Going in to the talk, I was familiar with intermediate levels of physics and some knowledge of star cycles and such. I was amazed at how easily the speaker was able to put complicated topics in to very easy to understand sections. There was almost no prerequisite knowledge needed to understand what was being conveyed. I learned a great deal about what made Hawking famous with the mathematical proof that black holes can form after a certain threshold is passed, or initial mass. I was unaware of the Black Hole Information Loss Paradox and it was interesting to hear that there are so many unsolved problems still in physics that can’t be answered by the tools that we currently possess. Another thing that interested me was his condition. I am very familiar with ALS and was aware that he had the condition, but I did not know that it started to affect him in his twenties. This is fairly early for the disease to start to show symptoms. It was also incredible how long he was able to persist with the average lifespan after diagnosis being 5~10 years.
Yes, it seems it is difficult to separate Hawking’s personal story, which is so compelling, with his scientific career. Many of us know him more recently as a science advocate and writer. It s nice to know the talk made you appreciate each of these a bit more as we embark on our trip.