Star Struck: Lucy Hawking on her father Stephen Hawking

Growing up with Stephen Hawking and the scientist community may have embedded in her the natural tendency to understand science, but Lucy isn’t one to stop at that. Author of the famous George series, which involves a boy (a character based on her father) and his quests in space, Lucy is known for her sessions with children world over to make science more accessible. On Sunday evening, she was at India International Centre, Delhi, in a session with author Anushka Ravishankar, organised by the British Council and publishing house Siyahi.

Through a series of slides and anecdotes, Lucy enthralled a small audience in the seminar room. The author presented a short animation titled A Brief History of Us, which tells the story of how the daughter and father came to write children’s books together. George, for instance, was born the day Lucy’s son turned eight; when a kid asked her father what would happen if he fell into a black hole. “You would turn into spaghetti,” he replied. “That’s where I got the idea for George. I wanted to write a book that explains the kind of science my father was talking about. There were lots of questions being asked by the young audience about science,” says Lucy.

The author never tires of questions around her famous father. During her session, she managed to make a list of things that define Stephen — an adventurer, a family man to a “lady killer” and a hero for bringing science from mundane academic papers to popular published books. Lucy even tapped into conversations around disability. “I remember the day when I went to a restaurant with my family. The manager came to us and said we had to leave. When asked why, he pointed at my father and said, ‘He is putting people off’. I think my father has opened up more conversations around the issue than there have ever been,” she says.

Currently in the process of the George series being adapted into a television series, Lucy makes it clear that she isn’t just influenced by her father. “I don’t think science has all the answers and it shouldn’t be so arrogant. But I don’t follow a spiritual or religious idea at the same time. I think I’m a bit of both my parents,” she concludes.