Tribute to Professor Stephen Hawking

STEPHEN HAWKING- the brightest and the loudest mind in the cosmos! The name itself gives inspiration and motivation to many. Unfortunately he is not with us anymore. At the age of 76, he passed away on 14^th March 2018. But he will not be forgotten. Below are just few reasons why.

Stephen Hawking was born on 8^th January 1942, in Oxford. His father was a research biologist. They moved to London to escape from the German bombing at that time. Hawking grew up in London and eventually developed a huge interest in physics. He graduated from Oxford with a first-class degree in physics and then went to Cambridge for post-graduation in Cosmology.

It was in Cambridge when he was diagnosed with rare motor neuron disease.  In 1964, his doctors gave him no more than 2-3 years. But the disease progressed slowly than expected. By 1988, Hawking was able to speak only through his voice synthesizer following a tracheotomy; he completed the famous book of all times- THE BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME. It explains everything- from big bang to black holes, the space and time phenomenon, the uncertainty principle, origin and fate of universe and what not. The first time I read this book, I was really fascinated about how something so complicated can be explained in such an easy way. After you read it, you’ll realize that you don’t have to be physicists to understand the universe!

It was the best-selling book- after all it sold more than 10 million copies. Not only this, Hawking received many honorary degrees, medals and prizes for his work.  He was also offered a knighthood in 1900s but later turned it down over issues with government‘s funding for science.

Hawking’s work has really been a great contribution in the field of physics.  The phenomenon “Hawking radiation” where black holes leak energy and fade to nothing, gained a huge popularity.  He was renowned for having such a fascinating visualization without calculations or experiments.

In 2014, the movie “The theory of Everything” was released which depicted Hawking’s life.  The actor Eddie Redmayne who played Hawking, himself met Stephen Hawking as a part of actor’s preparation for the role. It’s a wonderful movie. It’s a must watch. A TV film named “Hawking” was also released in 2004, staring Benedict Cumberbatch as Hawking.

Hawking not only studied and derived conclusions about black holes and cosmos but also predicted the end of Earth. He kept repeating that if humans do not find another planet for existence, we’ll probably become extinct. This words were taken seriously by many and the recent example of this is Elon Musk.

To sum up, I’ll like to post a part of his speech which I personally like the most. These are probably one of the best, inspirational words from Professor Hawking.

“Can you hear me? It has been a glorious time to be alive and doing research in theoretical physics. Our picture of the universe has changed a great deal in the last 50 years and I’m happy if I’ve made a small contribution.  So remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up. Thank you for listening”

Yes sir, we can hear you and your voice will always echo in the universe. Whenever difficulties come in our life we’ll hear your reverberation of your sound. We’ll never forget you!