Thread: Stephen Hawking hospitalized, reported very ill

Stephen Hawking hospitalized, reported very ill
By ROBERT BARR, Associated Press Writer Robert Barr, Associated Press Writer – 54 mins ago

LONDON – Stephen Hawking, the British mathematician and physicist famed for his work on black holes, was rushed to a hospital Monday and was seriously ill, Cambridge University said. Hawking has been fighting a chest infection for several weeks and was being treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, the university city northeast of London, the university said.

"Professor Hawking is very ill," said Gregory Hayman, the university's head of communications. "He is undergoing tests. He has been unwell for a couple of weeks."

Later in the afternoon, Hayman said Hawking was "now comfortable but will be kept in hospital overnight."

The illness had caused Hawking to cancel an appearance at Arizona State University on April 6.

Hawking, 67, gained renown for his work on black holes, and has remained active despite being diagnosed at 21 with ALS, (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), an incurable degenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

For some years, Hawking has been almost entirely paralyzed, and he communicates through an electronic voice synthesizer activated by his fingers.

Hawking was involved in the search for the great goal of physics — a "unified theory" — which would resolve contradictions between Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which describes the laws of gravity that govern the motion of large objects like planets, and the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, which deals with the world of subatomic particles.

"A complete, consistent unified theory is only the first step: our goal is a complete understanding of the events around us, and of our own existence," he wrote in his best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time," published in 1988.

In a more accessible sequel "The Universe in a Nutshell," published in 2001, Hawking ventured into concepts like supergravity, naked singularities and the possibility of a universe with 11 dimensions.

He announced last year that he would step down from his post as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a title once held by the great 18th-century physicist Isaac Newton. However, the university said Hawking intended to continue working as Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

"Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague. We all hope he will be amongst us again soon," said Peter Haynes, head of the university's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

Brian Dickie, director of research at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, said only 5 percent of people diagnosed with ALS survive for 10 years or longer.

He's an amazing man, even more so than I already knew. I had no idea he was 67 and had lived with ALS for 46 years.

Rich

Quite remarkable...
Thanks for posting this info on him. He will go down in history as one of the most influential scientists of the second half of the 20th century, at the very least.

'A Brief History of Time' and 'The Universe in a Nutshell' are two of my favorite books, I hope he gets better.

Originally Posted by fpessanha

Quite remarkable...
Thanks for posting this info on him. He will go down in history as one of the most influential scientists of the second half of the 20th century, at the very least.

Contrary to what many people think, Stephen Hawking is not 'the' most brilliant physicist alive. He is at the top of his field, but so are many, many others. The only thing that sets him apart from the rest is the fact that he is / was able to write books that were best seller hits with the non scientists.

This is quite an achievement, and has done a lot for the field of physics in general. But on a scientific scale he is no more remarkable than Ed Witten. In fact, judging by his wikipedia page, Ed can be considered to be the most influential scientist alive.
Yet 99% of the people or more will say 'Ed who?' and that is the point I am trying to make.

In any case, I hope Stephen pulls through. Though I have to admit I am surprised he lasted so long already.

He is pretty good, eh He has done some really neat stuff on black holes.

I think it's way too early to judge his impact on science, but there are a lot of remarkable physicists who have contributed groundbreaking ideas, theories and experiments. Of course the Nobel prizes are somewhat political but they do honor stuff with huge impact on science. I don't know if Hawking's work is Nobel prize material....

Good news! Stephen Hawking expected to recover from infection
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Originally Posted by Kanahmal

'A Brief History of Time' and 'The Universe in a Nutshell' are two of my favorite books, I hope he gets better.

+1 i really like these books because they make me feel like i could understand what he is talking about even though i have no physics background. after reading his book it is pretty easy to assume that though he is very infuential in many ways, he isn't alone in that, just well known.

i hope he recovers fully.

I think that is a huge part of his contribution to the sciences. He made it accessible to the layman. Sure he may not be head and shoulders above his peers but he is increasing exposure and understanding which is a big deal in any science.


Oh and I read something this morning that he is recovering well and should come out fine. At his age and with his circumstances though no telling how much longer he has. I'm still in awe of his ability to survive this long.

Originally Posted by TomSD

I think that is a huge part of his contribution to the sciences. He made it accessible to the layman. Sure he may not be head and shoulders above his peers but he is increasing exposure and understanding which is a big deal in any science.

Completely true. Stephen's biggest impact is not in science itself (although the man is quite brilliant) but in exposing common people to physics in a way that captures their imagination. And that is very important in any scientific field. His books are really good.