Hawking's book, which was on the British Sunday Times bestseller list for 237 weeks, was first published in 1988. It took on complex questions: ? Will it end? If it does, how will it end? Hawking didn't try to answer the questions for his physics and mathematical colleagues. Instead, he wrote it for the average person who wanted someone to walk him through the expanse of the galaxy, and the idea of alternate dimensions.

The British professor, who was born in Oxford, England in 1942, is known for his study of cosmology, which focuses on the universe in its totality, along with his work on quantum gravity, which is theoretical physics. He focused a good deal of his work on black holes, predicting that they emit radiation, which is generally known as Hawking radiation.

Hawking suffers from (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's Disease. The neuro-degenerative disease is a progressive disorder that causes muscle weakness and atrophy.