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British theoretical physicist born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, England. Due to affliction with Lou Gehrig's disease
(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; ALS), Hawking is confined to a wheelchair and is unable to speak without the aid of a
computer voice synthesizer. In 1973, Hawking showed that black holes  radiate as if they have
a temperature proportional to their surface gravity, and therefore evaporate over time. In 1974, Hawking
proposed that black hole radiation laws were equivalent to thermodynamic laws. He showed that the
entropy is
where A is the surface area, c is the speed of light, G is the gravitational
constant, and  is h-Bar .
Whereas Hawking has proposed that physical singularities can occur only inside black holes
where they cannot be seen, physicists Kip Thorne and John Preskill believe observable ("naked") singularity can exist.
Hawking therefore made a bet with Throne and Preskill in 1991. After supercomputer simulations by M. Choptuik showed how
a naked singularity could exist, Hawking was forced to concede the bet ("on a technicality," according to
Hawking) on Feb. 5, 1997. In concession, Hawking presented his colleagues with "adequate raiments to shield their
nakedness from the vulgar view."
Boslough, J. Stephen Hawking's Universe: An Introduction to the Most Remarkable Scientist of Our Time.
New York: Avon Books, 1989.
Ferguson, K. Stephen Hawking. New York: Bantam, 1992.
Filkin, D. and Hawking, S. Stephen Hawking's Universe: The Cosmos Explained. New York: BasicBooks, 1997.
Hawking, S. W. and Ellis, G. F. R. The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Hawking, S. W. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1988.
Hawking, S. (Ed.). Steven Hawking's A Brief History of Time: A Reader's Companion. New York: Bantam Books, 1992.
Hawking, S. W. and Penrose, R. The Nature of Space and Time. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Tindol, R. "A Brief History of Nakedness." Engineering & Science, the Alumni Publication of
the California Institute of Technology 60, 9, 1997.
White, M. and Gribbin, J. Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science. New York: Dutton, 1992.
© 1996-2007 Eric W. Weisstein
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