A brief history of Hawking
Stephen Hawking, the great English physicist who tries to spend a month every winter at Caltech, did a star turn at Beckman Tuesday night. And what a turn. What a testament to perserverance: can't move, can't talk, don't whine: stay brilliant, and change the way we think about the universe.
His packed lecture and PowerPoint presentation -- people lined up six hours before showtime to be with what one young man terrmed "the nerd pope" -- was made possible through a computer on his wheelchair.
Didn't go into his work as much this time -- the stories were more about his life, especially as a young student at Oxford and then Cambridge. Got in some Oxford-bashing. Continued to dismiss the possibility of time travel. Brought down the house.
I took this picture in Dabney Lounge, where he had dinner with faculty before the main event.