Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 15 March 2018
Stephen Hawking, best-known physicist of his time, has died

By ROBERT BARR successors as Lucasian black holes are so dense
Associated Press Professor of Mathematics that nothing could escape
LONDON (AP) — Stephen at Cambridge University, their gravitational pull, he
Hawking, whose brilliant Hawking was involved in showed that black holes
mind ranged across time the search for the great leak a tiny bit of light and
and space though his body goal of physics — a "unified other types of radiation,
was paralyzed by disease, theory." now known as "Hawking ra-
died Wednesday. He was Such a theory would re- diation."
76. solve the contradictions "It came as a complete sur-
Hawking died at his home between Einstein's theory prise," said Gary Horowitz, a
in Cambridge, England, of relativity, which de- theoretical physicist at the
according to a statement scribes the laws of gravity University of California, San-
by the University of Cam- that govern the motion of ta Barbara. "It really was
bridge. large objects like planets, quite revolutionary."
The best-known theoreti- and the quantum mechan- Horowitz said the find
cal physicist of his time, ics theory, which deals with helped move scientists one
Hawking wrote so lucidly the world of subatomic In this March 30, 2015 file photo, Professor Stephen Hawking ar- step closer to cracking the
of the mysteries of space, particles. rives for the Interstellar Live show at the Royal Albert Hall in cen- unified theory.
time and black holes that For Hawking, the search tral London. Hawking's other major sci-
his book, "A Brief History of was almost a religious quest Associated Press entific contribution was to
Time," became an interna- — he said finding a "theory cosmology, the study of
tional best-seller, making of everything" would allow total disability — for a while met the classic definition of the universe's origin and
him one of science's big- mankind to "know the mind he could use a few fingers, the disease, as "the perfect evolution. Working with Jim
gest celebrities since Albert of God." later he could only tighten mind trapped in an imper- Hartle of the University of
Einstein. "A complete, consistent the muscles on his face — fect body." He said Hawk- California, Santa Barbara,
"He was a great scientist unified theory is only the made him one of science's ing had been an inspiration Hawking proposed in 1983
and an extraordinary man first step: our goal is a com- most recognizable faces. to people with the disease that space and time might
whose work and legacy plete understanding of He made cameo televi- for many years. have no beginning and no
will live on for many years," the events around us, and sion appearances in "The Although it could take him end. "Asking what happens
his children Lucy, Robert of our own existence," he Big Bang Theory," ''The minutes to compose an- before the Big Bang is like
and Tim said in a state- wrote in "A Brief History of Simpsons" and "Star Trek: swers to even simple ques- asking for a point one mile
ment. "His courage and Time." The Next Generation" and tions Hawking said the dis- north of the North Pole," he
persistence with his bril- In later years, though, he counted among his fans U2 ability did not impair his said.
liance and humour inspired suggested a unified theory guitarist The Edge, who at- work. It certainly did little In 2004, he announced that
people across the world. might not exist. tended a January 2002 cel- to dampen his ambition he had revised his previous
He once said, 'It would not He followed up "A Brief His- ebration of Hawking's 60th to physically experience view that objects sucked
be much of a universe if it tory of Time" in 2001 with birthday. space himself: Hawk- into black holes simply dis-
wasn't home to the people the more accessible sequel His early life was chroni- ing savored small bursts appeared, perhaps to en-
you love.' We will miss him "The Universe in a Nutshell," cled in the 2014 film "The of weightlessness in 2007 ter an alternate universe.
forever." updating readers on con- Theory of Everything," with when he was flown aboard Instead, he said he be-
Even though his body was cepts like super gravity, Eddie Redmayne winning a jet that made repeated lieved objects could be
attacked by amyotrophic naked singularities and the the best actor Academy dives to simulate zero-grav- spit out of black holes in a
lateral sclerosis, or ALS, possibility of an 11-dimen- Award for his portrayal of ity. mangled form.
when Hawking was 21, sional universe. the scientist. The film fo- Hawking had hoped to That new theory capped
he stunned doctors by liv- Hawking said belief in a cused still more attention leave Earth's atmosphere his three-decade struggle
ing with the normally fa- God who intervenes in the on Hawking's remarkable altogether someday, a trip to explain a paradox in sci-
tal illness for more than 50 universe "to make sure the achievements. he often recommended to entific thinking: How can
years. A severe attack of good guys win or get re- Some colleagues credited the rest of the planet's in- objects really "disappear"
pneumonia in 1985 left him warded in the next life" was that celebrity with generat- habitants. inside a black hole and
breathing through a tube, wishful thinking. ing new enthusiasm for sci- "In the long run the human leave no trace, as he long
forcing him to communi- "But one can't help asking ence. race should not have all its believed, when subatomic
cate through an electronic the question: Why does the His achievements and his eggs in one basket, or on theory says information can
voice synthesizer that gave universe exist?" he said in longevity helped prove to one planet," Hawking said be transformed but never
him his distinctive robotic 1991. "I don't know an op- many that even the most in 2008. "I just hope we can fully destroyed?
monotone. erational way to give the severe disabilities need not avoid dropping the basket Hawking was born Jan. 8,
But he continued his sci- question or the answer, if stop patients from living. until then." 1942, in Oxford, and grew
entific work, appeared on there is one, a meaning. Richard Green, of the Mo- Hawking first earned promi- up in London and St. Al-
television and married for a But it bothers me." tor Neurone Disease Asso- nence for his theoretical bans, northwest of the
second time. The combination of his best- ciation — the British name work on black holes. Dis- capital.
As one of Isaac Newton's selling book and his almost for ALS — said Hawking proving the belief that In 1959, he entered Oxford
University and then went on
to graduate work at Cam-
bridge.
Signs of illness appeared
in his first year of graduate
school, and he was diag-
nosed with ALS, also known
as Lou Gehrig's disease af-
ter the New York Yankee
star who died of it. The
disease usually kills within
three to five years.q