Stephen William Hawking (1942–2018) was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the science of cosmology—the study of the origins, structure, and space-time relationships of the universe.
Born in Oxford on the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death, Hawking was one of the most celebrated scientists of the twentieth century. Despite a progressively debilitating neuromuscular disease for almost all of his adult life, he accomplished groundbreaking scientific work about quantum gravity and black holes.
At age 21, while pursuing a Ph.D. in cosmology at the University of Cambridge, Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS,) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Hawking’s mind, however, remained unaffected—he was able to commit much technical information to memory and work out complex equations. With the help of family and colleagues, Hawkins led a 55 year-long intellectual life and became one of the world’s most productive and creative theoretical physicists ever.
Hawking’s A Brief History of Time (1988) sold more than 11 million copies and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 100 weeks. His other popular books include The University in a Nutshell (2001) and The Grand Design (2011.)
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Equations are just the boring part of mathematics. I attempt to see things in terms of geometry.
—Stephen Hawking
This required abandoning the idea that there is a universal quantity called time that all clocks measure. Instead, everyone would have his own personal time. The clocks of two people would agree if they were at rest with respect to each other but not if they were moving. This has been confirmed by a number of experiments, including one in which an extremely accurate timepiece was flown around the world and then compared with one that had stayed in place. If you wanted to live longer, you could keep flying to the east so the speed of the plane added to the earth
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Time
There is no prescribed route to follow to arrive at a new idea. You have to make the intuitive leap. But the difference is that once you’ve made the intuitive leap you have to justify it by filling in the intermediate steps. N my case, it often happens that I have an idea, but then I try to fill in the intermediate steps and find that they don’t work, so I have to give it up.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Ideas
The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Science
To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Space
If the human race is to continue for another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Courage
Unless mankind redesigns itself by changing our DNA through altering our genetic makeup, computer-generated robots will take over our world.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Computers
There could be whole antiworlds and antipeople made out of antiparticles. However, if you ever meet your antiself, don’t shake hands! You would both vanish in a great flash of light.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Science
It matters if you just don’t give up.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Persistence, Perseverance
Not only does God play dice, but… he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Chance
When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Appreciation, Realistic Expectations, Expectation
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: The Universe
It is no good getting furious if you get stuck. What I do is keep thinking about the problem but work on something else. Sometimes it is years before I see the way forward. In the case of information loss and black holes, it was 29 years.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Thinking
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
—Stephen Hawking
It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Intelligence, Intellectuals
What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe…Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: The Universe
All the evidence shows that God was actually quite a gambler, and the universe is a great casino, where dice are thrown, and roulette wheels spin on every occasion. Over a large number of bets, the odds even out and we can makepredictions; that’s why casino owners are so rich. But over a very small number of rolls of the dice, the uncertainty principle is very important.
—Stephen Hawking
My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.
—Stephen Hawking
Topics: Philosophy, Goals
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