November 7, 2004
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PEOPLE WHO KNOCK ME OUT
(see sidebar for others)Stephen William Hawking (1942-present)
Precisely 300 years after the death of Galileo Galilei, an English boy was born who had a normal childhood other than being slow to read and who resisted his father’s wish for him to become a doctor, turning to his real interest, astronomy. At just 21, an unusually early age for onset of the disease, he was stricken with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), which kills the nerve cells in the upper spinal cord so that signals cannot be carried from the brain to the muscles of the body. It is incurable and most of its victims die with five years of diagnosis. Stephen Hawking has now survived over four decades and can only breathe with aid of a tracheotomy that leaves him unable to speak. During those 40 years, he has become the most renowned theoretical physicist alive. He is a quantum cosmologist at Cambridge University, studying the universe at a time when it was so small that atoms had not yet formed, and is best known for his exploration into the nature of black holes. When he was 46, he published his first book, A Brief History of Time, which became the best-selling scientific work in history. For most of us, just trying to figure out how the universe would bestow both this great intellect and a catastrophic illness upon the same person is mind-boggling enough. If there is a god out there who can explain it, Stephen Hawking is probably just the man to hear it first.
Deep Thought: “How come the dove gets to be the peace symbol? How about the pillow? It has more feathers than the dove, and it doesn’t have that dangerous beak. “
Today I am grateful for: Speech
Guess the Movie: “When I think of why I make pictures, the reason that I can come up with just seems that I’ve been making my way here. It seems right now that all I’ve ever done in my life is making my way here to you. ” Answer: Bridges of Madison County, 1995.
Winner: Literature_Chick.
From Common Dreams.org: “Iraq’s interim government declared a state of emergency for 60 days on Sunday to quell violence gripping the country ahead of January elections.” Read the rest of the article here.
End of Day: 8:38 pm
+ = Nice peaceful day to myself and last mow of year probably got done.
- = 200,000+ people have had to flee Fallujah so Bush can get his jollies.
Comments (23)
Beautifully written! A truly stunningly amazing man. xo
My son read Brief History of Time and loved it. It is way over my head, but this guy is ultimate proof that the word “disability” is a pointless one.
Iraq is well on its way to being every bit the democracy that South Vietnam was.
Sorry I didn’t have the link to the article up yet when you visited.
one of the best…
An astonishing story. I’ve heard his name, of course, but had no idea of his physical impairment. “If there is a god…..” great way to end this tribute.
I’ve always thought he was great. I’ve thought about reading his book. What a great man.
Iraq is just NOW declaring a state of emergency?
I have some of A Brief History of Time on CD and it’s narrated by Hawking himself! It’s quite fascinating and was very enjoyable to listen to on a long road trip. However, the file was incomplete and I have yet to find the rest of it
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An amazing man!
So much brilliance contained in one mind!
Great story, the poor guy. It was rumor that somebody was abusing him, Think it was his second wife or a caregiver.
i didn’t look at the comments here, but I KNOW THIS movie!!!
Bridges of Madison County!
Finalemente!
He really is incredible.
I tried to read Brief History a few years back, but it’s just beyond me. He’s an amazing guy.
Hurray for the smart guy heroes. How many sports stars can we stand?
To think that he has three children from his first wife Jane and remarried a second time to his nurse shows how he hasn’t been impeded by his disability and is a complex man.
What a dude. He led a peace rally in London the day of Shrub’s re-election
Hawking is a truly phenomenal man. Hopefully, I have mowed for the last time as well. Now, leaves, . .is another issue altogether. sigh.
a dove has many many more feathers than is realized and its beak is onot dangerous in the least it is soft & it feed its babies through it you can lay ur head on a dove & they will coo vaery nice Hawking article i have thank u magi
Stephen Hawking. At a conference in San Francisco he stunned and frightened many world famous men of science when he *gave a speech* (mechanically aided of course) about singularities – and then ended with the pronouncement that literally ANYTHING is possible. And laughed, eerily, through the device.
My hero. Or one of them anyway.
T
Hawkins is a great reminder of how much can be done with very little. Interestingly, Galileo did some of his greatest work while his health and sight was failing.
Love your site!
This man would be a genius even if he wasn’t disabled. And I wonder at the myriad of thoughts in his brain that he can’t express. What an amazing person.
Its good that they leave Fallujah. Less people in the city means less stress for our soldiers. Less casualties will come from this.