Physicist Stephen Hawking once told a child at a birthday party that he would be turned into spaghetti if he happened to fall into a black hole.
While the theoretical physicist might have been attempting to satisfy the child’s curiosity, his daughter Lucy Hawking used the explanation to write “George’s Secret Key to the Universe”, the first of a series of books that dismantles science for children through stories.
The book narrates the out-of-the-world adventures of a little boy named George who finds his way into space through a computer generated portal into space and experiences the most marvellous phenomena.
Beginnings
“That was the beginning of a story. A story of how a boy managed to get to the edge of a black hole, what would a boy be doing floating around in space and would he ever be able to come back again,” says Lucy.
After co-authoring the first book with her father in the year 2007, the author and journalist who went on to write three more books in the George Greenby series, was here recently to participate at an event organised by British Council and Siyahi.
While the books do not contain manufactured concepts that one finds in science fiction, they also don’t state scientific theories in a matter-of-the-fact way like textbooks.
Intrigued by unique combination of science and story telling, they leave readers asking for more.
“I looked for a book that I ended up writing. I looked for a book where the kind of science my father and his colleagues worked on but for a young age group. I wanted it for my own son when he was 7 years old. And there was nothing. I saw there was science fiction, there was fantasy, and there were textbooks but there was nothing that would put storytelling together with science,” says Lucy.
The George series introduce the readers, particularly children aged between six to ten years of age, to the very complex scientific phenomena that occur in the universe, but through the medium of a story, making it accessible to them.
The story is a treat for curious minds, who through George’s eyes can witness some of the most “bizarre, weird and extraordinary things out there.”
Cosmos the supercomputer
Cosmos, a supercomputer owned by a scientist named Eric, can draw portals and lets George and his friend Annie look and travel into outer space.
“Cosmos is however fiction. He is a metaphor for our knowledge that allows us to move forward,” says the 45-year old author.
As the mysteries of the universe unfold and the excitement builds up, the books very meticulously also offer “fact files” for the scientific occurrences like the birth of a star and gradually moving on to the more complex ones like the big bang or black holes.
Explaining the much talked about “Hawking Radiations” that are believed to be emitted from a black hole, Lucy says, “Hawking radiation means that you could come out of the black hole but not quite in the same way as you went in. So the example my father gives is that if a book fell into a black hole, we will then get it back in the form of ashes. So technically we will get the book back but not in the form that can be of any use to anybody.”
“A lot of this content comes from the questions we have been asked by the school children at different occasions,” says Lucy.
Incidentally, Stephen Hawking had in his recent scientific proposal suggested that black holes may allow matter to appear out the other side like a portal, an idea contrary to established opinion.
Despite having studied language, literature, performance and journalism, Lucy says she was very familiar with science, owing to the frequent scientific discussions that would occur at the Hawking’s’ residence over dinner.
“Scientists would come to dinner every night and I could ask any question I wanted and get an answer. And I think what I am trying to do in the books is to replicate that experience for kids,” she says.
The characters of Eric, Annie and George are based on Stephen Hawking, Lucy and her elder brother respectively.
“Eric is Stephen. They have similar personalities. They’re both natural teachers. They will interrupt whatever they are doing to tell you something really fascinating. They will not quite behave you will expect a normal adult to.”
“Annie is based on me and George is based on my elder brother. That sort of justifies the antagonistic relationship shared by the two,” says Lucy.