Aaron Steger
12/12/04
J. Bump
Environmental History of UT
Third Project
“There’s just so many of them,” my girlfriend Megan said as we lay in my hammock one summer night.
“There are a lot of them.” I replied.
“I love looking at the stars,” I thought to myself, “nothing is more intriguing to me than looking out into the unknown.”
I loved to sit on the roof of my house with my girlfriend and look at the stars; that’s how we spent most of our summer nights last year. There was just so much mystery to the tiny dots that filled the skies. Not so much the constellations, but just the vagueness of it all.
This was part of the reason I wanted to take astronomy in college. I soon found out that there was a lot more to astronomy than stargazing. I struggled all semester with my astronomy class. I could never see how Ryan could do so well and I could do so badly in the same class. I felt like I knew the material, but somehow it never ‘clicked’ for me during the tests.
I still remember the day that Albert Einstein visited me and he really helped me out a lot by explaining the theory of all that I had learned thus far, but somehow it wasn’t enough. It now is the last week of class for my first semester at U.T. and I desperately need to do well on my last astronomy test.
“What am I going to do?” I asked myself as I sat out on my front lawn, alone, starring into the darkness of the night sky.
I then started thinking of Steven Hawking. The ‘God Father’ of modern astronomy, in my opinion. I then fell asleep. In my dream I was talking to Mr. Hawking himself.
“Tell me a little bit about yourself.” I said.
I really had no idea about his history so I thought it would benefit me to learn something about such an influential man.
“Well let me see… it all started on January 8, 1942 in Oxford.”[1] Steven Hawking said.
“Wow, I didn’t know you were born in Oxford, England.” I blurted out.
“Yes, I was.” he said. “It was
thought to have been a safe place to have babies during the time of World War
II.[2] When
I was eight, my family moved to St. Alban s, a town about 20 miles north of
London. At eleven I went to St. Albans School, and then on to Unive rsity
College, Oxford, my father's old college. I wanted to do Mathematics, even
though my father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so I did
physics instead. After three years and not very much work I was awarded a first
class honors degree in Natural Science.[3]
After receiving my degree, I went to Cambridge, to do research on Cosmology.”[4]
“Cosmology, hmmm…” I said. “We were just studying that in my astronomy class. Actually, we just watched a video, featuring you, about the ‘Big Bang ’ theory and the origin of the universe.”
To be completely honest, I don’t believe in the ‘Big Bang’ theory or Cosmology. I was raised Christian, so my astronomy class kind of challenges my faith. Maybe that’s why I’m doing so poorly in it.
“Yes, I have done a few educational videos on Cosmology.” Hawking said before continuing his story. “After receiving my Ph.D., I left the Institute of Astronomy and sinc e then I have held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. In the late 1960's, I proved that if general relativity is true and the Universe is expanding, an irregularity must have occurred at the birth of the Universe.”[5]
“We were learning about that too.” I said. “We learned that if the universe had a low density, then it would expand forever, but if it were to have a high density, then it’s gravity would cause it to collapse back on itself.”
“Yes, that is correct.” Steven replied. “In 1974, I first recognized a truly remarkable property of black holes, objects from which nothing was supposed to be able to escape. By taking into account quantum mechanics, I was able to show that black holes can radiate energy as particles are created in their vicinity. I had also worked on the basic laws that govern the universe. With Rodger Penrose, I showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have had a beginning in the "Big Bang", and an end in black holes. These results indicated it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory, the other great scientific development of the first half of the 20th century.”[6]
It was so weird talking to Steven Hawking. I swear it was like my whole astronomy class was based on his ideas. I kind of felt like I was being brainwashed into believing that science was to be my god and if I didn’t accept that, then I was doomed to fail my class. Hawking went on. “One consequence of such a unification that I discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but it should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear. Another speculation is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science. While studying at Oxford, I noticed that he was becoming rather clumsy during my first year. When I returned home one Christmas 1962, my mother persuaded me to go to the doctor. In 1963, he was diagnosed with ALS (Ameliotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or best known as the Lou Gehrig's disease).”[7] “I had an uncle who had ALS.” I said. “He had problems with his dexterity because of muscle weakness and he had difficulty speaking and swallowing. He had to wear a diaper because he could not function properly. Later in his life he became paralyzed and required ventilation and surgery to provide a new opening in the stomach. He got so bad that he lost the ability to breathe and he then died.”[8]
“Yes, this is common for many ALS sufferers but not for all.” Hawking said. “Approximately 30,000 patients in the United States currently have ALS. The disease has no racial, socioeconomic, or ethnic boundaries. The life expectancy of ALS patients is usually three to five years after diagnosis. ALS is most commonly diagnosed in middle age and affects men more often than women.”[9]
“But how are you still alive today?” I asked. “You said patients die after three to five years after being diagnosed.” “I said ‘usually’ die; in some cases the patient must live the rest of their life with this curse.” Hawking replied. “So, what causes this disease?” I asked.
“Well, the cause of ALS is not completely
understood. Researchers and physicians suspect viruses, neurotoxins, heavy
metals, DNA defects, immune system abnormalities, and enzyme abnormalities.”
Hawking said. “There are three
different kinds of ALS. The first is
the most common and the least understood, it is called Sporadic ALS, which is
the most widespread of all types of ALS.
A lesser type of this diseas e is called Familial ALS, which is cause by
genetic defect and finally there is Guamanian ALS. It is caused by a dietary neurotoxin found in the seed of the cycad
Cyas cirinalis, a tropical plant found in Guam.”[10]
“Wow, I had no idea that there were
so many different types of Lou Gehrig’s disease.” I said.
I then realized that I had led Dr.
Hawking off-topic, so I started talking about one of his books A Brief
History of Time.
“So, please tell me about you book, A
Brief History of Time.” I said.
“Well,
okay.” Steven said. “My book A Brief History of Time is about the origin
of the univ erse. In my book I talk
about gravity and how it has and will affect the ultimate destiny of our
universe. There is a part in my book
where I describe black holes:
As the star contracts, the gravitational field at its surface gets
stronger and the light cones get bent inward more. This makes it more difficult
for light from the star to escape, and the light appears dimmer and redder to
an observer at a distance. Eventually, when the star has shrunk to a certain
critical radius, the gravitational field at the surface becomes so strong that
the light cones are bent inward so much that light can no longer escape.
According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than light.
Thus if light cannot escape, neither can anything else...
The event horizon, the boundary of the region of space-time from which
it is not possible to escape, acts rather like a one-way membrane around the
black hole... One could well say of the event horizon what the poet Dante said
of the entrance to Hell: "All hope abandon, ye who enter here."
Anything or anyone who falls through the event horizon will soon reach the
region of infinite density and the end of time.
...the lower the mass of the black hole, the higher its temperature. So
as the black hole loses mass, its temperature and rate of emission increase, so
it loses mass more quickly. What happens when the mass of the black hole
eventually becomes extremely small is not quite clear, but the most reasonable
guess is that it would disappear completely in a tremendous final burst of
emission, equivalent to the explosion of millions of H-bombs.”[11]
“How can someone come up with this?” I asked myself. “I don’t see how
a person who is supposed to be dead because of ALS, could be so smart. I read that Lou Gehrig’s disease made the sufferer loss the ability to think properly.”
“How is it possible for you to be so
intelligent?” I asked.
“Well, People are fascinated by the
contrast between my very limited physical powers, and the vast nature of the
universe I deal with. I'm the archetype of a disabled genius, or should I say a
physically challenged genius, to be politically correct. At least I'm obviously
physically challenged. Whether I'm a genius is more open to doubt. I don't pay
much attention to how journalists describe me. I know it is media hype. They
need an Einstein like figure to appeal to. But for them to compare me to
Einstein is ridiculous. They don't understand either Einstein's work, or mine.
Have never heard anyone say isn't it a shame that such a brilliant mind is
trapped inside a useless body. If I did, I would treat it with the contempt it
deserved. I generally find that even people that haven't heard of me treat me
well and are helpful. I'm not sensitive, if occasionally they patronize me; I
just feel it's their mistake. Being disabled, or physically challenged, makes no
difference to how my scientific colleagues treat me apart from practical
matters like waiting while I write what I want to say.”[12]
“Oh, I didn’t mean to insult you, I’m sorry.” I said.
“Don’t worry, you didn’t insult me.” Steven said. “I am just very proud to have overcome my adversity.”
“I can understand that.” I said.
I woke up from my dream. I was extremely disappointed, even though I got the chance to talk to Steven Hawking, I didn’t get the chance to ask him for help in my astronomy class.
“Oh well.” I said. “There’s nothing I can do now. Or is there?”
I went home and pulled out my astronomy book and started studying. Everything in my book started making more sense to me and I began to become more confident about taking my last astronomy test.
My judgment day was finally here. Would I do well on my test and pass, or was I doomed to fail my class? I wouldn’t know until the exams were graded and posted on the course website.
So I went through my day as if it were any other day, but I couldn’t help but think about the last words Hawking said to me in my dream; about his adversity that he endured. I felt that if it were possible for someone to fight the odds such as he has, then it was possible for me to do something as simple as passing a silly class.
The day rolled along. It seemed to drag on forever, but at the same time there wasn’t enough time to cram for the test.
Two o’clock, time for my test. Was I prepared? I would soon find out. As I sat down for the test, the T.A. was handing out the Scranton answer sheets. Then the Professor started handing out the exams. I broke out into a cold sweat. I looked at the test and felt confident about how I would do on it; which didn’t mean much because I had felt that way about every other test I had taken in that class.
I finished the test.
I rushed to my car so I could get home and check my grades for the class. I arrived at my house in record-breaking time. I went inside and sat down at my computer. I wanted to look and see what I got on the test, but I was very nervous about what it would say. I somehow found the strength to look at my score:
Exam 7: 80/100
I was so happy to see that I done well enough on my test to pass my class. Now I could relax and enjoy my Christmas vacation.
Oh wait, I still have to type a paper for Dr. Bump…
Word
Count: 2,275
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Photos courtesy of: http://www.hawking.org.uk/about/aindex.html