21 October 2008

stephen hawking: "totally overrated"

I enjoyed this bit of cheeky student humour from Varsity, one of the Cambridge University newspapers. The story is about the announcement of a gigantic bronze sculpture that is being planned to honor Stephen Hawking, the famous Cambridge theoretical physicist who has been almost completely paralyzed by ALS for decades:
The sculpture has sparked debate amongst students. One finds Hawking
underserving of such a tribute: "He seems totally overrated when compared
to, say, Newton." However, a graduate student commented that "he deserves
much more than a paltry 10ft statue."

I passed by Professor Hawking on the street this weekend, which I suspect is the closest I will ever get to having contact with him. As you can imagine, he's one of Cambridge's most famous characters, and he seems to inhabit an intellectual universe that the rest of us can only guess about. You can read his account of his astonishing life with ALS here.

1 comment:

.daniel. said...

while i am totally j about you being near hawking, last night i was at a screening of a film at the seattle gay and lesbian film festival, and one of my favorite characters/actors from queer as folk (shotime show) was there to host (he was in the film)...that was exciting (for me, at least)...newton >> hawking >> robert gant. :)

hope all is well. and for blog material: you've got to intersperse with "weird things" you see/experience...like little people drinking tea atop large seagulls in the english channel, or something equally intriguing. just a thought.