‘Remember to look up at the stars’
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the web, was one of the first to pay tribute to Stephen Hawking, saying, “We have lost a colossal mind and a wonderful spirit…”, soon after he passed away peacefully at his home in Cambridge on March 14, 2018 at the age of 76.
Born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, Hawking studied natural science in 1959 at Oxford University, before studying for his PhD at Cambridge. In 1963, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Doctors gave him two years to live, but he proved them wrong. In 1974, he outlined his theory that black holes emit “Hawking radiation”. He published several works of popular science, including the bestseller book “A Brief History of Time” in 1988 through which he reached out to millions of people. His life story was the subject of the 2014 film “The Theory of Everything”, starring Eddie Redmayne.
He set out the goal of a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all. On why the Universe exists, he said, “If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we would know the mind of God.” He opined that there is no God. No one created our universe, and no one directs our fate. This led him to a profound realization that probably there is no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe.One of the great revelations of the space age, Hawking said, has been the perspective it has given to humanity on ourselves. When we see the Earth from space, we see ourselves as a whole. We see the unity and not the divisions. This gives a compelling message, “One planet. One human race”.
“We are here together and we need to live together with tolerance and respect. We must become Global Citizens… We are all time travelers, journeying together into the future. But let us work together to make that future a place we want to visit. Be brave, be determined, overcome the odds. It can be done.”
He was always concerned with “How will we feed an ever growing population, provide clean water, generate renewable energy, prevent and cure disease, and slow down global climate change?” He hoped that science and technology would provide the answers to these questions. But then, he said, “It will take people, human beings with knowledge and understanding to implement these solutions.”
This message from scientific standpoint from the greatest scientist of our times, is beautifully described in the Maha Upanishad: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. It consists of “vasudh ” (the Earth), “va” (indeed) and “kutumbakam” (family). This means, “The entire world is a family” which is the “loftiest Vedantic thought”. This verse is engraved in the entrance hall of the Indian Parliament.
Our rich tributes to Hawking recalling his prophetic optimism against all odds, “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Be curious and however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.”