The immense universe of the great Stephen Hawking: From Pope to President of the United States

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Stephen William Hawking is a world-famous English theoretical physicist, a man who gave the world a huge number of the most incredible discoveries. A cosmologist and scientific writer, he was director of the Center for Cosmology Research at the University of Cambridge. However, knowing about his many theories and discoveries, we really know little about him. And therefore, to your attention - the most unusual and interesting facts about this outstanding person.

1. Birthday on the day of death …

Hawking's parents, Frank and Isabelle Hawking, moved from North London to Oxford, because during the Second World War this place was considered one of the safest not only for life, but also for the birth and upbringing of a child. And it is not at all surprising that the birthday of this genius, which fell on January 8, 1942, coincided with the three hundredth anniversary of the death of the legendary physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei.

2. Little Einstein

Fun fact: During school time, his classmates gave Stephen the nickname Einstein. This happened after, together with his group of friends, as well as mathematics teacher Dikran Takhta, he built a working computer, using parts from an old telephone switchboard, a clock and other components that were out of use.

3. In the footsteps of parents

The scientist's parents both studied at Oxford University, which, perhaps, was the reason why Stephen himself chose him. In addition, he had a very large family: two younger sisters, Philip and Maria, and an adoptive brother, Edward. The whole family loved to spend time in silence while eating, while reading their favorite books. But despite the peace in the family circle, in his youth, Stephen was very adventurous, loved active sports and was often fond of something unusual. So, the future scientist was a member of the rowing team at University College in Oxford.

The funny thing is that in his last year of training, Hawking went to the doctor after accidentally falling down the stairs and feeling uncomfortable, a little awkward. However, the only advice the doctor gave him was to stop drinking a lot of beer. By the way, another interesting moment, when Hawking was defending his doctorate at the university, he first fell in love with a girl named Jane Wilde, who was his sister's best friend.

4. Seven-year-long defeat

In 1997, Stephen made a bet with another scientist, theoretical physicist John Preskill. Its essence was that both scientists had different points of view about the action of black holes, claiming that nothing can escape from them, which, in fact, is a violation of one of the main rules of quantum mechanics. Hawking admitted defeat in the dispute only in 2004.

5. Success

Stephen began his career as a professor and teacher of mathematics at the University of Cambridge from 1979 to 2009, and only then joined the ranks of theorists-cosmologists. As regrettable as it may sound, Hawking noted his first success when he released several popular science works in which he discussed his theories and his own view of the Cosmos as a whole. It is also worth noting the fact that his work entitled "History of Time" quickly became a bestseller and broke all records. So, in the British Sunday Times list, this book was designated as the best-selling book in just 237 weeks.

6. Awards and ratings

Stephen was an honorary member of the Royal Society and also held a lifetime membership of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Note that the United States presented him with the highest civilian award in the country - the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And in 2002, the BBC conducted a poll, compiling a list of hundreds of the most influential Britons in the world, where the brilliant scientist took the honorable 25th place on this list.

7. Collaboration

Some scientific works Hawking created in conjunction with Roger Penrose. So, in the course of their cooperation, a theorem on gravitational singularity appeared, which was highlighted in the framework of general relativity and prediction. We also note that in the course of this theory, physicists put forward the assumption that black holes in space emit a kind of radiation, which was later called "Hawking radiation".

8. Philosopher and theorist

Hawking can easily be called the most real supporter and champion of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which makes it possible to put forward philosophical and theoretical justifications for certain processes. This man was the first in the world to put forward the theory of cosmology, which was explained in an elementary way, using the already existing theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics.

9. Hero of Star Trek

Hawking was one of the few scientists who believe that another, habitable and safe planet should be found in order for humanity to survive in the future after certain natural disasters. He also became the only person to play himself in the Star Trek MCU.

10. Fulfillment of dreams and defeat with a smile

In 2007, Stephen fulfilled one of his dreams, namely, he went flying in a state of weightlessness, thereby wanting to experience what it was like to be in outer space. But on June 28, 2009, the scientist decided to throw a so-called party for time travelers. He announced its beginning the next day after the appointed date, and, as he later said with a smile, no one came to it.

11. Ironic humor

When asked by one of the journalists about what is the most mysterious thing in the world, Hawking answered with a smile that they were women. However, he also wittily answered another journalist's question about his IQ level, saying that he had no idea, believing that people who boast of their IQ are real losers.

12. Terrible illness and son's jokes

The brilliant physicist-cosmologist was seriously ill: he was diagnosed with a gradually progressive and developing disease of motor neurons, which is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. So, she gradually ate the body of the scientist, forcing every muscle in the body to refuse throughout his life. However, even after the scientist was speechless, Hawking was still able to communicate with others through a special device that generated speech automatically, first with a manual switch, and then with just one facial muscle. And despite the fact that Stephen was British by nationality, the synthesizer that he used had a real American accent. As a matter of fact, once, for the sake of joke, Stephen's son added several strong, obscene words to his father's speech synthesizer.

13. Pope on his knees

One day, the Vatican invited Stephen to a conference where he had the opportunity to meet with the Pope himself. Pope John Paul II experienced some difficulties, practically not hearing and not understanding what the scientist was telling him. This forced him to kneel next to the wheelchair in order to hear him better. One member of the international scientific community then commented: "Thanks to Galileo, everything has certainly changed."

14. Coming into a coma and the birth of a new masterpiece

At some point, the genius scientist found himself in a state of the so-called medical coma. His wife was given the opportunity to independently disconnect Hawking from life support devices, but she refused. After a while, Stephen bounced back and almost completely recovered, having finished writing his book, A Brief History of Time. But unfortunately, the world lost a great scientist on March 14, 2018. At that time, Stephen Hawking was 76 years old.

Of course, Stephen King cannot be compared with Stephen Hawking, but nevertheless, this man is truly a genius in his field. His work amazes from the very first minutes with mysteriously exciting stories, keeping him in suspense until the very end, but as it turned out, as they say about him. Don't believe me? Then here are 13 fun facts about the legendary writer.