Stephen Hawking
Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of the death of Galileo,
which has long been a source of pride for the noted physicist. Stephen
was born into a family of thinkers. Stephen Hawking's parents lived in
London where his father was undertaking research into medicine. In
1950 Stephen's father moved to the Institute for Medical Research in
Mill Hill. The family moved to St Albans so that the journey to Mill Hill
was easier. Stephen attended St Albans High School for Girls (which
took boys up to the age of 10). When he was older he attended St
Albans school but his father wanted him to take the scholarship
examination to go to Westminster public school. However Stephen was
ill at the time of the examinations and remained at St Albans school
which he had attended from the age of 11.
Hawking wanted to specialize in mathematics in his last couple of years
at school where his mathematics teacher had inspired him to study the
subject. However Hawking's father was strongly against the idea and
Hawking was persuaded to make chemistry his main school subject.
Part of his father's reasoning was that he wanted Hawking to go to
University College, Oxford, the College he himself had attended, and
that College had no mathematics fellow.
In March 1959 Hawking took the scholarship examinations with the aim
of studying natural sciences at Oxford. He was awarded an exhibition,
despite feeling that he had performed badly, and at University College
he specialized in physics in his natural sciences degree. He only just
made a First Class degree in 1962.
From Oxford, Hawking moved to Cambridge to take up research in
general relativity and cosmology, a difficult area for someone with only
a little mathematical background. Hawking had noticed that he was
becoming rather clumsy during his last year at Oxford and, when he
returned home for Christmas 1962 at the end of his first term at
Cambridge, his mother persuaded him to see a doctor.
In early 1963 he spent two weeks having tests in hospital and motor
neurone disease (Lou Gehrig's disease) was diagnosed. His condition
deteriorated quickly and the doctors predicted that he would not live
long enough to complete his doctorate. However Hawking writes
although there was a cloud hanging over his future. He began to make
progress with his research.
The reason that his research progressed was that he met a girl he
wanted to marry and realized he had to complete his doctorate to get a
job so; he started working for the first time in his life. After completing
his doctorate in 1966 Hawking was awarded a fellowship at Gonville
and Caius College, Cambridge. At first his position was that of Research
Fellow, but later he became a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius
College. In 1973 he left the Institute of Astronomy and joined to the
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at
Cambridge. He became Professor of Gravitational Physics at Cambridge
in 1977. In 1979 Hawking was appointed Lucasian Professor of
Mathematics at Cambridge. The man born 300 years to the day after
Galileo died now held Newton's chair at Cambridge.
Between 1965 and 1970 Hawking worked on singularities in the theory
of general relativity devising new mathematical techniques to study this
area of cosmology. Much of his work in this area was done in
collaboration with Roger Penrose who, at that time, was at Birkbeck
College, London. From 1970 Hawking began to apply his previous ideas
to the study of black holes.
Continuing this work on black holes, Hawking discovered in 1970 a
remarkable property. Using quantum theory and general relativity he
was able to show that black holes can emit radiation. His success with
proving this made him work from that time on combining the theory of
general relativity with quantum theory. In 1971 Hawking investigated
the creation of the Universe and predicted that, following the big bang,
many objects as heavy as 109 tons but only the size of a proton would
be created. These mini black holes have large gravitational attraction
governed by general relativity, while the laws of quantum mechanics
would apply to objects that small.
Another remarkable achievement of Hawking's using these techniques
was his "no boundary proposal" made in 1983 with Jim Hartle of Santa
Barbara.
In 1982 Hawking decided to write a popular book on cosmology. By
1984 he had produced a first draft of A Brief History of Time. However
Hawking was to suffer a further illness.
He was in Geneva, at CERN, the big particle accelerator, in the summer
of 1985. He caught pneumonia and was rushed to hospital. The hospital
in Geneva suggested to his wife that it was not worth keeping the life
support machine on. But she was having none of that. He was flown
back to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where a surgeon called
Roger Grey carried out a tracheotomy. That operation saved his life but
took away his voice.
Hawking was given a computer system to enable him to have an
electronic voice. It was with these difficulties that he revised the draft
of A Brief History of Time which was published in 1988. The book broke
sales records in a way that it would have been hard to predict. By May
1995 it had been in The Sunday Times best-sellers list for 237 weeks
breaking the previous record of 184 weeks. This feat is recorded in the
1998 Guinness Book of Records. Also recorded there is the fact that the
paperback edition was published on 6 April 1995 and reached number
one in the best sellers in 3 days. By April 1993 there had been 40
hardback editions of A Brief History of Time in the United States and 39
hardback editions in the UK.
In 2002 Hawking published on the shoulders of giants. The great works
of physics and astronomy. This book, which he edited, contains reprints
of nearly complete editions of: Copernicus, On the revolution of the
heavenly spheres (1543); Galileo, Dialogues concerning two new
sciences (1638); Kepler, Harmony of the world (Book Five) (1618);
Newton, Principia (1687); and seven papers on relativity by Einstein.
Each work is prefaced with a commentary by Hawking. Also from 7 to
10 January 2002 a workshop and symposium was held in Cambridge to
celebrate Hawking's 60th birthday. The Proceeding was published in
2003.
While many prominent physicists, cosmologists and astronomers have
made important contributions to the study of quantum gravity and
cosmology, the impact of Stephen Hawking's contributions to the field
truly stand out. Although his work on black hole thermodynamics is
perhaps the most well known, Hawking has also made major
contributions to the study of singularity theorems in general relativity,
black hole uniqueness, quantum fields in curved space-time’s,
Euclidean quantum gravity, the wave function of the universe and
many other areas as well. In addition to his own work, Hawking has
served as advisor and mentor to a remarkable set of students.
Furthermore, it would be hard to imagine assembling any list of
researchers working in quantum cosmology without including a large
number of Hawking's students and close colleagues. Thus the group
that gathered at the CMS in Cambridge in honour of his 60th birthday
includes some of the leading theorists in the field.
In 2005 Hawking published Information loss in black holes in which he
proposed a solution to the information loss paradox. In the same year
Black holes and the information paradox was published, being the
transcript of the famous talk Hawking gave at the 17th International
Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation in Dublin in 2004. In
2007 he published God created the integers. This is another anthology
edited by Hawking containing selections from the writings of twenty-
one mathematicians. For each mathematician he gives a brief
biography and puts the selection into its mathematical context.
Hawking has received, and continues to receive, a large number of
honors for his remarkable achievements. He was elected a Fellow of
the Royal Society in 1974, being one of its youngest fellows. In 1975 he
was awarded the Eddington Medal, in 1976 received the Hughes Medal
from the Royal Society, in 1979 he was awarded the Albert Einstein
Medal, in 1982 he was made a Commander of the British Empire by the
Queen, in 1985 he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical
Society, and in 1986 he was elected a Member of the Pontifical
Academy of Sciences. He continued to receive major honors such as the
prestigious Wolf Prize in Physics in 1988. In the following year he
received the Prince of Asturias Awards in Concord and also was made a
Companion of Honour. In 1999 he received the Julius Edgar Lilienfeld
Prize of the American Physical Society.
In 2003 Hawking was awarded the Michelson Morley Award of Case
Western Reserve University and in 2006 the Copley Medal of the Royal
Society. This last award, announced on 24 August 2006, was presented
to Hawking on the 30 November 2006 at the Society's annual
Anniversary Day, commemorating the foundation of the Society in
1660. This was the 275th anniversary of the Copley Medal and the
award to Hawking was marked in a unique way. The medal he received
had been carried by the British astronaut Piers Sellers on a Space.
Stephen Hawking has contributed as much as anyone since Einstein to
our understanding of gravity. This medal is a fitting recognition of an
astonishing research career spanning more than 40 years.
Hawking believe that life on Earth is at an ever increasing risk of being
wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a
genetically engineered virus, or other dangers.
Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlova was born on January 31, 1881, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
After attending the Imperial Ballet School, she made her company
debut in 1899 and quickly became prima ballerina. Her breakthrough
performance was in The Dying Swan in 1905, which became her
signature role. She joined the Ballet Russe in 1909 and formed her own
company in 1911. Contracting double pneumonia while on tour,
Pavlova died in 1931. Anna Pavlova was one of the most celebrated and
influential ballet dancers of her time. Her passion and grace are
captured in striking photographic portraits. Her legacy lives on through
dance schools, societies and companies established in her honor, and
perhaps most powerfully, in the future generations of dancers she
inspired.
Early Life
Anna Pavlova was born on January 31, 1881, a cold and snowy winter’s
day in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her mother, Lyubov Feodorovna was a
washerwoman. Her stepfather, Matvey Pavlov, was a reserve soldier.
The identity of Anna Pavlova’s biological father is unknown, though
some speculate that her mother had an affair with a banker named
Lazar Poliakoff. Anna’s active imagination and love of fantasy drew her
to the world of ballet. Although they were poor, Anna and her mother
were able to see a performance of The Sleeping Beauty at the
Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg when Anna was 8 years old. She
saw, the wide-eyed little girl declared she was resolved to become a
ballet dancer. Anna’s mother enthusiastically supported her pursuit.
Within just two years, Anna was accepted at the St. Petersburg Imperial
Ballet School, after passing the entry exam with flying colors. The
school was directed by famed ballet master Marius Petipa. At the
Imperial Ballet School, Petipa and Anna’s teachers, Ekaterina Vazem
and Pavel Gerdt, quickly recognized her extraordinary gift. Anna knew a
successful ballet career would require a lot more than just talent. Her
natural gift for dance, combined with her tireless work. In 1899 Anna
graduated the St. Petersburg Imperial Dance School at the age of 18—
gracefully leaping from school to stage in her hard-earned
transformation from ballet student to prima ballerina in the making.
On September 19, 1899, the gifted young ballerina made her company
debut, dancing in a group. The performance took place at the Mariinsky
Theatre in St. Petersburg—the same theater where, as a child, Anna
Pavlova had first decided to become a dancer.
Pavlova’s career soon blossomed. she gained increasing critical acclaim
and subsequent fame. But it was in 1905 that Anna Pavlova made her
breakthrough performance, when she danced the lead solo in
choreographer Michael Fokine’s The Dying Swan, with music by Camille
Saint-Saëns. With her delicate movements and intense facial
expressions, Anna managed to convey to the audience the play’s
complex message about the fragility and preciousness of life. The Dying
Swan was to become Anna Pavlova’s signature role. By 1906 she had
already successfully danced the difficult part of Giselle. Just seven years
into her ballet career, Anna was promoted to prima ballerina.
In 1907, Anna took leave on her first tour abroad. The tour stopped at
capital cities throughout Europe—including Berlin, Copenhagen and
Prague, among others. In response to the critical acclaim her
performances received, Anna signed up for a second tour in 1908.
In 1909, after having completed her second tour, Anna was invited to
join Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe on its historic tour, during the
opening season in Paris. During 1910, Anna toured the United Kingdom
and the United States. In 1911 Anna Pavlova took a major step in her
career—by forming her own ballet company.
Death and Legacy
In 1930, when Anna was 50 years old, her 30-year dance career had
come to physically wear on her. She decided to take a Christmas
vacation after wrapping up a particularly arduous tour in England. At
the end of her vacation, she boarded a train back to The Hague, where
she planned to resume dancing. On its way from Cannes to Paris, the
train was in an accident. Anna was unharmed in the accident, but she
was left waiting out the delay for 12 hours on the platform. It was a
snowy evening, and Anna was only wearing only a thin jacket and flimsy
silk pajamas. Once in Holland, within days of the accident, she
developed double pneumonia. Her illness quickly worsened. She died in
The Hague, Netherlands, in the wee hours of the morning, on January
23, 1931. Her ashes were interred at Golders Green Cemetery, near the
Ivy House where she had lived with her manager and husband, Victor
Dandré, in London, England.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July
18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe.
Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and
the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined
the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance
against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. He
went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.
After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the
setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC
executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and
agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in
Mandela's campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC.
The Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years'
imprisonment with hard labour. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused,
including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to
1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town;
thereafter, he was at Polls moor Prison, nearby on the mainland.
During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela was widely accepted as the
most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent
symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered
strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to
obtain his freedom.
Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release,
he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving to attain
the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In
1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South
Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was
elected President of the ANC.
Selected Bibliography
By Mandela
Mandela, Nelson. Nelson Mandela Speaks: Forging a Democratic,
Nonracial South Africa. New York: Pathfinder, 1993.
Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom. The Autobiography of Nelson
Mandela. Boston & New York: Little Brown, 1994.
Mandela, Nelson. The Struggle Is My Life. New York: Revised,
Pathfinder, 1986. Originally published as a tribute on his 60th birthday
in 1978. Speeches, writings, historical accounts, contributions by fellow
prisoners.
Other Sources
Benson, Mary. Nelson Mandela, the Man and the Movement.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1994. Updated from 1986 edition. Based on
interviews by a friend of Mandela since the 1950s.
De Klerk, Willem. F. W. de Klerk: The Man in His Time. Johannesburg:
Jonathan Ball, 1991. By his brother.
Gilbey, Emma. The Lady. The Life and Times of Winnie Mandela.
London: Cape, 1993. Most comprehensive biography.
Harrison, Nancy. Winnie Mandela: Mother of a Nation. London:
Gollancz, 1985. Authorized favorable biography.
Johns, Sheridan and R. Hunt Davis, Jr., eds. Mandela, Tambo and the
ANC: The Struggle Against Apartheid. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1991. Documentary survey.
Mandela, Winnie. Part of My Soul. NY & London: Norton, 1984. Edited
by Anne Benjamin and Mary Benson.
Meer, Fatima. Higher Than Hope: The Authorized Biography of Nelson
Mandela. NY: Harper, 1990. By family friend, with Mandela’s
corrections. Foreword by Winnie Mandela.
M Meredith, Martin. Nelson Mandela. A Biography. New York: St,
Martin’s, 1998. By an authority on South Africa. Recommended reading.
Ottaway, David. Chained Together. Mandela de Klerk and the Struggle
to Remake South Africa. New York: Times Books, 1993. Critical
treatment by well-informed journalist.
Sparks, Allister. Tomorrow Is Another Country: The Inside Story of South
Africa’s Road to Change. New York: Hill & Wang, 1995. By a
distinguished South African journalist.
Waldmeir, Patti. Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the
Birth of a New South Africa. London: Viking, 1997.
From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1991-1995, Editor Irwin Abrams, World
Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1999
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and
first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and
republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the
source as shown above.
For more updated biographical information, see:
Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson
Mandela. Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 1994.
