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Website Article: Easy Science for Kids, Stephen Hawking and His Achievements | Learn about this amazing scientist plus enjoy a cool video about his theories.
Website Articles: American Physical Society, Physicists Profiles, What You Can Do With Physics? | Check out these physicists who are scientists with an amazing variety of jobs.
Video: PBS LearningMedia, DragonFlyTV, Basketball Physics | Combine March Madness and Physics and learn how to shoot baskets better.
Read the script:
RICK: MANY IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY ARE MOURNING THE LOSS OF A SCIENTIST WHO STUDIED THE FINAL FRONTIER: SPACE.
STEPHEN HAWKING IS AMONG THE MOST FAMOUS PHYSICISTS EVER. A PHYSICIST IS A PERSON WHO STUDIES PHYSICS: THE SCIENCE OF ENERGY AND MATTER. OTHER PHYSICISTS YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD OF INCLUDE: LET'S SEE, THERE'S ALBERT EINSTEIN AND ISAAC NEWTON, AND GALILEO. HAWKING WAS KNOWN FOR HIS RESEARCH SURROUNDING BLACK HOLES AND THE BEGINNING OF THE UNIVERSE.
MATTHEW CHANCE TELLS US ABOUT HAWKING'S UNIQUE LIFE.
MATTHEW: BY ANY MEASURE, STEPHEN HAWKING'S LIFE WAS INCREDIBLE. EVEN MORE SO BECAUSE IN THE 1960'S, HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ALS, OR MOTOR NEURON DISEASE AND GIVEN JUST A FEW YEARS TO LIVE. THIS RARE FORM OF MOTOR NEURON DISEASE LEFT HIM VIRTUALLY PARALYZED, UNABLE TO EXPRESS HIS PROFOUND VISION OF HUMANITY AND SCIENCE WITHOUT A VOICE SYNTHESIZER.
HAWKING: AT ONE POINT, I THOUGHT I WOULD SEE THE END OF PHYSICS AS WE KNOW IT. BUT NOW I THINK THE WONDER OF DISCOVERY WILL CONTINUE LONG AFTER I AM GONE.
MATTHEW: BUT THIS WAS NEVER A MAN BOUND BY HIS OWN PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS. HE REVELED IN A ZERO-GRAVITY FLIGHT, FREEING HIM, HE SAID, FROM THE CONFINES OF HIS WHEELCHAIR. HE ALSO WROTE A SERIES OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS ABOUT SPACE WITH HIS DAUGHTER LUCY. HE HAD 2 OTHER CHILDREN AND 3 GRANDCHILDREN. FOR MORE THAN THREE DECADES, HE WAS A PROFESSOR AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY'S DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS, SPECIALIZING IN THE STUDY OF BLACK HOLES AND REVERED AS A MEMBER OF THE ACADEMIC ELITE. BUT PROFESSOR HAWKING ALSO DID MUCH TO POPULARIZE SCIENCE, PLAYING HIMSELF IN STAR TREK--
- RECESSED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
MATTHEW: AND THE SIMPSONS. IN 2014, HIS LIFE AND ROMANCE WITH WIFE JANE WILDE WAS DEPICTED ON THE BIG SCREEN IN THE ACCLAIMED FILM THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.
ACTOR: SO, THE UNIVERSE GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER, GETTING DENSER AND DENSER, HOTTER AND HOTTER--
ACTRESS: YOU MEAN WIND BACK THE CLOCK?
ACTOR: YEAH, EXACTLY WIND BACK THE CLOCK.
MATTHEW: HAWKING CONSULTED ON THE BIO-DRAMA, WHICH EARNED FIVE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS, AND A BEST ACTOR WIN FOR EDDIE REDMAYNE FOR HIS PORTRAYAL OF THE PHYSICIST. HAWKING'S MOST FAMOUS WORK, A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME, REMAINS ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING SCIENCE BOOKS EVER WRITTEN. AND HE WAS DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH HUMANITY'S SURVIVAL.
HAWKING: I SEE GREAT DANGERS FOR THE HUMAN RACE. THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF TIMES IN THE PAST WHEN ITS SURVIVAL HAS BEEN A LESSON OF TOUCH-AND-GO. THE FREQUENCY OF SUCH OCCASIONS IS LIKELY TO INCREASE IN THE FUTURE. WE SHALL NEED GREAT CARE AND MANAGEMENT TO NEGOTIATE THEM ALL SUCCESSFULLY. BUT I'M AN OPTIMIST. IF WE CAN AVOID DISASTER FOR THE NEXT TWO CENTURIES, OUR SPECIES SHOULD BE SAFE AS WE SPREAD INTO SPACE.
MATTHEW: HE WAS, AS EVER, LOOKING FIRMLY TO THE FUTURE.