lunes, 15 de diciembre de 2014

lunes, diciembre 15, 2014
December 12, 2014 6:18 pm
Stephen Hawking: Superhero of science



The life and works of the astrophysicist enthral the public in his books and on the big screen
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Stephen Hawking
 
Cosmic superhero Stephen Hawking never ceases to amaze his admirers. At the age of 72 he is the world’s most celebrated scientist and the ultimate symbol of triumph over adversity, as he celebrates five decades of intellectual achievement while living with motor neurone disease, which kills most patients within two or three years.

This week Professor Hawking enjoyed the limelight at the London premiere of the latest film about his life, The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne. Last week he showed off a new communications system designed by Intel, which enables him to write and speak more efficiently — in his famous American android voice — by registering tiny movements of his cheek muscles.
 
At the same time Prof Hawking stirred up controversy with his views on artificial intelligence, which “could be a real danger in the not too distant future”, he told the Financial Times by email. “The risk is that computers develop intelligence and take over. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete and would be superseded.”
 
Lord Rees, astronomer royal and fellow cosmologist, first met Prof Hawking in 1964 when both were graduate students at Cambridge university. “He was already unsteady on his feet and spoke with great difficulty,” recalls Lord Rees. “I learnt that he might not live long enough even to finish his PhD.

“Astronomers are used to large numbers,” he adds. “But few numbers could be as large as the odds I’d have given, back in 1964 when Stephen received his ‘death sentence’, against ever celebrating this uniquely inspiring crescendo of achievement sustained now for more than 50 years.”

Prof Hawking’s scientific reputation rests on his work on the relationship between gravity, space and time. “He has done as much to advance our understanding of gravity as anyone since Einstein,” says Lord Rees.

His most celebrated research concerns black holes, concentrations of matter so dense even light cannot escape their gravitational pull. Prof Hawking showed black holes are not just a bizarre theoretical construct but also play an important role in the development of the universe. His eureka moment came in the early 1970s, when he realised that black holes would not be completely black but would emit what became known as “Hawking radiation”, a key concept in mathematical physics.

Although his subsequent work has not had such a strong scientific impact, he has as continued to publish research papers on quantum cosmology, tackling questions such as what happened before the birth of our universe. His later output is doubly remarkable in a mathematical subject where most researchers peak at an early age.

He became a celebrity in 1988 with the publication of his first popular book, the bestselling A Brief History of Time. Ten further books have appeared, including four written for children with his daughter, Lucy. “The concept of an imprisoned mind roaming the cosmos plainly gripped people’s imagination,” Lord Rees says.
 
Prof Hawking enjoys his fame, happily filling lecture rooms from London’s Royal Albert Hall to the White House. He has featured in Star Trek, The Simpsons and many other television shows. Several films have been made about him, including a notable portrayal by Benedict Cumberbatch in 2004.

The best account of Prof Hawking’s early life is his memoir, My Brief History, published last year. He grew up just north of London, the son of Oxford graduates. After three laid-back undergraduate years, also at Oxford, serious work began as a Cambridge postgrad. His illness started at that point, too.
 
The Theory of Everything focuses on Prof Hawking’s marriage to Jane Wilde, who looked after him and their three children with extraordinary devotion for more than 25 years. They broke up under the strain of 24-hour medical care — and in 1995 he married Elaine Mason, one of his nurses. That, too, ended in divorce and since 2006 he has depended on a team of helpers — and the best medical technology available.

Prof Hawking retains a strong sense of fun and adventure, though respiratory problems are curtailing his ability to travel and in particular to fly.

“He is a fantastic symbol for people living with motor neurone disease,” says Belinda Cupid, research director of the UK Motor Neurone Disease Association, with his role in the 2012 London Paralympics opening ceremony particularly inspiring. “As patron of our charity, he is very generous with his time.” Why Prof Hawking has lived so much longer than other MND patients remains a medical mystery, however.
 
In the past 15 years Intel engineers have looked after his communications needs. “They have redesigned my software and incorporated new word prediction algorithms that allow me to write faster,” he says. “Through my computer I can write, talk, read scientific papers, make Skype phone calls and search on the internet . Recently I decided to join Facebook .
 
Important as Prof Hawking’s own research has been, his role as a beacon inspiring young people to study maths and physics may be even more influential in the long run, says Professor David Wands, director of Portsmouth university’s cosmology institute: “The iconic figure of Hawking the celebrity is impossible to disentangle from his profound contribution as a scientist.”


The writer is the FT’s science editor. Additional reporting by Sally Davies

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