Firstly let me point out an irritating and very common misperception. Stephen Hawkins is NOT a scientist.
He is a theoretical physicist and in common with others of his kind  (Brian Greene and Lee Smolin, for instance) must properly be viewed as a science fiction writer who mostly uses the simple language of mathematics for his works.
You see, science is an evidence-based domain.  
And there is not the slightest shred of hard evidence for, say, the eleven spatial dimensions at present favoured by string theorists. Or of the &quot;branes&quot; beloved of Hawkins. I am not knocking these people. The world needs dreamers. Science fiction, whether written in mathematics or natural language, is a playground of the imagination from which important ideas that correspond to the real world sometimes emerge. But until any ideas are backed up by evidence they are certainly not part of science.
But to address the main topic, Hawkins&#039; latest natural language interpretation, &ldquo;The Grand Design&rdquo;. We at last see him starting to break away from the quasi-religious mindset, strangely so common among theoretical physicists. Unfortunately he then launches back into the SF realm of &quot;M&quot; theory. Not only is this completely devoid of evidence, it, like the Everett model of parallel universes, is extraordinarily extravagant. 
This contrasts with the evolutionary model of our observed universe which is described in my book &quot;Unusual Perspectives&quot;.  Although certainly allowing of the speculation of a multiplicity universes, UP offers much greater parsimony, and, for its primary theme, a solid evidential basis. 
My present work &quot;The Goldilocks Effect&quot; is a rather more straightforward treatment of this evolutionary model and will be soon ready for publication. Meanwhile, &quot;Unusual Perspectives&quot; is available in its entirety for free download from the eponymous website.