Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe | |
---|---|
Starring | Stephen Hawking |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 2 |
Production | |
Running time | 48 mins |
Release | |
Original network | Channel 4 |
Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe is a documentary television series produced by the television broadcaster Channel 4. The subject of the series is British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, known for his work on black holes, who is also the presenter of the series. The series includes interviews with astrophysicist Kim Weaver, Bernard Carr, a student of Hawking's, and three theoretical physicists: Michio Kaku, Edward Witten, known for his work on superstring theory, and Lisa Randall. The first episode premiered in 2008, twenty years after the publication of Hawking's bestselling popular science book A Brief History of Time . [1] The title is derived from a Newsweek cover. [2]
The series consisted of two episodes. The first describes Hawking's personal life, his challenges in overcoming his motor neurone disease, and his career in physics. It covers his childhood, education, marriage, family life, and his work on the Big Bang and black holes. The second episode discusses string theory and supersymmetry. [1] Both episodes are 48 minutes long, and premiered as half-hour-long programmes. [1] The series was released on CD by Channel 4 in the UK as a Region 2, one disc-DVD (B00140SGOM) on 18 March 2008. [3]
The premiere of the first episode attracted 1.9 million viewers, and was considered a success. [4] The second episode had 1.7 million viewers. [5] James Walton of The Daily Telegraph wrote a positive review of the first episode, saying that it "hadn't done a bad job of trying to explain advanced physics to the science novice," even if it was "extremely difficult stuff." [6] Philip Wakefield, a television critic for stuff.co.nz , listed the first episode in his "Top TV picks", calling it "the neatest illustration of Einstein's theory of relativity I’ve ever seen." [7] Sam Wollastan of The Guardian was more critical of the series, but did praise it for showing "the little glimpses of Prof Hawking's private life, like sharing a takeaway curry with a group of adoring young disciples." [8]
Sir Roger Penrose is a British mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and an honorary fellow of St John's College, Cambridge and University College London.
A theory of everything, final theory, ultimate theory, unified field theory or master theory is a hypothetical, singular, all-encompassing, coherent theoretical framework of physics that fully explains and links together all aspects of the universe. Finding a theory of everything is one of the major unsolved problems in physics. String theory and M-theory have been proposed as theories of everything.
The Lucasian Chair of Mathematics is a mathematics professorship in the University of Cambridge, England; its holder is known as the Lucasian Professor. The post was founded in 1663 by Henry Lucas, who was Cambridge University's Member of Parliament in 1639–1640, and it was officially established by King Charles II on 18 January 1664. It was described by The Daily Telegraph as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world. Since its establishment, the professorship has been held by, among others, Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, George Stokes, Joseph Larmor, Paul Dirac, and Stephen Hawking.
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Leonard Susskind is an American physicist, who is a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University, and founding director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. His research interests include string theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and quantum cosmology. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an associate member of the faculty of Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and a distinguished professor of the Korea Institute for Advanced Study.
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"They Saved Lisa's Brain" is the twenty-second and penultimate episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 9, 1999. In the episode, after writing a thoughtful letter to the Springfield Shopper, Lisa is invited to join the Springfield chapter of Mensa. When Mayor Quimby later flees Springfield, the group takes control of the town, hoping to improve the lives of Springfieldians through the rule of the smartest. Meanwhile, Homer poses for a series of erotic photos.
Dennis William Siahou Sciama, was a British physicist who, through his own work and that of his students, played a major role in developing British physics after the Second World War. He was the PhD supervisor to many famous cosmologists, including Stephen Hawking, Martin Rees and David Deutsch; he is considered one of the fathers of modern cosmology.
James Maxwell Bardeen was an American physicist, well known for his work in general relativity, particularly his role in formulating the laws of black hole mechanics. He also discovered the Bardeen vacuum, an exact solution of the Einstein field equation.
Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), a theoretical physicist, has appeared in many works of popular culture.
Hawking is a 2004 BBC television film directed by Philip Martin. It chronicles Stephen Hawking's early years as a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, following his search for the beginning of time, and his struggle against motor neuron disease. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Hawking and premiered in the UK in April 2004.
Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who, at the time of his death, was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between 1979 and 2009, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, widely viewed as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world.
Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking is a 2010 science documentary television mini-series written by British physicist Stephen Hawking. The series was created for Discovery Channel by Darlow Smithson Productions and features computer generated imagery of the universe created by Red Vision. The series premiered on 25 April 2010 in the United States and started on 9 May 2010 in the United Kingdom with a modified title, Stephen Hawking's Universe.
The Grand Design is a popular-science book written by physicists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow and published by Bantam Books in 2010. The book examines the history of scientific knowledge about the universe and explains eleven-dimensional M-theory. The authors of the book point out that a Unified Field Theory may not exist.
Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics is a 2008 popular science book by American theoretical physicist Leonard Susskind. The book covers the black hole information paradox, and the related scientific dispute between Stephen Hawking and Susskind. Susskind is known for his work on string theory and wrote a previous popular science book, The Cosmic Landscape, in 2005.
"The Hawking Excitation" is the 21st episode of the fifth season of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on CBS on April 5, 2012. It is the 108th episode overall. After learning that Stephen Hawking is coming to lecture at Caltech, Howard is hired to maintain his wheelchair equipment. When Sheldon discovers this, he is desperate to meet Hawking. Howard says he can, but only if he completes a humiliating series of tasks.
Marika Maxine Taylor is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and the Head of School within Mathematical Sciences at University of Southampton.