Stephen Hawking┬аwas the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years and the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His books for the general reader include┬аMy Brief History,┬аthe classic┬аA Brief History of Time,┬аthe essay collection┬аBlack Holes and Baby Universes, The Universe in a Nutshell,┬аand, with Leonard Mlodinow,┬аA Briefer History of Time┬аand┬аThe Grand Design. Stephen Hawking died in 2018.