DNA Edit: Hawking: A Space Odyssey

When the brightest star in the galaxy of astrophysics died on Wednesday, he left behind a void bigger than the black holes in space. For Stephen Hawking wasn’t just a wheelchair-bound scientist exploring the farthest recesses of the universe and illuminating our understanding of space and time. He was a symbol of courage, a man who pushed the limits of human endurance to prove the doctors wrong. 

At the age of 21, when the Cambridge student was diagnosed with a rather debilitating form of a motor-neuron disease, he wasn’t expected to see his 23rd birthday. He went on to live an eventful life till 76, authoring a best-seller A Brief History of Time that sold more than 10 million copies, inspiring a biopic, The Theory of Everything, that was nominated for several Oscars, appearing on several TV shows, and celebrating his 60th birthday by going up in a hot-air balloon. 

Meanwhile, he was also cruising through the universe where no spaceship has dared to go. On one such occasion he “tripped over the fact” that black holes aren’t “black” at all. They leak radiation and particles before exploding and disappearing over the aeons. This discovery led to a radical change in our understanding of the universe and enshrined Hawking’s place in the hall of fame. How did a man who could barely twitch a facial muscle become such a rockstar scientist? Hawking’s life, which acquired a cult status, was informed by the realisation “that people need not be limited by physical handicaps as long as they are not disabled in spirit”. For a layman, this was far more instructive than his complex theories of black hole thermodynamics. But Hawking constantly strove to deconstruct complex theories for mass consumption, writing in a language that brought distant galaxies to dinner-table conversations. He was to the realm of science what Sherlock Holmes is to the world of crime. Both challenged pre-conceived notions, taking the ‘truth’ with a fistful of salt, and made it all look so easy. For Hawking, the models of cosmology that were set in stone had to be dismantled to reveal the origin of the universe. 

Taking on the concept of the Big Bang, he suggested the “no boundary proposal”, which argued that the laws of physics didn’t need place or time to break down, even at the beginning. Like the finest of minds in any sphere of human excellence, he was, in essence, a philosopher who delved into the past to envision the future. However, away from the spotlight, it wasn’t easy being Stephen Hawking in personal life. The two failed marriages would testify to that. When his rather exhausted and bitter first wife Jane Wilde left him, he began a relationship with his nurse Elaine Mason, which culminated in marriage. This time too, it was rocky, as Hawking was reportedly physically abused by Mason who was also accused by his children of restricting access to the father. In the end, Hawking’s theory of everything is best summed up in his own words: “It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.”