Stephen Hawking’s father worried his son ‘does not study much’, diaries reveal

Hawking defied medical expectations that he would die within two years. He died in 2018, at the age of 76, having proved himself as one of the most celebrated minds of our time. Photograph: Liam White/Alamy/Sky Documentaries

In exploring the physics and geometry of the universe, Stephen Hawking became a world-renowned pioneer of black hole theory, writing the bestselling book A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 13m copies, and inspiring people to “look up at the stars and not down at your feet”.

But, during Hawking’s student years and as he approached adulthood, his father was deeply concerned about how his son would turn out. Frank Hawking lamented that “he hangs round the house with little initiative and does not study much”, according to previously unknown diaries that he had written partly in code.