Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

High Table at Cambridge with Stephen Hawking

Posted by Hemos on from the talking-with-mc-hawking dept.

bughunter writes "Accomplished astrophysicist and SF author Gregory Benford shares a personal account of his recent conversation with Stephen Hawking at Reason Online. As usual, Benford's style is engaging and informal, and this doesn't read like a typical interview. Although the article is short on jargon, Benford and Hawking share insights on the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, as such minds are want to do. We even get a glimpse of Cambridge tunnel hacking. Of course, there's also a plug for Hawking's new book, The Universe in a Nutshell."

6 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Not "want"... by cybrpnk · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...but "wont". As such minds are WONT to do.

  2. Hawking's page by i+like+your+eyes · · Score: 2, Informative

    hawking.org.uk to learn more on the interviewee

    --

    There's no emoticon for what I'm feeling!
  3. Re:getting past the physical limitations by Seth+Finkelstein · · Score: 4, Informative
    Read Profiles Of Courage - Stephen William Hawkings for inspiration.
    I have had motor neurone disease for practically all my adult life. Yet it has not prevented me from having a very attractive family, and being successful in my work. This is thanks to the help I have received from Jane, my children, and a large number of other people and organisations. I have been lucky, that my condition has progressed more slowly than is often the case. But it shows that one need not lose hope.

    Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

  4. We are wont to pick nits by kindbud · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wont is the word you wanted, not want. Look it up!

    --
    Edith Keeler Must Die
  5. Hawking's Speech by joeytsai · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's a funny bit on Hawking's site where he describes his speech synthesizer.

    He says, "One's voice is very important. If you have a slurred voice, people are likely to treat you as mentally deficient: Does he take sugar? This synthesiser is by far the best I have heard, because it varies the intonation, and doesn't speak like a Dalek. The only trouble is that it gives me an American accent."

    --
    http://www.talknerdy.org
  6. My memories of Hawking by jon514 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I studied as an undergrad 10ish years ago in DAMTP (Dept of Applied Maths & Theoretical Physics) at Cambridge. Stephen was often seen trundling around in his wheelchair. He was lethal in it (& probably still is) - you had to get out of the way quick or you got run-over!!

    From going to one or two of his lectures, the one question that always got asked at the end is whether he believes in God. His answers were usually rather ambiguous, but the impression he gave was probably not. After reading this article, it looks like nothings changed. It is obviously a question he has thought about deeply, and whether his works allows us to see into the mind of God (if such a being exists).

    He is, without doubt, a brilliant man and has achieved an unbelieveable level of fame for a mathematician. However, most of that fame seems to derive from a book that a lot of people bought but few actually read, his physical condition, and that he works in a trendy area of mathematics. I think this sometimes obscures the real quality of his academic work.