Stephen Hawking, the renowned British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, authored 'A Brief History of Time' in 1988. The book became a international bestseller, making complex concepts about the universe's origins, black holes, and the nature of time accessible to general readers. Hawking wrote the book despite suffering from ALS, which left him paralyzed. Carl Sagan wrote 'Cosmos', Isaac Asimov was a prolific science fiction writer, and John Gribbin is a science writer but not the author of this specific work.