Here's a case in which I doubt my friend/sister Beth would say, "Screw Bronze!"
Professor Stephen Hawking will have a bronze statue cast in his honor and placed near his office in the Cambridge University Centre for Theoretical Cosmology. The artist has not given a date for when the ten foot statue will be finished and set.
I don't understand how there are people who don't know what strides this man has made in science. Did you read the comments section of the article? I present for your shock the first commenter, Mr. Keith Sloan -- "I wish I had a better understanding of what Stephen Hawking's has actually achieved. Okay there is theory of Hawking Radiation with Black holes, but I thought it was unproven and some experts completely be-little his maths/calculations. Stephen seems totally over rated when compared to say Newton."
A) I'll be nice and ignore your grammar (e.g., the possessive in the first sentence).
B) Not all scientists agree with each other, Mr. Sloan. In fact, your precious Isaac Newton had his deterrents (e.g., Robert Hooke, the father of microscopy and the man who coined the term "cell"). Half the fun of science is coming up with new, radical ideas, and just because Dr. Hawking's hypothesis is still being discussed does not mean he's overrated. I figure if you're going to put yourself on a first-name basis with one of the greatest minds of our time, the least you could do is be a bit more polite.
Or how about Mr. Ben Cossey who cuts to the chase: " . . . he's done nothing note-worthy and i find it a little insulting he gets a statue."
A) "I" is capitalized.
B) If he's done nothing noteworthy, why is he paid to travel the world to speak? Why did the Cambridge students set all this in motion? Speaking as a former university instructor and future university professor, there is no greater honor than to be told by a student that you are an effective educator. And I promise you, if you say he's getting special attention because of his disability, my 300+ pound wheelchair with my 130ish pound fat ass in it may just show your feet or knees some special attention.
Congratulations, Dr. Hawking. Thank you Cambridge students and Ms. Shepherd.
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2 comments:
*grins* Well said!
I enjoyed reading Dr. Hawking in Scientific American at least 15 years ago, when he first reported the ability of black holes to allow matter to escape. I've enjoyed everything of his that I have read. He definitely deserves the honour.
However, I can also say that he's a terrible actor: I saw him on a Star Trek episode, and you could tell it was the real Dr. Hawking playing poker with Data. He was grinning from ear to ear, and was obviously having the time of his life, when he should have had his poker face on.
Oh well, as an actor, he makes a GREAT theoretical physicist!
Hugs,
Neil
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