Stephen W. Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist and best-selling author who roamed the cosmos from a wheelchair, pondering the nature of gravity and the origin of the universe and becoming an emblem of human determination and curiosity, died early Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 76.
His death was confirmed by a spokesman for Cambridge University.
“Not since Albert Einstein has a scientist so captured the public imagination and endeared himself to tens of millions of people around the world,” Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, said in an interview.
Dr. Hawking did that largely through his book “A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes,” published in 1988. It has sold more than 10 million copies and inspired a documentary film by Errol Morris. The 2014 film about his life, “The Theory of Everything,” was nominated for several Academy Awards and Eddie Redmayne, who played Dr. Hawking, won the Oscar for best actor.
Scientifically, Dr. Hawking will be best remembered for a discovery so strange that it might be expressed in the form of a Zen koan: When is a black hole not black? When it explodes.
By any measure Stephen Hawking was an absolutely amazing human being.
And in fact a living lesson as to just what can be achieved by humanity itself once it steps away from superstition and fully embraces the miracles to be discovered by scientific exploration.
The challenges that Hawking faced in his life were the kind that would destroy most people, and yet he managed to not only adapt, but to overcome.
It kind of puts the challenges that most of us face into perspective doesn't it?
Remembering Stephen Hawking, a renowned physicist and ambassador of science. His theories unlocked a universe of possibilities that we & the world are exploring. May you keep flying like superman in microgravity, as you said to astronauts on @Space_Station in 2014 pic.twitter.com/FeR4fd2zZ5— NASA (@NASA) March 14, 2018
His passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. But it's not empty. Think of it as a kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric of spacetime that defies measure. Stephen Hawking, RIP 1942-2018. pic.twitter.com/nAanMySqkt— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 14, 2018
I would say RIP, that would be an insult to the memory of this great man.Have fun out there among the stars. pic.twitter.com/S285MTwGtp— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 14, 2018
Drumpfuck's eulogy will, of course, show Drumpf mocking the Professor's handicaps. And laughing and then later denying he did any such things while laughing at himself on tape mocking Professor Hawking. Drumpf comes full circle.
ReplyDeleteDrumpfuck would be better to keep his sphincter mouth shut and formulate a response to junior’s divorce instead.
DeleteHe'll make a dumbass joke how Hawking was almost as smart as he is.
DeleteHe really doesn't like smart or educated people, and Mr. Hawking wasn't rich, so my bet is he will completely ignore the loss of this wonderful man.
DeleteYears ago, Sarah Palin just about reached that low level, Mike from Iowa. She confused Stephen Hawking with Richard Dawkins, the well-known atheist and proponent of abortion of babies fated to have DS. She remarked that Trig would not make fun of the man (meaning Dawkins but referring to Hawking) because of his appearance. Palin's bizarre remark betrayed her great ignorance, of course, and showed how eager she was to mock a person's disability. Much like her new hero, the present occupier of the White House.
DeleteBeaglemom
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking-death-dies-equation-discovery-tombstone-radiation-nobel-a8254966.html?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter
ReplyDelete"Stephen Hawking, who has died at 76, said he knew what he wanted on his gravestone.
The Cambridge professor made clear that he would like what is known as Hawking’s equation carved onto his grave."
https://inews.co.uk/news/science/this-is-the-equation-stephen-hawking-wanted-on-his-tombstone/
"S = entropy (a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system’s thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work) h = Planck constant (the energy of a quantum of electromagnetic radiation divided by its frequency) G = Newton’s constant (universal gravitational constant) A = area of event horizon (a boundary in spacetime beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer) c = speed of light k = Boltzmann’s constant (relates the average kinetic energy of particles in a gas with the temperature of the gas)"
http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-hawking-complex-equation-on-his-tombstone-entropy-2018-3?r=UK&IR=T
"There is also another interesting parallel that makes Professor Hawking's wish even more poignant. The first proposer of entropy was Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann and his tombstone bears the inscription of his own entropy formula. It seems right that Hawking should have his own, too.
Hawking had just recorded a cameo for a new radio version of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, so as that other late, great visionary once wrote (sort of): So long, Professor Hawkings, and thanks for all the fish."
We can only postulate what happens when we die, as he stated, "probably" in the last meme, and "possibilities" NASA's reply. He held strong to his beliefs, and opened imaginative minds to this universe we live in. I had tremendous respect for him.
ReplyDeleteI just do not get the constant argument between religion and science. If you want to believe there's a God, believe it! If you want to be an atheist or agnostic, be it!
SCIENCE IS REAL.
That he lived so long with ALS is a tribute to it. If anyone here has not heard of Steve Gleason, I encourage you to google him and the fight he has taken up to expand technologies to help those afflicted, and it is working.
"...I just do not get the constant argument between religion and science. If you want to believe there's a God, believe it! If you want to be an atheist or agnostic, be it!"
DeleteTrue science - not the crap the "believers" try to pass off as a replacement for evolution and so on - is a threat to EVERYTHING they believe.
On the other hand, I agree with you that it would be really nice if those who believed in a god didn't fight against the sciences and just lived their own lives. Unfortunately, they are not capable of that.
FORTUNATELY, the young generation is moving more and more away from religion, so there's hope.
Now, if we can just survive until it happens....
The world has lost a great man.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, there's a RW conspiracy theory that Hawkings was replaced by body double in 1985.
ReplyDeleteI guess to promote science over theocracy.
http://milesmathis.com/hawk3.pdf
Well considering nobody ever heard of this theory, it seems pretty moot.
DeleteThe right sure is and incomparable bunch of morons!
DeleteIf pee pond visitation is any indication, no rhyme meant, they get Elmer Fudd "weeely weeely quiet" when something they swear happened is blown up in their face.
DeleteYes, I lurk there.
Know your enemy and they're NUTS.
So that's how Russia does it.
DeleteSnark.
It seems that most the celebrity scientific greats that you always highlight, Hawking included, have the common decency and composure to be much more respectful of those with religious ideals and beliefs than yourself.
ReplyDeleteYou will never understand even an inkling of their complicated theories, but maybe you could learn a little bit from them about being respectful to their fellow men that do believe in religion, regardless of your own thoughts.
This is coming from an atheist.
That’s actually a very good point.
Delete5:56pm
DeleteWhen religious people stop trying to take over government, invade my bedroom and hold dominion over women's bodies and reproduction then I'll treat them with respect.
Religion not only destroys lives it destroys societies and entire cultures and I just can't give those people a pass on something so dangerous.
Good post. I'm an atheist/agnostic and I'm dismayed with the disrespect that Gryphen shows. He only turns people away from atheism.
DeleteOh come ON, 6:50 AM, are you serious? People are allowed to make their own choices.
DeleteYOUR way may not be for others. Actually, you more than proved what he said that you're bitching about.
I was raised Catholic and went to private Catholic schools up to ninth grade.
DeleteI am now an atheist. I don't care what your belief is. If you want to believe in God that's fine but don't let it infringe on my rights.Don't tell me as a woman i have to have a baby because your "Sky GOd" demands it.This is where we differ, you can worship all you want but keep out of my private life. It's between God and me right?The all forgiving God by the way who forgives all sins if you pray enough.
6:50 -- It's Gryphen's blog. He can write what he wants. What about the First Amendment do you not understand?
DeleteLol. Didn't realize this was a first amendment issue 6:28. Jump a little too far?
DeleteHow Has Stephen Hawking Lived Past 70 with ALS?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stephen-hawking-als/
He was not only a genius but a brave heart. He fought the good fight with his condition and made the rest of us look like slackers on our own accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteComparative mythology is very helpful. Joseph Campbell"s "Hero With A Thousand Faces" is a great start for unification and perspective of religions, the universal themes, and the self.
ReplyDeleteThe monomyth as expounded by Campbell is too generic to offer meaningful insight into religion, or what you call the self. It does reflect universal themes, but so do Marvel superhero stories.
DeleteVarious monomyths consist of minor variations on a theme: The hero endures prolonged, dire tribulations but emerges victorious and saves the helpless, dependent slaves. The basic plot can be found everywhere from ancient mythology to Star Wars.
The finer points of complex belief systems are largely ignored in the monomyth. It's an inevitable outcome of culture being watered down for popular consumption.
Jude, you just proved Campbell's point.
DeleteThat's gotta piss you off.
he's free now. i wish i could see what he is seeing now!!
ReplyDeleteTurn off the lights and close your eyes real tight.
DeleteYou're welcome.
How's this for compassionate conservatism?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/stephen-hawking-texas-tweet-briscoe-cain-tweet-12752808.php
"[T]here is no god. No one created our universe, and no one directs our fate."<S.H.
DeleteOT-Equinor
ReplyDeletehttps://thinkprogress.org/statoil-equinor-rebrand-renewables-are-the-future-f314bc1b79f9/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peFibHJW7W4
ReplyDelete'Limp Bizkit - Crushed (Album Version)(Lyrics)'
"This is how we learn"
'i'm getting the HELL outta here"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk7uZO1iED8
Delete'Hawking - Todd Rundgren'
"Nearly Human Tour, Live At The Tokyo Sun Plaza Hall 1990, This Is For Hardcore Todd Fans And People Who Go To Las Vegas Shows, Featuring Michele Rundgren, Brent Bourgeois, Larry Tagg, Michael Urbano, Lyle Workman & Some Other People" "Absolutely the BEST live show Todd ever did! He and rest of the band were "SPOT ON" "