Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest physicists in the entire history of humanity, and one of the most brilliant luminaries that humanity has ever produced, died yesterday. He was 76 years old.
Hawking was born in 1942 in Oxford during World War II. In 1963, when Hawking was just 21 years old, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. At the time, he was expected to live only two years. But it turned out that he had a slow developing form of the disease, and he obviously lived many years, for which we should be thankful. Hawking's contributions to human knowledge and understanding of our universe is possibly greater than any other human in history.
Hawking got on the map in 1970, when he teamed with Roger Penrose and used the mathematics of black holes to the entire universe, illustrating that that a singularity, a region of infinite curvature in spacetime, was from time in the distant past, all the way to the Big Bang.
He continued to work on quantum physics and black holes, expanding human understanding of how time might work. However, he really became very well known to the public with the release of his book, "A Brief History of Time" in 1988. It remained on The Sunday Times bestseller list for well over four years, and became one of the best selling science books of all time, selling more than 10 million copies, and being translated into 40 different languages. Some skeptics, however, suggest that it might just be the most popular book in history that nobody has ever read (I actually read it, or read the words, although admittedly, the concepts and the overall arguments were basically lost on me).
From that point onward, Hawking became a celebrity. Probably the most famous scientist in the world, he generally was classed along with some other giants in the field of science, particularly Einstein and Newton.
Still, many of his fellow scientists remember him best for his sense of humor, and his quick wit, as well as his determination. He showed incredible strength in the face of a truly debilitating disease. At first, in the 1960's, he used crutches, but in time, he was relegated to a wheelchair, and eventually, even lost his ability to speak, relying on a distinctive computer generated synthetic voice that, if anything, has become associated almost exclusively with Hawking.
Hawking’s children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said in a statement yesterday:
“We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today.
“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.
“His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world.
“He once said, ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him for ever.”
Indeed, he will be missed.
These were the two articles that I used (and borrowed quite a bit from the first, in particular) in writing this particular blog entry:
Stephen Hawking, modern cosmology's brightest star, dies aged 76 by Ian Sample, 13 Mar 2018.
Physicist Stephen Hawking dies aged 76
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43396008?SThisFB
I can't say that I've read his works either. The very limited exposure I've had to some of his theories – i.e. that artificial intelligence and/or extraterrestrials may prove disastrous to humanity – stuck me as somewhat suspect, even if I don't for one millisecond presume to be his intellectual equal by any wild stretch of the imagination. It's just that my view of humanity's potential undoing can best be summed up by a line from some movie (the title of which escapes me): "We've met the enemy, and he is us." In other words, I think we're our own biggest threat, as manifested by the effect we're having on the climate, our persistence in attempting to "conquer" nature rather than live in harmony with it, and of course WMD. But I certainly won't dismiss the very real possibility that his warnings about other perceived threats should be taken very seriously, even if the reasoning behind those warnings escapes the vast majority of us. R.I.P. Stephen Hawking.
ReplyDelete