Stephen Hawking is overrated. His books are so difficult to read he had to write subsequent books explaining the first ones. He was just in vogue because of his handicap.
And in the end, his life long study/theory of Black Holes was proven wrong. Basically he made a career out of sympathy and rewriting other peoples work. Frankly, I'm surprised he stayed in the Cambridge position as long he did.
Hawking cracks black hole paradox - 14 July 2004 - New Scientist