Stephen Hawking

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Stephen Hawking's book, "A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes." It describes some of the concepts that Hawking discusses in his book, such as his allusions to God and his discussions on the "classical" and the "quantum" theory of gravity. The paper also briefly describes Hawking's physical and personal challenges in life.

From the Paper:

"Hawking discusses the "classical" and the "quantum" theory of gravity, in a way that makes sense to the average non-science-focused person. The "classical" theory of gravity (based on "real space-time") offers only two ways the universe can behave, Hawking writes (135): either the universe has been around "for an infinite time," or otherwise it has had "...a beginning at a singularity at some finite time in the past." As to the "quantum" gravity theory there is a third possibility in terms of a definition. That is, space-time could possibly be "finite in extent and yet...have no singularities that formed a boundary or edge." In other words, the surface of the earth is indeed finite, we can walk on it and build on it; but it has no "edge" so if you go sailing off "into the sunset, you don't fall off the edge or run into a singularity," he continues. And he adds some humor to his explanation, as he often does in this book: "I know," he says, adding to the concept of not falling off the edge of the earth, "...Because I have been round the world!""

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. New York: Bantam Books, 1988.

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