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QUESTIONS FOR STEPHEN HAWKING - The Science of Second-Guessing, DEBORAH SOLOMON, NYT, 12.12.2004
Q: What do you think was the most important physics idea to emerge this year?
A: We won't know for a few years.
Q: What about the recent discovery that teleportation of very small particles is actually possible? Will we one day be able to whisk ourselves through space the way they did on ''Star Trek''?
Q: The ''Star Trek'' version is bogus, but there's a sense in which Hawking radiation -- the light and particles that come out of black holes -- escapes by teleportation.
Q: Speaking of black holes, you recently confessed that you had made an error in your famous theory about them.
A: My discovery that black holes emit radiation raised serious problems of consistency with the rest of physics. I have now resolved these problems, but the answer turned out to be not what I expected.
Q: Do you feel that scientists correct themselves as often as they should?
A: More often than politicians, but not as often as they should.
Q: What is your I.Q.?
A: I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.
Q: How can we know if you qualify as a genius physicist, as you are invariably described?
A: The media need superheroes in science just as in every sphere of life, but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.
Q; Are you saying you are not a genius?
A: I hope I'm near the upper end of the range.
Q: With all your intense erudition, why do you bother writing pop-science books about the universe, the latest of which is the illustrated version of ''On the Shoulders of Giants''?
A: I want my books sold on airport bookstalls.
Q: Are you always this cheerful?
A: Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.
Q: Seriously, how do you keep your spirits up?
A: My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Q: Indeed, incurable motor-neuron disease has confined you to a wheelchair and caused you to lose the ability even to speak. Is a computer your only means of communication?
A: I use an on-screen software keyboard, called E Z KEYS. I access this keyboard via a single button switch that I hold in my hand.
Q: You have long been associated with Cambridge University, in England, and I'm wondering whether you find Americans to be equally knowledegable about science.
A: I have found far greater enthusiasm for science in America than here in Britain. There is more enthusiasm for everything in America.
Q: How can you say that? Just last month a Gallup poll found that only 35 percent of Americans accept Darwin's theory of evolution, while 45 percent prefer the creationist view.
A: Maybe it is because people in America have less sense of belonging to a tradition and culture than in Europe, so they turn to fundamental religion.
Q: Do you believe in God?
A: I don't believe in a personal God.
Q: What do you think of President Bush's plan to get to Mars in 10 years?
A: Stupid. Robots would do a better job and be much cheaper because you don't have to bring them back.
Q: Do you think people will ever live on a planet besides Earth?
A: Yes, if we don't self-destruct first.
Q: What do you and your academic friends make of the debate over embryonic-stem-cell research in this country?
A: In Britain, like most of the developed world, stem-cell research is regarded as a great opportunity. America will be left behind if it doesn't change policy.
Q: Could stem-cell research help you at all?
A: Like Christopher Reeve, I'm very much in favor, but unlike he did, I don't expect to benefit personally.
Q: What do you think was the most important physics idea to emerge this year?
A: We won't know for a few years.
Q: What about the recent discovery that teleportation of very small particles is actually possible? Will we one day be able to whisk ourselves through space the way they did on ''Star Trek''?
Q: The ''Star Trek'' version is bogus, but there's a sense in which Hawking radiation -- the light and particles that come out of black holes -- escapes by teleportation.
Q: Speaking of black holes, you recently confessed that you had made an error in your famous theory about them.
A: My discovery that black holes emit radiation raised serious problems of consistency with the rest of physics. I have now resolved these problems, but the answer turned out to be not what I expected.
Q: Do you feel that scientists correct themselves as often as they should?
A: More often than politicians, but not as often as they should.
Q: What is your I.Q.?
A: I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.
Q: How can we know if you qualify as a genius physicist, as you are invariably described?
A: The media need superheroes in science just as in every sphere of life, but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.
Q; Are you saying you are not a genius?
A: I hope I'm near the upper end of the range.
Q: With all your intense erudition, why do you bother writing pop-science books about the universe, the latest of which is the illustrated version of ''On the Shoulders of Giants''?
A: I want my books sold on airport bookstalls.
Q: Are you always this cheerful?
A: Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.
Q: Seriously, how do you keep your spirits up?
A: My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Q: Indeed, incurable motor-neuron disease has confined you to a wheelchair and caused you to lose the ability even to speak. Is a computer your only means of communication?
A: I use an on-screen software keyboard, called E Z KEYS. I access this keyboard via a single button switch that I hold in my hand.
Q: You have long been associated with Cambridge University, in England, and I'm wondering whether you find Americans to be equally knowledegable about science.
A: I have found far greater enthusiasm for science in America than here in Britain. There is more enthusiasm for everything in America.
Q: How can you say that? Just last month a Gallup poll found that only 35 percent of Americans accept Darwin's theory of evolution, while 45 percent prefer the creationist view.
A: Maybe it is because people in America have less sense of belonging to a tradition and culture than in Europe, so they turn to fundamental religion.
Q: Do you believe in God?
A: I don't believe in a personal God.
Q: What do you think of President Bush's plan to get to Mars in 10 years?
A: Stupid. Robots would do a better job and be much cheaper because you don't have to bring them back.
Q: Do you think people will ever live on a planet besides Earth?
A: Yes, if we don't self-destruct first.
Q: What do you and your academic friends make of the debate over embryonic-stem-cell research in this country?
A: In Britain, like most of the developed world, stem-cell research is regarded as a great opportunity. America will be left behind if it doesn't change policy.
Q: Could stem-cell research help you at all?
A: Like Christopher Reeve, I'm very much in favor, but unlike he did, I don't expect to benefit personally.
