A brief history of time

This program is a rerelease of a classic documentary from 1992 about the life and work of Stephen Hawking (b. 1942), one of the most remarkable people in the world. A brilliant theoretical physicist and cosmologist, British-born Hawking is afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known here as Lou Gehrig's disease, an incurable degenerative disease, and doctors gave him little hope of surviving his early twenties or living to complete his doctoral studies. In fact, now in his seventies, Hawking has had an incomparable career and is possibly the best-known scientist since Einstein. The package includes two discs: the traditional DVD and a second Blu-ray with identical content. VERDICT Although the video shares the same title as Hawking's best-selling 1988 book, it emphasizes not his work or theories but his life, which is truly inspiring. The producers have done us a service by reformatting this film and making it available to a new generation. [See Trailers, LJ 2/1/14.]-Harold D. Shane, mathematics, emeritus, Baruch Coll., CUNY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.