Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSAis an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His scientific works include a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set forth a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth8 January 1942
CityOxford, England
One can see from space how the human race has changed the Earth. Nearly all of the available land has been cleared of forest and is now used for agriculture or urban development. The polar icecaps are shrinking and the desert areas are increasing. At night, the Earth is no longer dark, but large areas are lit up. All of this is evidence that human exploitation of the planet is reaching a critical limit. But human demands and expectations are ever-increasing. We cannot continue to pollute the atmosphere, poison the ocean and exhaust the land. There isn't any more available.
There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
The downside of my celebrity is that I cannot go anywhere in the world without being recognized. It is not enough for me to wear dark sunglasses and a wig. The wheelchair gives me away.
Perhaps one day I will go into space.
It now appears that the way the universe began can indeed be determined, using imaginary time.
If you understand the universe, you control it, in a way.
I think the discovery of supersymmetric partners for the known particles would revolutionize our understanding of the universe.
I have wanted to fly into space for many years, but never imagined it would really be feasible.
Wagner manages to convey emotion with music better than anyone, before or since.
Time can behave like another direction in space under extreme conditions.
My wife and I love each other very much.
I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn't be found.
What I'd really like to control is not machines, but people.