If time travel is possible, where are the tourists from the future?
— A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking was an English theoretical astrophysicist, cosmologist and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. From 1979 to 2009 he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, widely seen as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world.
Born in Oxford into a family of physicians, he began studying at University College, Oxford, at 17 and earned a first-class degree in physics. He completed his PhD at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1966, specialising in general relativity and cosmology. In 1963, at age 21, he was diagnosed with a slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease that gradually paralysed him over decades, and after losing his speech he communicated through a speech-generating device. A Brief History of Time is his most quoted work in our library.
Born in Oxford into a family of physicians, he began studying at University College, Oxford, at 17 and earned a first-class degree in physics. He completed his PhD at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1966, specialising in general relativity and cosmology. In 1963, at age 21, he was diagnosed with a slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease that gradually paralysed him over decades, and after losing his speech he communicated through a speech-generating device. A Brief History of Time is his most quoted work in our library.
Most quoted works
- A Brief History of Time 9
- Black Holes and Baby Universes 3
The people who actually make the advances in theoretical physics don't think in these categories that the philosophers and the historians of science subsequently invent for them
— Black Holes and Baby Universes
There should be no boundary to human endeavor.
— A Brief History of Time
Time and space are finite in extent, but they don't have any boundary or edge. They would be like the surface of the earth, but with two more dimensions.
— Black Holes and Baby Universes
. . .a scientific theory is just a mathematical model we make to describe our observations: it exists only in our minds. So it is meaningless to ask: which is real, "real" or "imaginary" time? It is simply a matter of which is the more useful description.
— A Brief History of Time
…only in the few universes that are like ours would intelligent beings develop and ask the question: “Why is the universe the way we see it?” The answer is then simple: If it had been any different, we would not be here!
— A Brief History of Time
Today will still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Humanity's deepest desire for knowledge is justification enough for our continuing quest. And our goal is nothing less than a complete description of the universe we live in.
— A Brief History of Time
Yet if there really were a complete unified theory, it would also presumably determine our actions—so the theory itself would determine the outcome of our search for it! And why should it determine that we come to the right conclusions from the evidence? Might it not equally well determine that we draw the wrong conclusion? Or no conclusion at all?
— A Briefer History of Time
I think computer viruses should count as life ... I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined and that we can change nothing about it still look both ways before they cross the street