Tributes to the genius of physics

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Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking: academic notoriety and troubled and entertaining private life

There will be many days of tributes from the scientific world (and beyond) to Stephen Hawking, a physics genius who was born on the same day that the third centenary of Galileo Galilei's death was celebrated, and died this Wednesday, aged 76, on the same day as Albert Einstein's birth – a playful, perhaps cosmic, coincidence. Page after page is already being published about the trajectory of Hawking, who became world famous for his intellectual vitality despite all the physical limitations caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), diagnosed at the age of 21 – doctors gave him at most three more of life.

It is a consensus among Unicamp professors interviewed by the Unicamp website, that the scientist born in Oxford (England), on January 8, 1942, will be remembered mainly for his contributions to the understanding of the origins and structure of the Universe – and the role of black holes –, but also for his scientific popularization books, as A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes (1988), his first best sellers. But ALS also didn't stop Hawking from leading a busy and fun life outside the walls of academia, with two marriages that inspired the film “The Theory of Everything” and appearances playing himself in series such as “Star Trek” and “Simpsons.” ”. In 2007, at the age of 65, he realized his dream of floating, in an experience inside a NASA jet that simulates the absence of gravity.

Professor Samuel Rocha de Oliveira, from the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing (Imecc), states that the legacy left by Hawkins for theoretical physics and science in general, to understand the Universe, is perhaps the greatest of the last 50 years. “His work on the creation of particles in spaces with black holes – an area I also deal with – and a series of other structural works on gravitation in general relativity were fundamental to my training and research.”

For Oliveira, all the physical difficulties faced by Hawking were compensated by a much above average intellect. “His main results were in theoretical physics, but I think his greatest legacy, more or less in line with Einstein, was using logic and mathematical models to describe and predict aspects of the Universe without having to go to the laboratory. His methodological, rational and mathematical reasoning is impressive. Now there is sadness for a person who survived well beyond expectations, fortunately, and who had been raising questions until a few weeks ago, such as about 'before time was created'”.

Dean Marcelo Knobel, who is a professor at the Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics (IFGW), explains that black holes, the main objectives of Stephen Hawking's studies, are entities that have an extremely concentrated mass and an extreme force of gravity. “The mass becomes so confined and gravity is so strong that nothing escapes, not even light. There is an extreme distortion of space-time at that point, a curious and fascinating condition. Hawking predicted what consequences these forces have on the Universe and his deductions are still being verified and explored. He contributed a lot in the area of ​​theoretical physics to understanding the Universe, why we are here.”

Knobel also praised the determination of the famous English physicist, who despite physical limitations that profoundly altered his life, managed to be a complete scientist. “He was not content with just speaking to scientists: he published scientific popularization books, debated with the public, was in the media all the time, in series and television programs and traveled all over the world, even going to Antarctica. Despite the extra difficulty of living and working, he gained worldwide notoriety.”

Professor João Pitelli, from Imecc, also highlights Stephen Hawking's popular books and, in the scientific field, chooses the “Creation of particles by black holes” as the most important work. “According to classical theory, black holes can only absorb, and not emit, particles: everything goes in and does not come out, not even light escapes. In the article it is very clear that quantum effects can create and emit particles, as if they were bodies with a certain temperature. In my opinion, this was his greatest legacy and what made him famous.”

 

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Audio description: In a metallic cabin with a tubular shape similar to the inside of an airplane, a man floats with his arms crossed in a cross, at the height of his belly, and he is horizontal, with his head to the right in the image. He wears a blue jumpsuit. In the background, there is a sign posted that reads www.gozerog.com. There is a man on the left who supports the floating man's legs, and two people on the right who support his back. The cabin is covered with impact protection material. Image 1 of 1

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Writer and columnist, the sociologist was president of the National Association of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Social Sciences in the 2003-2004 biennium