This week the news of the death of Stephen Hawking did get a very wide coverage. Various mass media are also adorned with various writings to commemorate one of the greatest scientists of this century. The scientific reputation of Stephen Hawking is undoubtedly because many people agree to align his name and reputation with Albert Einstein. The work and reputation of Stephen Hawking is seen not only to change the views of many people related to the formation of the universe, but also to popularize science that many people consider extremely elusive. Associated with Stephen Hawking scientific career there are some interesting pieces of Hawking life history to note about one of his books called "A Brief History of Time" which has an important role in increasing the popularity of Hawking life.
In the middle of his career Stephen Hawking notes many interactions with Dr. Simon Mitton who currently occupies a position as a science historian from Cambridge University. Hawking interaction with Simon Mitton is very interesting to discuss because the interaction of these two men ultimately becomes an ideal collaboration in pouring Hawking brilliant ideas into a popular science book that will prove to be a horrendous world. Simon interaction with Hawking begins as it relates to Simon current position as director of scientific publications Cambridge University Press. In 1982 they both reacted and discussed the publication of Stephen Hawking third book on Superspace and Supergravity. For Simon, who published the third book Hawking is a challenge because in addition to the title of super heavy alias difficult to understand, the book Hawking material delivered by him only a collection of scientific publications and research results Hawking which is very difficult to do or understood by the layman. As editor Simon must surely consider how scientific writing and various technical terms related to Superspace and Supergravity can be written and converted into popular scientific writings that can be understood by ordinary people. Along with the process of writing this book the world already recognizes the name and reputation of Hawking as a theoretical physicist who studies the theory of the attractiveness of the earth and black hole.
According to Simon, in the midst of its popularity at that time it turns out Hawking angry associated with the financial situation that is primarily related to insurance issues that are expected to protect his family if something happens to him. In addition the physical condition decreases and requires it to depend on the nurse who continues to maintain it. Things like this which according to Simon is very disturbing to Hawking mind because it relates to the cost of living and health care that must be issued. The challenge faced by Hawking and Simon at that time was not only related to how to write very complicated scientific findings into simple simple language that is easy to understand but also in the market there are already some books that entered in best seller composed by famous physicist. Some bestsellers also discuss the same topics as gravity and black holes written in popular scientific languages. In the early stages of the process of writing this book they both experience obstacles, especially with regard to how to put the findings and techniques work Hawking very complicated to be easily understood by the reader. However after having difficulty writing this book finally made significant progress after Hawking decided to fill the beginning of his book with a discussion of several topics given in a lecture at Harvard University. When for the first time Hawking met Simon to discuss the draft of the book produced by Hawking it turned out that the topic of his conversation with Simon began with a discussion of the money that would result from the sale of the book and not the contents of his book. At that time Hawking reasoned that he hoped to get a huge royalty from the sale of his book, because he had spent a lot of time writing books and had sacrificed his time to do research. In discussions with Simon, Hawking advised Simon not to rely on the tradition of book marketing like traditional science book marketing, but revolutionized his marketing methods by marketing books openly and aggressively including marketing them in all British and American bookstores.
Simon sees that the draft of a book written by Hawking is still too much for the layman to understand because there are still many such formulations commonly found in scientific journals that adorn the design of this book. Therefore, Simon suggested that Hawking revise his draft by eliminating the elusive formula. After going through the process is quite severe finally Hawking agreed to remove all the formulas that exist in the draft of his book except with the formula (E = mc2). Hawking decision to contribute to making the third book (the world's best-selling scientific book) was when Hawking decided to print his book in a public publication called Bantam, not at the University Press as a publication of other scientific books in general.
The collaboration between Hawking and Simon turns out to be a sweet fruit when Hawking book published in March 1988 under the title "Brief History of Time" became a best seller for at least 5 consecutive years with book sales to date reaching 10 million books. "A Brief History of Time" Stephen Hawking not only records the best-selling scientific books in the world, but also a new era of scholarly science sales that has not been much of a fan as well as popular in the field of scientific science until it becomes a book that is easy to understand and a lot of devotees. The publication of the book "A Brief History of Time" successfully rocketed the name of Stephen Hawking as a rare scientist who managed to pour the formula of the universe into a simple language that can be enjoyed by many laymen.
Referensi: Ronny noor, "A Brief History of Time" Karya Stephen Hawking yang Mendobrak Tradisi, Kompasiana, 15 Maret 2018.
