Brief Answers to the Big Questions

Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a popular-science book written by physicist Stephen Hawking, and published by Hodder & Stoughton and Bantam Books on 16 October 2018. The book examines some of the universe's greatest mysteries, and promotes the view that science is very important in helping to solve problems on planet Earth. The publisher describes the book as "a selection of most profound, accessible, and timely reflections from his personal archive", and included, according to a book reviewer, drawing upon "half a million or so words" from his essays, lectures and keynote speeches. The book was incomplete at the time of the author's passing in March 2018, but was completed with "his academic colleagues, his family and the Stephen Hawking Estate". A foreword to the book was written by Eddie Redmayne, Oscar-winning actor who portrayed Stephen Hawking in the 2014 film, The Theory of Everything; an introduction by Kip Thorne, Nobel-prize winning physicist; and an afterword by Lucy Hawking, the author's daughter. A portion of the royalties from the book are to go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the Stephen Hawking Foundation.