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A review by teachinsci
Hawking by Jim Ottaviani
5.0
This graphic novel biography of Stephen Hawking did not limit itself to his life. It also spent time covering the history of his science and some of the development of the cosmological theories which he developed in his lifetime. The skill of the author us in the graphic novel as such a powerful medium for a biography is unsurprising considering that he has written several others explaining such things as the history of space flight, women in primatology, and (I recently found out and want to buy) Feynman.
The main character was, of course Stephen Hawking, and the author and illustrator did a superb job of showing his physical decline while not making it (except of a few pages) a central figure in the book. The other major character was Hawking's first wife Jane and I found myself wondering at the amount of access that the author must have had. Jane was portrayed as truly in love and devoted to a man who was often distracted and nearly dismissive of her. Such is the skill of the graphic narrative that you can feel the the relationship descend into problems before ultimately ending in divorce without it being explicitly stated.
To me, the book does an excellent job of portraying a life of an icon with idolization, of presenting difficult science understandably (as Hawking eventually was able to do himself), and of telling the story of an important physicist in a way that is approachable by people from early high school on up. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about Stephen Hawking than his brief stints on the Simpsons and Big Bang Theory.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher (through NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review. #netgalley #Hawking
The main character was, of course Stephen Hawking, and the author and illustrator did a superb job of showing his physical decline while not making it (except of a few pages) a central figure in the book. The other major character was Hawking's first wife Jane and I found myself wondering at the amount of access that the author must have had. Jane was portrayed as truly in love and devoted to a man who was often distracted and nearly dismissive of her. Such is the skill of the graphic narrative that you can feel the the relationship descend into problems before ultimately ending in divorce without it being explicitly stated.
To me, the book does an excellent job of portraying a life of an icon with idolization, of presenting difficult science understandably (as Hawking eventually was able to do himself), and of telling the story of an important physicist in a way that is approachable by people from early high school on up. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about Stephen Hawking than his brief stints on the Simpsons and Big Bang Theory.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher (through NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review. #netgalley #Hawking