Hawking and the Mind of God

Author: Peter Coles and Xingmin Qi
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Hawking has demonstrated in practice that what John Milton said is true: "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." He has proven with his thoughts the song of Hamlet: "Though I be taken in a cabin, I am king of infinite space." Stephen Hawking has reached a unique position in contemporary culture, combining the remarkable achievements in the remote field of theoretical physics with the fame usually reserved for movie stars and rock musicians. However, Hawking's specialized work is being challenged in its conceptual scope and mathematical details, to the extent that understanding its significance properly is beyond the grasp of most people except for a few experts. So, how did the scientist Stephen Hawking become the icon Stephen Hawking? Hawking's theories often place him in such intellectual territory that has traditionally belonged to religion rather than science. In the conclusion of his best-selling book A Brief History of Time, he explicitly acknowledges this, where he states that his ultimate goal was to understand the mind of God. Hawking and the Mind of God examines the quasi-religious implications of certain key themes in Hawking's works, which not only illuminate the phenomenon of Hawking worship itself but also shed light on a broader debate: how scientists present themselves in the media.