Stephen Hawking has written a kids' science fiction trilogy called George's Secret Key to the Universe, the first volume of which is to be published in 29 countries this year, with subsequent volumes coming once a year. His goal is to create a rigorously scientific work of sf that turns kids onto sf -- that's my kind of book! Hawking's co-writers are his daughter (who came up with the idea) and the French physicist Christophe Galfard, whose thesis was based on Hawking's work.
Link to George's Secret Key to the Universe, Link to Cosmos article (via Futurismic)The trio wanted to "provide a modern vision of cosmology from the Big Bang to the present day," without presenting it as magic, Galfard said. "All of what we see (in the universe) corresponds exactly to what has happened already," he added.
The sole element of fiction in the book involves supercomputer that opens a door allowing George and his friends to travel into space aboard an asteroid.
"I don't know of any other book quite like George's Secret Key to the Universe," Hawking, 65, said. "I think we may be unique."