universe Archives

Imagine being bound to a wheelchair knowing you will never get up from there, all at the mercy of carers and the only thing that works is your mind.

Where people usually resort to grief, objection or even self destruction in case of petty failures, Stephen Hawking decided to channelize his major biological defeat into the wild horizons of the cosmos.

With the body continually falling to the gravity of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) and the moments of life being sucked into the black hole of complications, all he had was the power of his thoughts and an unparalleled drive to find his way to the beginning of time itself.

And he did. Not just that but a lot more.

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Let’s have a look at how the man with least abilities, went on to become a man with most achievements.

Achievements

One of his greatest achievements was his life itself. How he grappled a fatal form of ALS to live 55 years when medical facts had only predicted a 3 year life span post diagnosis.

Hawking Radiations – Stephen Hawking proved that given the Quantum nature of particles, it cannot be said that the black hole traps everything. They emit radiations and particles. This emission can possibly continue until the black hole evaporates. These radiations became known as Hawking Radiations.

Creation of the universe – Applying the concepts of Quantum physics and general relativity he proved that the Universe was created due to the explosion of singularity trapped in an infinetly small space and that no creator was involved in the process. This theory was widely accepted and also helped scrutinize the behaviour of black holes and furthermore the nature of the universe.

An international Best seller– The most complicated concepts of physics are served to the readers with utmost clarity and lucidity in his Book “A Brief History of Time”. The book sold out over 10 million copies and was translated to 40 languages. The media called him, The Master of Universe.

In addition he published several other books which did gain a lot of attention. Black Holes and Baby Universes and other essays (1993), The Universe in a Nutshell(2001), On the shoulder of the Giants (2002) and God created the integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that changes History (2005)

Singularity– With the aid of English mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose, Hawking proved that the universe was a infinitely small seed of singularity which exploded to become the vastness that it is today.

A gravitational singularity is boundless energy and mass trapped inside an infinitely small space, within which the forces and laws of physics cease to behave normal as everything becomes a function of infinity.

Mechanics of Black Holes – Alongside James Bardeen and Brandon Carter Hawking discovered the four laws of black hole mechanics. These laws comprehend the behavior of the physical properties of the Black holes like mass, charge, entropy, surface area etc. these laws are analogous to the Laws of Thermodynamics.

Cosmic Inflation –Cosmic inflation was a theory proposed by Alan Guth in 1980 which proposed the exponential expansion of the universe following the big bang and later settled to a slower expansion. Hawking calculated Quantum fluctuations resulting from cosmic inflation to demonstrate how they are capable of giving rise to spread of galaxies in the universe.

The time when there was no time – In 1983 Alongside James Hartle, Stephen Hawking suggested a model of the formation of universe where in he concluded from the behavior of particles as per Quantum physics that time did not exist before the genesis of the universe.

Top-down cosmology – The universe according to Stephen Hawking’s theory of top-down cosmology(2006) had not just one but many possible initial conditions. Thomas Hertog who was a co-researcher in this study had a strong argument to believe that.

In the words of Hertog – “Quantum mechanics forbids a single theory”. Both Hawking and Hertog, believed that the concept of innumerable alternate worlds as put forward in famous string theory has strong grounds.

Zero G Flight – The then 65 year old man with ALS, glued to a wheelchair, had a lifelong dream of breaking free from the confinement. And owing to the efforts of serial entrepreneur Peter Diamandis Hawking did experience a freedom like never before. On April 26, 2007, Diamandis’ Zero G team successfully executed Hawking’s zero gravity flight.

Hawking’s spirit to go ahead with the adventure inspite of the risks posed, blazed a trail many others.

He believed his physical disability had only freed his mind to explore the deepest secrets of the Universe.

Studying the truths of universe to him was more of a thrill rather than a motivation to win recognition and medals.

He once said “I don’t think the human beings have the moral obligation to learn about space. But it would be foolish and shortsighted not to do so. It may hold the key to our survival.”

He spent his entire life diving deep into mysteries of cosmology, poaching innumerable gems and romanticizing the concept of our existence.

As long as he lived, he marveled over the grand design of the universe. And now as the star scientist finds his way to the end of his time all we are left with is the knowledge he gave us, with a hope that the legacy of extrapolation and invention will continue until time is.

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The mind with the power of singularity has unlocked many mysterious phenomenon of the universe including singularity itself. The legendary physicist Stephen Hawking gave the world a new perception of looking at the cosmos.

He was the man who challenged the work of many scientists and philosophers and also went on to prove that “the universe created itself”.

Furthermore, the black hole theorist extrapolated the work of many physicists making ground breaking discoveries.

Through his books he not only spread his knowledge to the scientific world but also made the insights accessible to general folks with a lesser scientific understanding.

Here we bring to you 10 popular books written by Stephen Hawking, that made him the most appealing physicist of all times.

A Brief History of Time – First published in 1988 this book covers the basic concepts of space and time, the building blocks of the universe and the fundamental forces that govern the universe in the most extra ordinary way possible.

The Grand Design – This book explores the theories of various physicists and philosophers over the period of time, comprehending their insights on mysterious cosmological phenomenon and how it rules out the role of a creator in the Grand design of the universe.

The Universe in a Nutshell – It is his attempt to unify Einstein’s general theory of relativity and Richard Feynmann’s idea of multiple histories to decode the mysteries of the universe. The book speaks about the cutting edge of conceptual physics including the ever disputed contemporary concepts like Black holes, time travel extra dimension, quantum space time, string theory etc.

A Briefer History of Time – This is a simplified rendition of Stephen Hawking’s 1988 publication ‘A Brief History of Time” . It encompasses quantum mechanics, string theory and the Big bang theory in a manner comprehensible to laymen. The book is a co-authored by American Physicist Leonard Mlodinow

Black Holes and Baby Universes –The 1993 publication is mainly a compendium of lectures and thesis on the black hole thermodynamics, general relativity, quantum mechanics and so on. In addition the book briefly contemplates his life post the diagnosis of his illness.

The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe

Through This book Hawking tries to explain how all physical aspects of the universe are linked to one another unifying all the fundamental interactions of nature. Quantum mechanics, relativity, thermodynamics, the big bang and black holes are the major highlights of the book.

My Brief History This is an account of Stephen Hawking himself on how his life and intellect progressed along with the fatal condition of his illness.

8. The Nature of Space and Time –A scripted account of an argument between Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking where in they debate about physics and the philosophy of physics.

On the shoulder of the Giants – As the title suggests it is an obvious compilation of scientific literature written by the giants in the league down the line of history and adorned with Stephen Hawking’s personal interpretation of these existing theories.

Black Holes: The Reith Lectures– The thing that intrigued the cosmos genius the most for all his life also took a form of a book. This is basically the collection of Stephen Hawking’s lectures arguing that deciphering the very mystery of black holes and their interaction with space and time could resolve mysteries of the bewildering universe

His books are a testimonial to the fact that he viewed every aspect of life through the lens of physics and they are also the best way to experience the magnificence of his imagination.

His work not just enlightened the scientists and cosmology enthusiasts round the globe but also the general public.

Be it the Black holes of the universe or of the ones in his own life, he never let the perplexity of any unexplained phenomenon corrupt his zeal to keep going.

In the words of the man himself – “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”