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Hawking Index

Hawking Index is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hawking Index rather than just read about it. In short: The Hawking Index (HI) is a mock mathematical measure on how far people will, on average, read through a book before giving up. It was invented by American mathematician Jordan Ellenberg, who created it in a blog for The Wall Street Journal in 2014.

Key takeaways

  • Hawking Index belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Hawking Index to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Hawking Index from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Hawking Index (HI) is a mock mathematical measure on how far people will, on average, read through a book before giving up. It was invented by American mathematician Jordan Ellenberg, who created it in a blog for The Wall Street Journal in 2014. The index is named after English physicist Stephen Hawking, whose book A Brief History of Time has been dubbed "the most unread book of all time".

Calculation Ellenberg's method of calculating the index draws on the "popular highlights", the five most highlighted passages marked by Amazon Kindle readers of each title. A wide spread of highlights throughout the work means that most readers will have read the entire book, resulting in a high on the index. If the spread of highlights occurs only at the beginning of the book, then it means that fewer people will have read the book completely and it will thus score low on the index. When the index was created, this information was easier to access, as "popular highlights" were available to everyone, but since then this information has only been made available to people who buy the books on Kindle.

Hawking Index scores When Ellenberg first used the index, he used the following books as his examples.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hawking Index

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hawking Index claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hawking Index before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hawking Index ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hawking Index

In research
Hawking Index appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Hawking Index in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Hawking Index is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Literary theory, Units of measurement, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Hawking Index outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hawking Index in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Hawking Index means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Hawking Index out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hawking Index in simple terms?

The Hawking Index (HI) is a mock mathematical measure on how far people will, on average, read through a book before giving up. It was invented by American mathematician Jordan Ellenberg, who created it in a blog for The Wall Street Journal in 2014.

Why does Hawking Index matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hawking Index?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hawking Index.

Tags

  • Literary theory
  • Units of measurement

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