N ntist, celebrity and least-read bestselling author
Hawking’s title “is not relevant here; what matters is what his brain did”, said Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of New York’s Hayden Planetarium. “We claim him as an astrophysicist because his laboratory was the universe.”
And Hawking’s black hole work in the mid-1970s made a crucial connection in physics. Until Hawking discovered radiation coming from black holes — named “Hawking radiation” after him — the two giant theories in physics, Einstein’s general relativity and quantum mechanics, often conflicted. Hawking was the first to show they connected, which Turner and others described as breakthrough at the time.
The concept that stuff, radiation, comes out of black holes may have upset science fiction authors, but it inspired young scientists such as Tyson, who described it as “spooky profound”. The idea behind this was also novel because it said “black holes aren’t forever”, Turner said.
Hawking also pioneered a “no hair” theory of black holes that they were simple, with just spin, mass and charge and nothing else.
Both concepts are cornerstones of current black hole theory.
Hawking’s other work went beyond black holes into the more cosmic, the origins of the universe. Initially he theorised about the “singularity” of the baby universe in thick but elegant mathematical equations comparing early time to wave functions. Later, his own work contradicted some of that and he was instrumental to theories about inflationary cosmology, where the universe’s beginning is more of a half ball. That theory got its kick-start at a conference Hawking hosted in 1982 with a dinner party and croquet match, Turner said.
The high-concept theory-making didn’t quite match the personality behind it. Colleagues often mention his off-the-wall humour, his big grin, his stubbornness. And even the public picked up on his cheeky attitude instantly, Turner and Freedman said.
“He added a human face to science,” Turner said. “It goes well beyond the wheelchair.”
The bigger story was how the public became fascinated with this small man, stuck in a wheelchair with a worsening disease, and an intellect that few could fathom. They related to the man, Stephen Hawking, and his story, Freedman said.
The insight he gave on the mysteries of the cosmos was just a bonus.