Stephen Hawking

{{bronze}}[[Image:hawking.jpg|thumb|right|165px|It took ALS decades to finally defeat this beautiful mind.]]{{Physics|1}}
{{cquote|I'm damned if I'm going to die before I have unraveled more about the universe.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02t6m9d Dara O Briain Meets Stephen Hawking] ''BBC One'' 8 June 2015</ref>}}

'''Stephen Hawking''' {{lived|8 January 1942|14 March 2018}}, PBUH, was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[physics|theoretical physicist]] specialising in [[cosmology]] and [[black hole]]s. He wrote a number of technical as well as popular books, the latter of which have been widely read by the general public.

==A brief history of Hawking==
After a solid career in grade school, Stephen Hawking attended the University of Oxford on a scholarship, where he reportedly found things easygoing. He then went to the University of Cambridge, about eighty miles away for his doctoral studies. His first serious contribution to physics is a paper, written when he was a graduate student, showing why the [[Steady State theory|steady-state theory]] of the [[Universe]] favored by [[Fred Hoyle]] is flawed. Unfortunately, the symptoms of his muscle-wasting disease began to manifest themselves (see next section). For a while, he sank into depression but quickly regained his motivation and began searching for a topic suitable for a doctoral thesis.<ref name="Gribbin">''Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science'' by Michael White and John R. Gribbin (1992) Dutton. [[Special:Booksources/9780525934479|ISBN 9780525934479]]</ref> He found his starting material in a seminar on new mathematical methods in physics used to prove what became known as the first singularity theorem by Roger Penrose. This theorem states that when a star undergoes continued gravitational collapse, a singularity is inevitable. Up until that time, physicists believed that the singularity is avoided as the star re-expands after collapsing,<ref name="McEvoy">McEvoy J, Zarate O, Appignanesi R. ''Introducing Stephen Hawking''.</ref> as suggested by rather elaborate but not entirely convincing calculations.<ref name="Thorne"/> In other words, the first singularity theorem states that if general relativity is an accurate description of our Universe, then black holes must be allowed to exist. Hawking applied this newfound knowledge to the entire Universe.<ref name="Gribbin"/> During the rest of the 1960s, Penrose and Hawking went on to prove other singularity theorems and investigated the structures of black holes. In the early 1970s, Hawking, Kip Thorne, and James Bardeen formulated the laws of black hole mechanics, which looked suspiciously like those of thermodynamics. A graduate student, Jacob Bekenstein, suggested that perhaps a black hole really has a well-defined [[entropy]] after all, unlike previously thought. Initially skeptical, Hawking convinced himself that Bekenstein was thinking in the right direction. But if a black hole has entropy, then it must have a temperature and thus must emit thermal radiation. This flies in the face of [[common sense]]; nothing can escape the event horizon of a black hole, not even [[light]] itself. He managed to show that indeed, when [[quantum mechanics]] is taken into account, black holes emit [[radiation]]. For this reason, given enough time, a black hole that consumes less mass-energy than it Hawking radiates will evaporate. This is the first ever major result involving both general relativity and quantum mechanics (and thermodynamics) and is known as [[Hawking radiation]] in his honor.<ref name="McEvoy"/><ref>''The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory'' by Brian Greene (2003) W. W. Norton. ISBN 9780393058581</ref> Observe that Hawking earned his reputation during what we now call the golden age of general relativity, lasting from the 1960s till about the mid-1970s.<ref name="Thorne">''Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy'' by Kip S. Thorne (1994) W. W. Norton. ISBN 9780393312768</ref>

In the 1980s, the Hawking family began to feel the mounting financial pressure. His wife, Jane, needed help taking care of her disabled husband and their children, who were attending [[School choice|private school]]. A new source of income was needed, and Hawking began writing several books about his work and physics in general, the most renowned being the [[popular science]] classic ''A Brief History of Time'' ([[Special:Booksources/978-0-553-10953-5|ISBN 978-0-553-10953-5]]), published in 1988<ref name="Gribbin"/>. Although successful as a book, it was widely considered to be impenetrable, and he wrote ''A Briefer History of Time'' ([[Special:Booksources/0-553-80436-7|ISBN 0-553-80436-7]]) as a sop to public understanding. ''The Grand Design'' ([[Special:Booksources/0-553-80537-1|ISBN 0-553-80537-1]]) elaborated on the recent work in M-theory and the origin of the [[Universe]]. It was also during this period that Hawking returned to the subject of his dissertation, cosmology. Collaborating with another theorist, James Hartle, he introduced the No Boundary Proposal, which suggests that the Universe may be like 
a doughnut
 the surface of a balloon, which is able to expand or contract, and is finite but has no boundaries. "Time comes to an end, but the Universe continues to be," he argued.<ref name="McEvoy"/> He gave a lecture on this Proposal at the 
Society of Moonshine
 Pontifical Academy of Sciences by invitation.<ref name="McEvoy"/> [[Pope John Paul II]], who maintained that [[Non-Overlapping Magisteria|the question of what gave rise to the Universe should be left to religion, not science]], made a fool of himself. Also during this period, as a few his fellow physicists investigated the possibility of time travel, Hawking introduced the Chronological Protection Conjecture, which should "make the world safe for historians."<ref name="Thorne"/>

Hawking was among the best-known [[scientist]]s of his time and his overall popular fame may well rival that of [[Einstein]], [[Newton]] and [[Darwin]]. Even though he was widely recognized by the general public as one of the most able physicists in the late-20<sup>th</sup> and early-21<sup>st</sup> century, perhaps even Einstein's heir, because the media tends to considered anything involving Stephen Hawking to be newsworthy,<ref name="Gribbin"/> his status within the academic world of physics was not necessarily so esteemed.<ref>[http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/science-and-technology/the-hawking-delusion The Hawking Delusion] ''Prospect Magazine'' 8 September 2010</ref> In any case, it is the historians living the future with the ultimate tool of hindsight who will be in the best position to judge whether or not his popular fame today is justified. Although his contraction of ALS cannot be said to have been a fortunate event, things could have gotten much worse. Indeed, Hawking was a lucky man. It progressed slowly, giving him plenty of time to adapt. He found in Jane an intelligent and caring wife, in Dennis Sciama a stimulating doctoral supervisor and in Roger Penrose, an excellent colleague who taught him new mathematical methods for physics.<ref name="McEvoy"/> That, of course, is not to say Hawking was neither intelligent nor diligent.

From 1979 till 2009, Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of [[Mathematics]] at Cambridge University, a post that has been held by some of the world's leading mathematicians and physicists since the mid-17<sup>th</sup> century.<ref>[https://theconversation.com/from-newton-to-hawking-and-beyond-a-short-history-of-the-lucasian-chair-40967 From Newton to Hawking and beyond: a short history of the Lucasian Chair] ''The Conversation'' 18 June 2015</ref> He was succeeded by [[string theory|string theorist]] Michael Green.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6247309/Professor-Stephen-Hawking-retires-from-Lucasian-professorship.html Professor Stephen Hawking retires from Lucasian professorship] ''The Telegraph'' 1 October 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/21/michael_green_lucasian_professor/ Cambridge string theorist to succeed Stephen Hawking] ''The Register'' 21 October 2009</ref> Their predecessors include [[Isaac Newton]] and [[Paul Dirac]].

From the 1990s until 2018, Hawking maintained his obsession with formulating a complete quantum theory of gravity and with quantum cosmology.<ref name="Thorne"/> He found the sum-over-histories (or path-integral) approach to quantum mechanics of [[Richard Feynman]] to be quite useful.<ref name="McEvoy"/> Recently, he returned to the scene with some progress made with a few colleagues on the solution to the black hole information paradox. For many years, it has been thought that the information of the objects have fallen into the black hole can never come back out. His new findings seem to suggest otherwise.<ref>[http://physics.aps.org/articles/v9/62 Black Holes Have Soft Quantum Hair] ''Physics'' 6 June 2016</ref>

==The famous disability==
While still studying for his PhD, Hawking was diagnosed with {{wpl|amyotrophic lateral sclerosis|amyotrophic lateral sclerosis}}, also known as motor neuron disease or Lou Gehrig's Disease.<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amyotrophic%20lateral%20sclerosis Definition of  Amyotrophic Lateral Scherosis] ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary''</ref> This rare degenerative disease progresses rather slowly, punctuated by periods of stability. His doctors initially thought he had just two years to live.<ref name="Gribbin"/> After a pneumonia attack, he was rendered unable to speak and famously conducted conversations from his motorised wheelchair 
that has gadgets such as a punch glove and the ability to transform into a helicopter
 using a speech synthesiser, using only his cheek to operate the predictive text machine, and sometimes taking many minutes to answer questions. Although he was [[British]], he spoke using a synthesiser with an [[American]] accent. He initially wanted an upgrade to a British accent (which the manufacturers would have made for him), but the technology was slow to advance to that stage, and  preferred his American one, having not heard anything he liked better, and being identified virtually worldwide with the voice the synthesiser provided him for years. He died in March 2018 at the age of 76, 53 years longer than he was expected to live.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-hawking-dead-obituary_us_55e9fa97e4b03784e275e7c1 Iconic Physicist Stephen Hawking Dies At 76] ''HuffPost'' 15 March 2018</ref> Unfortunately, his death was celebrated by the [[Steven Anderson|Andersonite]] movement, most particularly by YouTuber Ben the Baptist<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qkmvkYlEIs Ben the Baptist - Stephen Hawking is Burning in Hell] from the [[YouTube]] channel ''MM Gloria'' 14 March 2018</ref>.

==Views on religion, pseudoscience and mysticism==
When he was in school, Hawking and some close friends had some interest in [[extra-sensory perception]] (ESP), but quickly became disillusioned after attending a lecture in which a scientist demonstrated how faulty ESP claims actually are.<ref name="Gribbin"/> While a number of pseudo-intellectuals try to make connections between [[mysticism]] and modern science &mdash; say between Eastern religion and quantum mechanics &mdash; Hawking showed nothing but disdain for the whole scheme. If you talked to him about that kind of trash in person, you would risk getting your toes crushed!<ref name="Gribbin"/> Hawking said:<ref name="Gribbin"/>
{{cquote|''It's fashionable rubbish. People go overboard on Eastern mysticism simply because it's something different that they haven't met before. But, as a natural description of [[reality]], it fails abysmally to produce results… If you look through Eastern mysticism you can find things that look suggestive of modern physics or cosmology. I don't think they have any significance.''}}

In other words, if you guess often enough, you will eventually stumble upon something that appears to resemble the truth as we know it. That of course does not mean you are right. Perhaps predictably, his cosmological research put a strain on his marriage to Jane, a devout [[Christian]].<ref name="Gribbin"/> Hawking has also become a favourite target of [[quote mining]] by [[creationism|creationists]]<ref>See [[You_Can_Lead_an_Atheist_to_Evidence,_but_You_Can't_Make_Him_Think#Chapter_1:_Creation_Must_Have_a_Creator|this example]]</ref> because of his tendency to use the word [[God]] in his writings as well as numerous references to "the Creator" with respect to his writings on the [[Big Bang]]. This is, of course, open to interpretation: that this is a reference to a [[theism|theistic deity]], or it is intended to be a metaphor representing the [[natural law]]s of the Universe (i.e., [[Baruch Spinoza|Spinoza]]'s God). His question about whether the Creator had any choice in ''when'' to create the universe and his assurances that information cannot pass through the [[singularity]] of the Big Bang are indicative of [[deism]].

Hawking is therefore often used by creationists as an example of a believing scientist. This is the [[logical fallacy]] known as an [[argument from authority]] (i.e., "If an intelligent person such as Stephen Hawking believes in God, it must be true"). Essentially, quoting Hawking &mdash; rightly or wrongly &mdash; as a believer proves nothing. Whatever the truth of his beliefs, Hawking had often been quiet, or at least non-explicit, about religious and philosophical beliefs and doesn't usually voice them openly unlike others such as [[Richard Dawkins]] or [[Michael Behe]]. After his retirement from Cambridge, however, he did become more explicitly opposed to design in interviews and print. With the release of a new book entitled ''The Grand Design'' in 2010, Hawking downplayed the necessity of a creator, citing the increasing discoveries of [[exoplanet]]s as evidence against the idea of [[teleological argument|design]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11161493 Stephen Hawking: God did not create Universe] ''BBC News'' 2 September 2010</ref> In a 2010 interview with Diane Sawyer, Hawking more firmly established his views on a separation of [[science]] and [[religion]] stating that:<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Technology/stephen-hawking-religion-science-win/story?id=10830164 Stephen Hawking on Religion: 'Science Will Win'] ''ABC News'' 4 June 2010</ref>

{{cquote|''There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.''}}

His comments on people inventing a personal god and interaction, as well as stating about defining the laws of physics ''as'' God, seemed to indicate a stronger belief toward Spinoza's God. 

Hawking openly declared his [[atheism]] in an interview with the [[Spain|Spanish]] newspaper ''El Mundo'' in 2014.<ref>[http://www.rawstory.com/2014/09/stephen-hawking-comes-out-im-an-atheist-because-science-is-more-convincing-than-god/ Stephen Hawking comes out: ‘I’m an atheist’ because science is ‘more convincing’ than God] ''Raw Story'' 24 September 2014</ref>

==Political views==
Like his parents, Stephen Hawking was generally sympathetic to the political left 
and regretted not being able to run over [[Margaret Thatcher]] with his wheelchair
.<ref name="Gribbin"/> He became known as a supporter of the [http://www.bdsmovement.net/ BDS] (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement in 2013 when, at the request of [[Palestinian]] academics, he boycotted the [[Israeli]] President's Conference.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2013/may/13/stephen-hawking-boycott-israel-science Stephen Hawking's boycott hits Israel where it hurts: science] ''The Guardian'' 13 May 2013</ref> Presidential Conference chairman Israel Maimon expressed outrage as did many other Israelis.<ref>[http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Stephen-Hawking-reaffirms-support-of-Israel-boycott-312505 Stephen Hawking reaffirms support of Israel boycott] ''The Jerusalem Post'' 8 May 2013</ref> He was in ardent support of [[stem cell research]], especially when various countries in the European Union chewed over a ban on embryonic stem cell research—he stated that a prohibition of stem cell research would "hinder the global race to develop therapies which would benefit millions of people".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2006/jul/24/genetics.europeanunion] ''The Guardian'' 24 Jul 2006</ref>

==Futurist views==
Hawking was convinced humanity would eventually go beyond the bounds of both our original planet (space colonization)<ref>[http://www.space.com/20657-stephen-hawking-humanity-survival-space.html Stephen Hawking: Humanity Must Colonize Space to Survive] ''Space.com'' 13 April 2013</ref> and bodies ([[mind uploading]]),<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/sep/21/stephen-hawking-brain-outside-body Stephen Hawking: brain could exist outside body] ''The Guardian'' 21 September 2013</ref> assuming we don't first destroy ourselves, and believes we must establish permanent self-sustaining offworld colonies within the millennium so as to prevent such extinction and foster the survival of life through [[deep time]], even beyond the [http://www.universetoday.com/25367/how-long-will-life-survive-on-earth/ end of life on Earth.]

==In popular culture==
In animated form, Hawking made guest appearances on ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''Dilbert'', ''[[Futurama]]'', and ''Family Guy'', surely the high point of any career.  In person, he has appeared on ''The Big Bang Theory'' and on ''[[Star Trek|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', making him the only individual to appear on the show as himself, and also makes an appearance in a popular [[YouTube]] tribute to [[Carl Sagan]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc Carl Sagan - 'A Glorious Dawn' ft Stephen Hawking (Symphony of Science)] from the [[YouTube]] channel ''melodysheep'' 17 September 2009</ref> His name, likeness and voice have also been used in tribute by science rapper MC Hawking, whom the real Hawking was quite amused by, likening it to old school satire show ''Spitting Image''.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-02-tt-45710-story.html Check It! MC Hawking Raps] ''Los Angeles Times'' 2 November 2000</ref> He even did a British insurance comparison website advert.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jan/01/stephen-hawking-silences-go-compare Stephen Hawking silences Go Compare singer in latest ad instalment] ''The Guardian'' 1 January 2013</ref>

"MC Hawking" was a parody by Ken Lawrence portraying the good doctor as a hard-core OG gangsta rapper (and brilliant physicist).<ref>https://www.mchawking.com/</ref>  His exploits included musical takedowns of fundamentalists, drive-by shootings of his MIT rivals, and physically assaulting Moby, who is heard on audio crying "No, not the wheels!".

To show how many [[balls]] Hawking had, he went to the Tiger Tiger nightclub in 2007 after it was targeted by terrorists.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20081204113831/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/an-unexpected-visitor-illuminates-the-brief-history-of-tiger-tiger-456016.html An unexpected visitor illuminates the brief history of Tiger Tiger] ''The Independent'' 5 July 2007 (Archived from the original on 4 December 2008)</ref> He also used his vast fortune to gamble with [[pornography]].<ref>{{wpl|Thorne–Hawking–Preskill bet|For science!}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col}}
*[[Sean Carroll]]
*[[Lawrence Krauss]]
*[[Carl Sagan]]
*[[Neil deGrasse Tyson]]

{{div col end}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPKj0YnKANw Hawking Radiation]. PBS Space Time.
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn7-fVtT16k&feature=relmfu Einstein vs. Hawking]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jt7zJzkNQ&feature=related Fundamentalist morons, to hell with the whole lot of them.]
*[https://www.artstation.com/artwork/RqkQA ''Theory of Everything'' by Siwoo Kim], an artwork inspired by a popular moving of the same name about our hero.

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawking, Stephen}}

[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]
[[Category:Disability]]
[[Category:Epsteinsphere]]
[[Category:History of science]]
[[Category:Physicists]]
[[Category:Popular science]]
[[Category:Skeptics]]

Categories: Atheists, Authors, Cosmology, Disability, Epsteinsphere, History of science, Physicists, Popular science, Skeptics