Stephen
William Hawking born in 1942 is best remembered as a cosmologist who didn’t
fear to ask the big question and persevere to seek the answer despite his
physical limitations.
Some of his questions are something that I’m sure you would
also have thought at some point in your life, like - “Where did the universe come
from?”. But the difference is that most of us would just stop there after asking the question.
Even though he was
restricted to his wheelchair most of his life due to his illness, he was
spirited to explore and pursue his research on a variety of topics related to
the universe. In fact, he is considered to be a leader in this generation of
researchers in this area.
He went on to explore properties of gravity and black
holes. Mankind is still searching for answers and plausible explanations on an
array of topics in relation to these.
Given
his physical condition, what an amazingly adventurous person he was – he
celebrated one of his birthdays by going up in a hot-air balloon; he took part
in a zero gravity flight to experience weightlessness!
And
to constant questions from curious people, he would always say “I want to show
that people need not be limited by physical handicaps as long as they are not
disabled in spirit”. An excellent message for all of us to ponder upon. May his
soul rest in peace.
Posts
