Stephen Hawking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stephen Hawking - Essay Example His most important contributions were to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes. Stephen Hawking, who has been spending his career contemplating the nature of gravity from a wheelchair, is renowned as the co-founder of the Bing Bang theory of origin of the universe and he has made immense contribution to the theoretical understanding of black holes and other space-time singularities, including the strings and worm holes. "Where did the universe come from What happened before its beginning Will it end What will happen after that What, then, is the true nature of time These are the questions that have absorbed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, widely regarded as the most brilliant physicist since Albert Einstein, and possibly of all time." (Haven and Clark, 251) Apart from his significant role in establishment of the Bing Bang theory and the theoretical understanding of black holes and other space-time singularities, Hawking has been inspirational in the study of the bizarre workings of a relative, curving space-time. "More than any other individual, Stephen Hawking has both brought the reality of the vast universe into our consciousness and significantly advanced our theoretical understanding of major cosmic events." (Haven and Clark, 251-2) Therefore, the paramount importance of Stephen Hawking as the most prominent contributor to the contemporary physics, particularly the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity is indubitable and this paper makes a reflective investigation into the major contributions by this luminary figure in physics today. In an understanding of the major contributions by Stephen Hawking, it becomes lucid that his breakthroughs in cosmology and quantum gravity still remain a great mystery to the contemporary scholars. It was in the fall of 1973 that Hawking found himself fascinated in a horrific and embarrassing calculation which resulted in significant theories of quantum gravity in the context of black holes. "Attempting to investigate the microscopic properties of black holes, the gravitational traps from which not even light can escape, Dr. Hawking discovered to his disbelief that they could leak energy and particles into space, and even explode in a fountain of high-energy sparks His colleagues were dazzled and mystified Nearly 30 years later, they are still mystified They are ideas that touch on just about every bone-jarring abstruse concept in modern physics." (Overbye, 2002) The colleagues of Hawking were first dazzled and mystified when he reported his findings in the journal Nature, under the title, "Black Hole Explosions" They are still mystified when his ideas generated by his calculation and its consequences were at the center stage in a workshop titled "The Future of Theoretical Physics and Cosmology." Therefore, Black holes still remain fundamentally as enigmatic objects and the discovery of black hole radiation by Hawking has been of essential significance to that connection. Hawking has often been perplexed about his findings with regard to black holes and he asserted 30 years since his original divisive pronouncements that he had been wrong in making the earlier assertion about black holes, the terrifying gravitational abysses that can swallow matter and energy. Previously, there was