In Commemoration to Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8th, 1942, exactly 300 years after Galileo died. On March 14, 2018 this theoretical physicist passed away, fittingly on π day and 139 years after the birth of Albert Einstein. He graduated from Oxford University with a Natural Science degree when he was 20 in 1962. While attending Oxford, he began to notice signs of his muscles failing. That was when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He gained his PhD 3 years later in 1965. For the rest of life, he theorized about the universe writing a total of fifteen books, and published many papers.

He spent most of his time confirming and expanding upon previously known theories. He transformed the field of science from something abstract, into a well known and popular idea. Hawking was able to familiarize the public to black holes and the Big Bang Theory so that they were no longer solely technical terms, but words that almost everybody has heard. In 1970, he and Roger Penrose worked together to theorize that the universe began in the Big Bang and will end in a black hole.

Georges Lemaître discovered that the universe was expanding in 1927. Hawking theorized that black holes will always increase and therefore eventually grow so large that they will absorb everything. He expanded upon that idea to explain a case where they could decrease in size after receiving criticism of his theories. He realized that there are pairs of particles in the universe, one of antimatter and one of matter which oppose each other, but if there is one of these pairs close to a black hole and only the antimatter particle is absorbed into it and the matter is ejected, then the black hole decreases in size and emits radiation. This radiation is now called Hawking Radiation.

Just days before he passed away, he released a paper known as, “A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation” which is still under review, but contains information on the multiverse, a theory that the Big Bang created more than one universe, and we live in only one of them.

Between all of this time, Stephen Hawking has spent his time delivering speeches and writing books. Of his most recent accomplishments is his children’s book series, “George’s Secret Key to the Universe Series.” In this action-packed series, Hawking exposes people to real science and astronomy in the form of a story, which is truly incredible.
He serves as a motivation to the world. In reality, he did not publish a lot of theories but was more known for his disability. However, this should not be viewed as Stephen Hawking not being an incredible person, because he was. Stephen Hawking proved to the world that disabilities are not a permanent obstacle, but something that is meant to be overcome. Everybody -- no matter what they look like or how they act, they are capable of whatever they want. Some people may have to work harder, but in the end they will persevere.