4 Stephen Hawking in Slovak Translation

4.1 Author`s Personal Style

The style of writing of Stephen Hawking slightly differs from book to book. His first book A Brief History of Time was also the first Hawking`s book for non-experts and it was benefical in all its bearings for wide public. That what was interesting, was its overview and the manner how the author enables the reader to see the work of his mind in pieces. The style, in which was the book written could be characterized as the scientific – popular style. It is written in the first person plural, but time to time the author enters the story and explains his ideas and experience in his own words, in the first person singular. The book is inwrought by scientific expressions but is written in a way that even “an ordinary folk” could understand the difficult theories and hypothesis about space and its history and future. There is also many schemes and black and white sketches showing, explaining and helping a reader.

His second book that was translated into Slovak language was The Universe in a Nutshell. In comparison with A Brief History of Time, this book is more graphically rich and the text is less difficult to understand even for less experienced reader. It is a complex of inwardly connected scientific essays. When we do not close the book after the first five pages, we have to contemplate with Hawking, which is not entirely unconfortable or forceable. Except really serious logic of the book, we get even the requital for it. For example, in the form of the peculiar author`s style, special dead pan, sarcastic humour that counterbalance the level Scientific and level Popular. In connection with the text, we cannot miss the substantial structure of pages or doublepages, with the interconnection of pictures and sidetexts. The book remains an encyclopedy sometimes.

Regarding the means of expression, Hawking uses less scientific expressions and prefers that, what we call literary elements in non-literary texts. As the mottos for some chapters there are the quotations of Shakespeare and we also can find the parallels with movies as Star Trek, E.T. and Independence Day.
Moreover, here the physics of Hawking´s gives liberty, freedom, and it has humour and poetry.