EXPLAINING THE UNIVERSE FROM A WHEELCHAIR: STEPHEN HAWKING

Scientific Figure

“During the Royal Society meeting, Hawking interrupted a lecture by renowned astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle to let him know that he had made a mistake. When asked how he knew there had been an error, Hawking replied: ‘Because I've worked them out in my head’. ” (Mirror UK)

Professor Stephen Hawking, a great example of success even with severe physical disabilities, is arguably the most famous physicist since Albert Einstein. He owns a singular brilliance as a cosmologist that has fascinated both the public and his colleagues in science. Such acknowledgements though have been accompanied by criticism toward his polemic theories about God, black holes, and the origin of universe. Let us take a brief look at the life of this outstanding person.

Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 to Frank and Isobel Hawking. Despite family financial constraints, both parents had attended Oxford University. Frank studied medicine and Isobel studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Stephen was a very smart boy in his former years, although at school he was known as "Einstein", (thinkquest.org) Hawking was not initially successful academically. With time, he began to show considerable aptitude for scientific subjects, and decided to study mathematics at university inspired by other mathematicians’ work. Later on, after receiving a first-class BA degree, and following a trip to Iran with a friend, Hawking began his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in October 1962. 

In early 1963, just shy of 21, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He was not expected to live more than two years. Completing his doctorate did not appear likely. Yet Hawking defied the odds, not only attaining his Ph.D. but forging new roads into the understanding of the universe in the decades since. (Nola Taylor Redd) 

Hawking, at a young adult age experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at Oxford, including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing. During the late 1960s, Hawking's physical abilities declined once again and he began to use crutches and ceased lecturing regularly. As he slowly lost the ability to write, he developed compensatory visual methods, including seeing equations in terms of geometry.

Furthermore, Hawking's disease-related deterioration continued, and in 2005 “he began to control a communication device with movements of his cheek muscles, with a rate of about one word per minute”. (Wikipedia) Also, Hawking needed assistance by researchers on systems that could translate Hawking's brain patterns or facial expressions into switch activations. This uncommon way to share his ideas led him to share long periods of time with his assistants, by the way, during his career Stephen has had plenty of such helpers.

Stephen developed some interesting theories about the way the universe might work. Such theories were remarkably restated by research and personal deductions. Over the years, Hawking maintained his public profile with a series of attention-getting and often controversial statements, for instance, he has asserted that computer viruses were a form of life, that humans should use genetic engineering to avoid being outsmarted by computers, and that aliens likely exist and contact with them should be avoided.

In addition, Hawking waded into the topic of religion with this phrase: "I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark." He has stated that he is "not religious in the normal sense" and he believes that "the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws." (Wikipedia)

As you can see, despite the obstacle of his illness, Professor Hawking has given great contribution in Physics and has received many awards, medals and prizes worldwide. His figure has become very famous till the point that almost everyone has heard about him due to his cameos in several television programs and series. 

Finally, Hawking’s controversial notions about life and the universe have made us wonder about the existence of God and the real moment when space started to work as it does nowadays. Perhaps, the world is never ready to receive such a genius as he is, but certainly his contributions are memorable. Also, I think that the main lesson we can learn from his life is that knowledge and science must be taken as tools in the development of our societies in order to avoid ignorance, though there are many boundaries we have to respect. As he says: "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." (space.com)