Lesson Nine Against All Odds

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Lesson NineAgainst All Odds

• Michael White John Gribbin

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I. Questions

• Have you ever been seriously ill? What happened
  to you? And how did you deal with the situation?
• If you were diagnosed with a fatal disease and
  you had only one year to live in this world, what
  would you do? Do you just want to give yourself
  up or live the rest of your life to the fullest?

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• 3. Have you ever heard of Stephen Hawking? And
  who is he?

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Stephen Hawking
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• I have had motor neurone disease for practically
  all my adult life. Yet it has not prevented me
  from having a very attractive family, and being
  successful in my work. This is thanks to the help
  I have received from Jane, my children, and a
  large number of other people and organizations.

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• I have been lucky, that my condition has
  progressed more slowly than is often the case.
  But it shows that one need not lose hope.
• Stephen Hawking

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II. Stephen Hawking

• Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January
  1942 (300 years after the death of Galileo) in
  Oxford.
• In 1950 Stephen's father moved to the Institute
  for Medical Research in Mill Hill. The family
  moved to St Albans so that the journey to Mill
  Hill was easier. Stephen attended St Albans High
  School for Girls (which took boys up to the age
  of 10). When he was older he attended St Albans
  school.

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• Hawking was persuaded to make chemistry his main
  school subject by his father.
• In March 1959 Hawking took the scholarship
  examinations with the aim of studying natural
  sciences at Oxford. He was awarded a scholarship,
  despite feeling that he had performed badly, and
  at University College he specialised in physics
  in his natural sciences degree.

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• Hawking moved to Cambridge from Oxford to take up
  research in general relativity(?????)and
  cosmology(???), a difficult area for someone with
  only a little mathematical background.
• Hawking had noticed that he was becoming rather
  clumsy during his last year at Oxford and, when
  he returned home for Christmas, 1962, at the end
  of his first term at Cambridge, his mother
  persuaded him to see a doctor.

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• In early 1963 he spent two weeks having tests in
  hospital and motor neurone disease(???????) (Lou
  Gehrig's disease????? ) was diagnosed. His
  condition deteriorated quickly and the doctors
  predicted that he would not live long enough to
  complete his doctorate. The reason that his
  research progressed was that he met a girl he
  wanted to marry and realised he had to complete
  his doctorate to get a job.

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• After completing his doctorate in 1966 Hawking
  was awarded a fellowship(???) at Gonville and
  Caius College, Cambridge. In 1973 he left the
  Institute of Astronomy(?????)and joined to the
  Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical
  Physics at Cambridge. He became Professor of
  Gravitational Physics(????? )at Cambridge in
  1977.

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• In 1979 Hawking was appointed Lucasian Professor
  of Mathematics(???????,?????????)at Cambridge.
  The man born 300 years to the day after Galileo
  died now held Newton's chair at Cambridge.
  (?????????)

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• Between 1965 and 1970 Hawking worked on
  singularities (???????????? ) in the theory of
  general relativity devising new mathematical
  techniques to study this area of cosmology. From
  1970 Hawking began to apply his previous ideas to
  the study of black holes.

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• Continuing this work on black holes, Hawking
  discovered in 1970 a remarkable property. Using
  quantum theory and general relativity he was able
  to show that black holes can emit radiation
  (?????)(???????). His success with proving this
  made him work from that time on combining the
  theory of general relativity with quantum
  theory(????).

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• In 1971 Hawking investigated the creation of the
  Universe (????) and predicted that, following the
  big bang, many objects as heavy as 109 tons but
  only the size of a proton would be created. These
  mini black holes have large gravitational
  attraction governed by general relativity, while
  the laws of quantum mechanics would apply to
  objects that are small.

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• Another remarkable achievement of Hawking's using
  these techniques was his no boundary proposal
  (?????) made in 1983 with Jim Hartle (???) of
  Santa Barbara.
• In 1982 Hawking decided to write a popular book
  on cosmology. By 1984 he had produced a first
  draft of A Brief History of Time. However Hawking
  was to suffer a further illness.

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• Hawking was given a computer system to enable him
  to have an electronic voice. It was with these
  difficulties that he revised the draft of A Brief
  History of Time which was published in 1988. The
  book broke sales records in a way that it would
  have been hard to predict.

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• Hawking has received, and continues to receive, a
  large number of honours. He was elected a Fellow
  of the Royal Society in 1974 (??????), being one
  of its youngest fellows. He was awarded the CBE
  in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour
  (????????) in 1989. Hawking has also received
  many foreign awards and prizes and was elected a
  Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the
  United States (???????) .

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• Professor Hawking is currently interested in
  selling his hot air balloon basket, especially
  designed by experts for wheelchair access. This
  very special item is in excellent condition and
  ready to use.

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• Stephen Hawkings Visit to China

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III. Major works by Hawking

• Universe in a Nutshell????????/ The Illustrated
  Brief History of Time (1988)
• Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
  (1993)??????????
• The Theory of Everything The Origin and Fate of
  the Universe????
• The Future of Spacetime ?????

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• A Brief History of Time From the Big Bang to
  Black Holes ???????????
• In 1992 American filmmaker Errol Morris helped
  make all-time best seller A Brief History of Time
  into a film about Hawkings life and work.

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IV. ALS

• ALS Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• ???????
• a rare progressive disease that handicaps
  movement and speech
• a absence of ??
• myo muscle ?? 
• trophic nourishment ??
• Lateral side (of spine) (???)??
• Sclerosis hardening ??

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• I am quite often asked How do you feel about
  having ALS? The answer is, not a lot. I try to
  lead as normal a life as possible, and not think
  about my condition, or regret the things it
  prevents me from doing, which are not that many.

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V. About the text

• This text is adapted from the biography of
  Stephen HawkingStephen Hawking A life in
  Science, 2nd edition, written by Michael White
  and John Gribbin, published in 1998.

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VI. Theme of the text
The theme is summed up at the very end.

• The text sings highly of Hawkings invincible
  spirit in struggling against the fatal disease of
  ALS.

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VII. Structure of the text

• Part 1 (paras. 1 3 ) Hawking was diagnosed
  with ALS. It was very hard for him to accept the
  fact that he was wasting away.
• Part 2 (paras. 410) about The turning point
  in Hawkings life, esp. with the appearance of
  his wife. Hawking began to make miraculous
  achievements with the support of his wife.