BOOK OF JANUARY

Title         : George's Secret Key To The Universe
Author     : Stephen Hawking & Lucy Hawking
Publisher : Random House
Price        : $12.91
Pages       : 320

Stephen Hawking requires no introduction. As the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge, and author of a number of books and papers he has changed the way we see ourselves, our world, and the cosmos. His books are clearly written so that a layperson can read them, but they’re primarily designed for adults to read and reasonably heady. Not so with George’s Secret Key to the Universe. The book was a collaborative effort between Stephen Hawkings and his novelist daughter Lucy, and thus working on both a fictional and non-fictional level.

The novel is about a young boy named George whose parents are extreme technophobes, to the point of refusing to use light bulbs. George doesn’t feel the same way, and wants a computer more than anything else in the world. One day his pet pig Freddy runs away, he follows him and discovers that the neighbors are Eric, a physicist, and his daughter Annie. Eric has a computer- Cosmos which can take George to anywhere in universe and at the same time introducing him to the wonders of science.

George's Secret Key to the Universe, however, is not merely an adventure.It makes a strong case for the importance of science and the scientific way of thinking in our lives. It is also a book that has its heart in the right place -- it repeatedly stresses that science is to be used for the good of humanity and the quest for scientific knowledge should not be at the cost of the planet. The book also neatly brings in the importance of scientists and environmentalists working together to save and rejuvenate the planet.

The book contains beautiful full colour plates, charts and fact boxes which provide background and information relating to the story. The book make a refreshing change for young readers from the dark world of black magic that seems to have taken precedence in fiction for young adults. And for anybody, there’s something comforting about knowing that one need not have to double-check the science in the book, because one of the authors is the renowned scientist of our time. A Malayalam translation of it is also available from DC books, Kerala.

(Book Review Text Curtesy: http://www.georgessecretkey.com/, http://www.physics.about.com/, http://www.amazon.com/)