The Real Legacy of Stephen Hawking
©2018 Kari Carlisle
Wikimedia Commons
Whether you are a scientist or simply one who loves science, you must admit that Stephen Hawking, who died Wednesday at the age of 76, had a profound impact on the world. Surely, most everyone exposed to popular culture will recognize his name at the very least. Penny in The Big Bang Theory aptly summarizes what everyone knows: “He’s the wheelchair dude who invented time.” Close enough.
Like most, I am aware that he was a theoretical physicist, interested in understanding how the universe came to be, how it works, and what lies in its future. He attempted to use quantum mechanics and relativity to explain the observable universe. The biopic, The Theory of Everything, was made about his life. He developed the degenerative disease ALS in his 20’s and has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his life, using a computer interface to communicate.
When I was young, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos aired on TV. We had the companion book, and I spent hours reading, looking at the pictures, and wondering at the vastness and complexity of the universe. While Hawking as a pop culture phenom came later, his impact on people is equally amazing. His book, A Brief History of Time, sold millions of copies and remains widely read. Hawking, like Sagan, had the ability to take complex scientific ideas and make them understandable for a wide audience. The simple act of thinking about the infiniteness of the universe, though mind-boggling for most of us, creates in us a sense of wonder and perspective – how small we are and yet so wonderful and amazing.
Hawking, like many other cosmologists, was convinced that we humans cannot be alone in the universe. But he also warned against attempting to contact other intelligent beings. His observations of the worst of humanity led him to believe we can’t expect other “civilizations” to be entirely benign.
Hawking was also fearful of many other threats to our continued existence. Artificial intelligence, climate change, natural disasters (of cosmological proportions) will ultimately doom humans, sooner than later, according to Hawking. Therefore, he concluded, we must strive to colonize beyond the Earth and eventually beyond our solar system.
Though Hawking was a respected physicist, he has not earned a Nobel Prize for physics because the award requires the recipient’s theory to be independently observed. Because many of Hawking’s theories may never be observed (how does one observe radiation emitting from a black hole?), it may be some time before he becomes eligible for the distinguished honor. Nevertheless, his theories have had a profound impact on the scientific community and undoubtedly will continue to inspire great thinkers for millennia to come.
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Wikimedia CommonsWhether you are a scientist or simply one who loves science, you must admit that Stephen Hawking, who died Wednesday at the age of 76, had a profound impact on the world. Surely, most everyone exposed to popular culture will recognize his name at the very least. Penny in The Big Bang Theory aptly summarizes what everyone knows: “He’s the wheelchair dude who invented time.” Close enough.
Like most, I am aware that he was a theoretical physicist, interested in understanding how the universe came to be, how it works, and what lies in its future. He attempted to use quantum mechanics and relativity to explain the observable universe. The biopic, The Theory of Everything, was made about his life. He developed the degenerative disease ALS in his 20’s and has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his life, using a computer interface to communicate.
When I was young, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos aired on TV. We had the companion book, and I spent hours reading, looking at the pictures, and wondering at the vastness and complexity of the universe. While Hawking as a pop culture phenom came later, his impact on people is equally amazing. His book, A Brief History of Time, sold millions of copies and remains widely read. Hawking, like Sagan, had the ability to take complex scientific ideas and make them understandable for a wide audience. The simple act of thinking about the infiniteness of the universe, though mind-boggling for most of us, creates in us a sense of wonder and perspective – how small we are and yet so wonderful and amazing.
Hawking, like many other cosmologists, was convinced that we humans cannot be alone in the universe. But he also warned against attempting to contact other intelligent beings. His observations of the worst of humanity led him to believe we can’t expect other “civilizations” to be entirely benign.
Hawking was also fearful of many other threats to our continued existence. Artificial intelligence, climate change, natural disasters (of cosmological proportions) will ultimately doom humans, sooner than later, according to Hawking. Therefore, he concluded, we must strive to colonize beyond the Earth and eventually beyond our solar system.
Though Hawking was a respected physicist, he has not earned a Nobel Prize for physics because the award requires the recipient’s theory to be independently observed. Because many of Hawking’s theories may never be observed (how does one observe radiation emitting from a black hole?), it may be some time before he becomes eligible for the distinguished honor. Nevertheless, his theories have had a profound impact on the scientific community and undoubtedly will continue to inspire great thinkers for millennia to come.
To me, Hawking’s legacy goes beyond his theories and his impact on the scientific community. After all, if his theories are difficult or impossible to test or observe, and whether they are ultimately true, his real legacy is the sense of wonder and the value of scientific inquiry he has instilled in millions. The outpouring of love upon news of his death proves my theory.
“It's a pity that nobody has found an exploding black hole. If they had, I would have won a Nobel prize.” Stephen Hawking
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