Stephen Hawking was too ill to attend his 70th birthday party, but he still encouraged people to "look up at the stars" and seek answers about the universe. Everyone knows who he is, and has some familiarity with his work. But there is one more thing he has to teach us, and it will tell us as much about him as any book.
He should have been dead by 1965.
ALS is a devastating disease. When he was diagnosed, Hawking admits it was difficult to continue to work for his doctorate because he wasn't sure he would live long enough to accomplish the goal. He was depressed, as anyone would be, and considered giving up. How different the world of physics would be if that had happened. It's virtually unheard of for someone to survive ALS for so many years. If he had decided to feel sorry for himself, would his body have given in? Or would a lifetime of bitterness have consumed one of the world's smartest men?
Good thing we won't have to answer that question. Hawking decided to work and do what he could while he could, and nearly fifty years later we have a legacy that has forever changed science and our understanding of the universe.
By the way, from a geeky perspective, I will never forget Hawking's birthday because it falls on the same day as my husband's. 70 years and holding relatively strong, may we be writing next year about his 71st.
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