Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science

16 hrs. 48 min.

Language Russian

Author Kitty Ferguson

Narrator Mikhail Roslyakov

Description

The image of the great astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has long since become iconic; his name is synonymous with genius, courage, and hope. Once, the Cambridge student was given a terrible diagnosis—ALS—and told he had no more than two years to live. The young man rushed to finish his dissertation—just in case he could make it in time. And he did: he made an enormous contribution to the study of the mysteries of the universe, became world-famous through popular science books for adults and children, appeared in "Star Trek" and "The Simpsons," became the subject of documentaries and a favorite of the press, married twice, and had grandchildren… In our day, he has crossed the threshold of seventy. In the body of a disabled man deprived of movement and speech lives an indomitable being radiating energy, intelligence, humor, and charm to the whole planet. American writer Kitty Ferguson has spent many years publishing books and giving lectures on cosmology for a wide audience. She became internationally known for her “talent for translating from the language of physicists into plain human speech.” She wrote Hawking’s biography with the approval and assistance of her subject, and as a result was able not only to recreate his personal story but also to tell, in a fascinating way, about his scientific work aimed at understanding the very foundations of the universe.

Kitty Ferguson’s book "Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science" is a biography of the great astrophysicist, approved by Hawking himself and created with his help. In its pages, the reader will find the story of Hawking’s life as well as an accessible overview of his scientific work.

Contents:

PART I 1942-1975
Chapter 1 In Search of a Theory of Everything
Chapter 2 Our goal is to provide a complete description of the universe we live in

Life among the smallest particles
The boundary-condition problem
A language lesson
Theories meet
Predictions in detail
The disorder of the infinitely small

Chapter 3 Never give way to anyone!

The years 1942-1959
An eccentric from St Albans
By no means mediocre

Chapter 4 The thought that I was incurably ill and might die in a few years took me somewhat by surprise
A challenge to the future
Chapter 5 The main question: was there a beginning or wasn’t there?

What we know about gravity and light
The day of Earth’s destruction

Chapter 6 In the past we have a singular point

Choosing the Universe
A bedtime story
Escape from a black hole?

PART II 1970-1990
Chapter 7 These people apparently think we are used to an astronomical standard of living
Faith in God and the laws of physics
An ornament of the university
A place in the sun

Chapter 8 Scientists usually proceed from the assumption that between past and future, cause and effect, there exists one single chain of connection. If information can be lost, then there is no such chain

Uproar in the attic

Chapter 9 The probability of the existence of a universe that produced life like ours is extremely small

The anthropic principle
Echoes of the Big Bang
Saving inflation
Making inflation work

Chapter 10 No matter how much I traveled, I never fell off the edge of the Earth

When time is time and space is space
When time becomes space
Chapter 11 Turtles under turtles, all the way down

Years on the edge
The years 1985-1986
An assault on airport stalls

Chapter 12 The science of the infancy of universes is itself in its infancy

A new look at the balloon of the universe
Life in a quantum sieve
Wormholes and theories of everything
Saving history

PART III 1990-2000
Chapter 13 Is the end of theoretical physics near?

The end of a marriage
The Lucasian Lecture. Take 2

Chapter 14 Between films I solve physics problems

Eternal inflation
A star of stage and screen
A defender and role model
Tricks on the event horizon

Chapter 15 We have a chance to avoid both Armageddon and new Dark Ages

A lecture at tea
Cosmic censorship
Acceleration
The turn of the millennium
Where theories meet. Boundary conditions and inflation

Chapter 16 I think it’s all clear here

Intelligent erbranes
Dinner at Gonville_&_Caius
PART IV 2000-2011

Chapter 17 An expanding horizon of possibilities

Sixty!
Let’s sort out cosmic microwave radiation
The Dublin conference

Chapter 18 Grandpa has wheels

Fat and lean years
Curling as an Olympic sport
Top-down analysis
The mysteries of the Universe and cosmic adventures
Weightlessness
The traveling physicist
Chapter 19 I have always moved a little in the wrong direction

Hawking versus Higgs
The devourer of time
Quiet triumph
Space. The final frontier
Will we find life there
The heavenly verdict
High stakes
Hawking radiation on Earth and in practice

Chapter 20 My name is Stephen Hawking. I am a physicist, a cosmologist, a bit of a dreamer

A second approach
In my mind I am free
The years 2010-2011
Rejecting immortality
Glossary