Stephen Hawking had a final message for Humanity, and we need to heed his warning of impending doom
Stephen Hawking's death was met with a public outpouring of grief and a tsunami of tributes for this brave and brilliant, man
Throughout his adult life Hawking had turned his mind to some of the most intractable scientific problems of the age
But in his last months. He also had an ominous warning for the human race
Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8
1942 in Oxford England as World War two raged around the planet
His parents were Frank and Isobel with his mother hailing from Glasgow Scotland and his father from Yorkshire, England
both were graduates of Oxford the University Stephen was to win a scholarship to
in
1950 the hockey family moved to historic st. Albans a town that dates to Roman times
Filipa and Mary were his two little sisters, and there was also an adopted brother Edward his family was far from run-of-the-mill
They took their annual holidays in a gypsy caravan and the family car was an old London taxi cab
At school at st. Albans Hawking earned himself the nickname of Einstein although
He wasn't outstandingly successful academically
However with the guidance of a teacher talking and friends build a rudimentary computer from various clocks and phone components
Surely a sign of things to come for the young Harney and indeed he began to show particular promise in science subjects
When it came time for the young Hawking to think about University one of his teachers dick Ron Tata would help them build the computer
Encourage talking to consider math as his subject, but Hawking's father concerned that jobs for mathematicians were few and far between
Wanted him to study medicine
However, Hawking's father also wanted him to go to University College at Oxford
But since math was not offered there. Honking finally opted to read physics and chemistry
So aged just 17 in having won a scholarship
Hawking started at Oxford in October of
1975
It's been said that Hawking found the work ridiculously easy
During his first year too at University and was terminally bored
However it seems that Hawking now began to get more involved in the life of his venerable seat of learning one major factor in his
newfound relish for university was his joining of the University College Boat Club an
institution at the centre of Oxford strong tradition of rowing Hawking himself lacked the physical prowess to be a really successful rower
instead taking on the role of Cox
Apparently as Cox and could at times be hair-raising if not downright dangerous
Hawking got a first class honours degree at Oxford
But not without a little anxiety on the way
He subsequently said that he figured he'd spent about a thousand hours
Studying during his course a paltry amount for a top class degree from Oxford, and he did indeed have to undergo an oral examination
Because he was on the borderline between a first and second class degree
However he got through the oral with flying colors and in 1962 he went on to his postgraduate degree in cosmology at
Cambridge University
Things were looking good for Hawking
he was on the brink of a long and potentially distinguished academic career and
In 1963 he met Jane Wilde the woman who was to become his wife
then late in
1963 Hawking was hit by a bombshell
He'd actually had some prior indications that all was not right with his health towards the end of his time at Oxford
He had a series of minor accidents including a fall down some stairs and his speech had become occasionally
indistinct
Doctors told him that he had motor neuron disease a degenerative condition with no cure the medics thought
He probably had two years at most to live
Hawking was only 21 when the shattering diagnosis emerged despite everything he and Jane went ahead and married in July of
1965 of course as we now know Hawking's condition did not kill him within two years in fact
He and Jane went on to have three children together with their youngest Timothy born in 1979
but Hawking's condition did deteriorate and he was confined to a wheelchair as
The 1960s rolled by he was gradually losing his ability to write
Hawking himself rejected any special treatment because of his disability in their 2002 book Stephen Hawking a life and science
Michael White and John Griffin quoted Hawking's wish to be seen as a
scientist first popular science writer second and in all the ways that matter a normal human being with these same desires
Drives dreams and ambitions as the next person in
The 1970s Hawking also began to lose the power of speech and only family and friends who knew him well could understand him
Then about of pneumonia came in 1985 and he needed a tracheotomy
This ended his ability to speak altogether
It was after this that Hawking began to use a voice synthesizer and his robotic tones became familiar around the world
There were even cameo appearances in the Simpsons it experienced Hawking is said to have thoroughly enjoyed
But it was as an author of popular science books that Hawking really entered the public arena his academic work on black holes and
Relativity is probably beyond the scientific understanding of most of us, and he had an immense talent for describing
complicated concepts about cosmology in layman's terms
over a 20-year period Hawking's 1998 book a brief history of time sold in excess of 10 million copies as
Early as 2006 talking had been asking questions about the future of Earth and the human race in
An Internet post Hawking wrote in a world. That's in chaos politically socially and environmentally
honking the human race sustained another 100 years
Hawking later added I don't know the answer
That's why I asked the question to get people to think about it and to be aware of the dangers we now face
and
In july 2017 less than a year before his death Hawking had some stark warnings
Speaking at the Science Museum in London. He said our physical resources are being drained at an alarming rate
We've given our planet the disastrous gift of climate change rising temperatures reduction of the polar icecaps
Deforestation and decimation of animal species we can be an ignorant unthinking lot
Elaborating on his fears about climate change Hadji said that if we didn't find a way to cut the levels of greenhouse gasses
We were emitting earth would end up similar to Venus there the ambient temperature is
860 degrees Fahrenheit with his trademark dry humor
Hawking added next time you meet a climate change denier tell them to take a trip to Venus. I'll pay the fare
Speaking to the BBC again in July of 2017
Hawking seemed pessimistic I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression to the human genome
There is no sign of conflict lessening and the development of militarized technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous
Hawking went on to tell the BBC that the best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space
He pointed out that even if climate change doesn't prove to be our nemesis an asteroid strike might be this is not science fiction
It's guaranteed by the laws of physics and probability hawking said
Since he was without doubt one of the most brilliant minds of his or any generation we would do well
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