Reference
- STEPHEN HAWKING (b. 1942–d. 2018)One of the most admired and brilliant theoretical physicists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Stephen Hawking became a widely known celebrity as well after his book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes unexpectedly became a best-seller in 1988 (a motion picture based on the book followed). He specialized in the study of black holes, the elusive remains of collapsed giant stars. He also worked in the areas of general relativity, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics in seeking to understand how the universe began. His achievements have proved all the more amazing because he suffered since the early 1960s from the severely debilitating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), which gradually destroys the nerve and muscle systems.
Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England, and grew up in London. He attended St. Albans School and entered Oxford University in 1959. Upon graduating in 1962 he moved to Cambridge University to study theoretical astronomy and cosmology. It was at this time he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. As the disease worsened, Hawking was confined to a motorized wheelchair. In time, he was unable to write and barely able to speak. He, however, proceeded to work on his doctorate and in 1965 married a fellow student, Jane Wilde. (The marriage lasted until 1990.)...
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Perspectives
The Universe in a Nutshell
Stephen Hawking's phenomenal, multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief History of Time, introduced the ideas of this brilliant theoretical physicist to readers all over the world. Now, in a major publishing event, Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book. The Universe in a Nutshell * Quantum mechanics * M-theory * General relativity * 11-dimensional supergravity * 10-dimensional membranes * Superstrings * P-branes * Black holes One of the most influential thinkers of our time, Stephen Hawking is an intellectual icon, known not only for the adventurousness of his ideas but for the clarity and wit with which he expresses them. In this new book Hawking takes us to the cutting edge of theoretical physics, where truth is often stranger than fiction, to explain in laymen's terms the principles that control our universe. Like many in the community of theoretical physicists, Professor Hawking is seeking to uncover the grail of science -- the elusive Theory of Everything that lies at the heart of the cosmos. In his accessible and often playful style, he guides us on his search to uncover the secrets of the universe -- from supergravity to supersymmetry, from quantum theory to M-theory, from holography to duality. He takes us to the wild frontiers of science, where superstring theory and p-branes may hold the final clue to the puzzle. And he lets us behind the scenes of one of his most exciting intellectual adventures as he seeks "to combine Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and Richard Feynman's idea of multiple histories into one complete unified theory that will describe everything that happens in the universe." With characteristic exuberance, Professor Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extraordinary voyage through space-time. Copious four-color illustrations help clarify this journey into a surreal wonderland where particles, sheets, and strings move in eleven dimensions; where black holes evaporate and disappear, taking their secret with them; and where the original cosmic seed from which our own universe sprang was a tiny nut. The Universe in a Nutshell is essential reading for all of us who want to understand the universe in which we live. Like its companion volume, A Brief History of Time, it conveys the excitement felt within the scientific community as the secrets of the cosmos reveal themselves.
The Nature of Space and Time
From two of the world's great physicists--Stephen Hawking and Nobel laureate Roger Penrose--a lively debate about the nature of space and time Einstein said that the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. But was he right? Can the quantum theory of fields and Einstein's general theory of relativity, the two most accurate and successful theories in all of physics, be united into a single quantum theory of gravity? Can quantum and cosmos ever be combined? In The Nature of Space and Time, two of the world's most famous physicists--Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time) and Roger Penrose (The Road to Reality)--debate these questions. The authors outline how their positions have further diverged on a number of key issues, including the spatial geometry of the universe, inflationary versus cyclic theories of the cosmos, and the black-hole information-loss paradox. Though much progress has been made, Hawking and Penrose stress that physicists still have further to go in their quest for a quantum theory of gravity.
The Grand Design
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? What is the nature of reality? Is the apparent "grand design" of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion--or does science offer another explanation? In this startling and lavishly illustrated book, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present the most recent scientific thinking about these and other abiding mysteries of the universe, in nontechnical language marked by brilliance and simplicity. According to quantum theory, the cosmos does not have just a single existence or history. The authors explain that we ourselves are the product of quantum fluctuations in the early universe, and show how quantum theory predicts the "multiverse"--the idea that ours is just one of many universes that appeared spontaneously out of nothing, each with different laws of nature. They conclude with a riveting assessment of M-theory, an explanation of the laws governing our universe that is currently the only viable candidate for a "theory of everything": the unified theory that Einstein was looking for, which, if confirmed, would represent the ultimate triumph of human reason.
Why Are We Here?
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This episode is truly mind-bending - can they work out why they exist at all? Featuring smashed glasses, spooky castles and a truly freaky flash-mob illustration of multiple universes, Why Are We Here? takes the subjects down a rabbit hole of deeply profound realizations. During this process. Stephen Hawking helps them think like philosophers as much as scientists.
A Brief History of Time
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowErrol Morris turns his camera on one of the most fascinating men in the world: the pioneering astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, afflicted by a debilitating motor neuron disease that has left him without a voice or the use of his limbs. An adroitly crafted tale of personal adversity, professional triumph, and cosmological inquiry, Morris's documentary examines the way the collapse of Hawking's body has been accompanied by the untrammeled broadening of his imagination.
Hawking
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowThe first-ever autobiographical documentary about physicist Stephen Hawking, offers rare insights into Hawking's life, past and present, aided by a cast of stellar contributors and Hawking fans, including astronaut Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., actors Jim Carrey and Benedict Cumberbatch, mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson.
Online Resources
- Stephen Hawking's Three Bodies: Hélène Mialet, Hawking IncorporatedThe title tells the tale: Hawking is embodied and Hawking is incorporated in "three bodies." In Hawking Incorporated: Stephen Hawking and the Anthropology of the Knowing Subject, Helene Mialet claims that of twentieth-century scientists, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking are the most recognized by name. Her deep thesis is that there are no disembodied physicists. Einstein and Hawking both have attracted fascinations related to their scientific genius, but interpreters are usually fascinated with their "brains," as it were, and see them through a Cartesian mythology that exaggerates minds over bodies. Mialet's thesis draws from contemporary science studies and deconstructs the disembodiment preferences held by much of science culture. In Hawking's case, his severe disability helps those who see him as a brilliant mind captured in a restricted body; in Einstein's case, the fascination continues concerning how his brain differs from others. Here, Ihde emphasizes Mialet's subtle analysis of embodiment.
- Stephen Hawking (1942-2018)When Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor-neuron disease at the age of 21, it wasn't clear that he would finish his PhD. Against all expectations, he lived on for 55 years, becoming one of the world's most celebrated scientists.
Hawking, who died on 14 March 2018, was born in Oxford, UK, in 1942 to a medical-researcher father and a philosophy-graduate mother. After attending St Albans School near London, he earned a first-class degree in physics from the University of Oxford. He began his research career in 1962, enrolling as a graduate student in a group at the University of Cambridge led by one of the fathers of modern cosmology, Dennis Sciama. - Superrotation charge and supertranslation hair on black holes-By Stephen Hawking, etc.It is shown that black hole spacetimes in classical Einstein gravity are characterized by, in addition to their ADM mass M, momentum P→, angular momentum J→ and boost charge K→, an infinite head of supertranslation hair. The distinct black holes are distinguished by classical superrotation charges measured at infinity. Solutions with super-translation hair are diffeomorphic to the Schwarzschild spacetime, but the diffeomorphisms are part of the BMS subgroup and act nontrivially on the physical phase space.
Can We Time Travel?
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowWorld-famous scientist Stephen Hawking gives three ordinary people a series of fun physical and mental challenges. Can they think like a genius? This is a show where as you watch you realize you actually understand concepts that you never thought you would. In this mind-bending episode - can three volunteers work out if time travel is possible?