How do you see the world? Is it through the scientific perspective of Stephen Hawking or the paranormal worldview found in the work of Stephen King? In The Rule of Stephens, novelist Timothy Taylor explores the limits of science and rationality.

The book follows a woman, Catherine, who believes that the world is rational, and that even the weirdest coincidences can usually be explained. After she survives a terrifying plane clash, some strange things start happening to her. A doppelgänger — a woman who looks just like her — shows up, and Catherine struggles to find a rational explanation.

Written as he was dealing with the loss of his father, Taylor says The Rule of Stephens his most personal book yet.

This interview was recorded before the news of Stephen Hawking's passing today.

— Produced by Chris Trowbridge