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Stephen Hawking, Who Examined the Universe and Explained Black Holes, Dies at 76 (nytimes.com)
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, has died at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 76. From a report: A family spokesman announced the death in a statement to several news media outlets. "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 best-actor Oscar. 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. A brief history of Stephen Hawking: A legacy of paradox.
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 best-actor Oscar. 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. A brief history of Stephen Hawking: A legacy of paradox.
An imperfect person, he still made humanity that much better off.
He's just moved to the other side of an event horizon.
Respects, Dr Hawking.
And with that, the average IQ of the human species dropped a few points :.(
There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever," said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down!"
- Stephen Hawking - 1988 - A Brief History of Time
He was an inspiration to those of us who whinge and lie in bed when we get a head cold or tummy ache. Dude faced the ultimate physical challenges and seemed to go on with good spirits. Plus, from all accounts he was pretty bright.
Walk free, Dr Hawking.
You are welcome on my lawn.
It has been an incredible honor to be alive at the same time as Stephen Hawking. His idea's and his story impacted so many people around the world. The impact he made on science will likely be remembered and studied for thousands of years. The Maya, Plato, Copernicus, Einstein, Hawking. These are just a few. Hawking is now and we all got to live in his time! Thank you Dr. Hawking, you will be greatly missed and always remembered.
There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
I have the same feelings, 93. My wife passed away from ALS five years ago. The fact that Prof. Hawking not only survived for over 40 years with the disease, but did so much amazing science during that period is incredible.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Long after rappers and reality TV stars and tinpot despots and kings and presidents are dust and forgotten, Stephen Hawkings name will be remembered.
He joins Einstein and Newton as a giant.
Hawking is dead, long live Hawking !
Usually I'm not the person to gush over a public figure or cast strangely intimate condolences at a person I've never met.
In this case I'll make an exception.
Back in the day- it was Dr. Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time" which drew me into a lifelong love of physics. Many books on the subject have followed. The basic knowledge of the universe learned form those books increased the quality of my life. Going to bed at night knowing what is true, what is not true, and what I do not yet know is a very comforting experience.
His life was an example of devotion to a principle called the "Scientific Method". Perhaps the ultimate measure of truth in a world everyone thinks they know everything without the knowledge of what they do not know. For all his brilliance, like Einstein before him, he admitted he did not know everything. He was simply an explorer through an environment which could only be experienced in the mind because it is beyond the human senses.
And he had to make a case for these truths to many people who would not accept his ideas. He did it only with logic, math, and a passion for finding what is true.
No man lives forever. Hopefully his inspiration of others will last forever. Hopefully we will learn his lessons of science, humility, and good humor.
He was such a good human, it was worth losing him, just to have him. Hopefully, his waveform continues elsewhere.
Another consultant who stuck it out.
"We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
They don't "fall for" socialism, they are far too smart for that. They realise that it's an inherently good idea.
Because nothing in this world was ever accomplished through competition that couldn't have been done far better through cooperation.
But also, socialism (by it's name) requires us to understand and empathise with those who aren't ourselves (or extensions of ourselves). That itself supports a pluralist stance, which itself weakens the traditional conservative / libertarian ethical foundations.
Socialism is a natural conclusion of the agora - when we are in the agora, we must deal with the fact that our views and beliefs are just one way of being - and we must work with those who hold differing - and even heterogenous views.
The Conservatism/Libertarian Right is an artefact of the rural, where strangers are to be feared rather than to be welcomed as trading partners.
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His life was remarkable in many ways - one of which was surviving with ALS for so bloody long.
My mother died from ALS recently. Her course took about a decade which is WAY too long with that awful disease though I'm grateful I got to have her alive as long as I did. Stephen Hawking is someone I admire probably more for what he accomplished in the face of that disease than for his scientific accomplishments. And in saying that I am in no way minimizing his contributions to science. I've seen what that disease does to a person up close and even if you aren't religious (I'm not) you should pray that you never have to experience ALS. To do even a fraction of what Hawking did with that malady makes him to my mind one of the most remarkable people to have ever lived.
Stephen Hawking was, without any doubt, a world-class physicist and one of the essential scientific figures of his generation. However, a new Einstein he was not. In fact, it can be argued that he may not even be among the top ten scientists of the last third of the 20th century. More specifically, one can easily make the point that Roger Penrose has been significantly more creative and scientifically influential than he was, and that Hawking was heavily indebted to him, and to his own lamentable condition. A great physicist is gone, but let's keep things in context.
While it is no secret that I profoundly disagree with the concept of a singularity, I have, over almost the same lifetime, come to greatly admire Professor Stephen Hawking as a thinker and as a man. His life has been a wonderful example of dogged refusal to give up. He himself has stated that, never give up, is one of his primary teachings. He has set perhaps the very best example of overcoming adversity and making a success of his life regardless of the difficulties caused by his long term illness.
We should also be fully mindful of the kindness and hard work of everyone surrounding him during his long infirmity; their care for him as simply a human being, made much of his more recent work possible. Without their support he might not have lived beyond his twenties. They too have set a standard that will perhaps not be seen again, certainly not in our lifetimes and as such I salute you all too.
Chris Coles.