seems to offer the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that we could travel back in time. However, it is likely that the warping would trigger a bolt of radiation that would destroy the spaceship, and maybe the space-time itself.

Q: What were you like as a child? What were your interests?

A: As a child, I wanted to know how things worked and to control them. With a friend, I built a number of complicated models that I could control. It was a natural next step to want to know how the universe works. If you understand the universe, you control it, in a way. I was never top of the class at school, but my classmates must have seen potential in me, because my nickname was Einstein.

Q: Do you believe we need to spread into space in order for the human race to survive? Will you travel into space yourself?

A: I think the human race doesn't have a future if we don't go into space. We need to expand our horizons beyond planet Earth if we are to have a long-term future. We cannot remain looking inward at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet. We need to look outward to the wider universe. This will take time and effort, but it will become easier as our technology improves. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space. I have never let my condition stop me. You only live once.

Q: In your children's book, you describe the universe without a creator. Does this reflect your personal beliefs?

A: The lesson of the book is that the universe is governed by the laws of science. One could regard these laws as the work of God but discussion of such theological issues is not appropriate in a children's adventure story.

Q: Did you enjoy your zero gravity experience?

A: Being confined to a wheelchair doesn't bother me as my mind is free to roam the universe, but it felt wonderful to be weightless.

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