Talk:Stephen Hawking/Archive 10

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Should The Boycott be Added NOW?

It's been a couple of weeks and everythings been clarified. There should be a section on his political views. 92.22.9.28 (talk) 12:35, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

What will it say and what are your sources? (I actually have no idea what you're talking about, and nor will many other readers. You need to explain a bit better than that.) HiLo48 (talk) 13:20, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

It's the information about the Israel-Palestine boycott, and it has been included in the article for weeks and weeks now. See the section 2000 to present. Per above discussions and unless things change, per WP:UNDUE it doesn't warrant anything more than a brief mention. Hawking has made similar pronouncements in the past, and we don't need to do more than list the ones that really made the news. --Slp1 (talk) 13:34, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

So what's our IP editor talking about? HiLo48 (talk) 23:23, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 4 July 2013

I think the following: "involving the possibility of black holes have more than one topology.", should be replaced w/: "involving the possibility of black holes having more than one topology.", or, alternatively w/: "involving the possibility that black holes have more than one topology.", because current entry has a tense problem. Thank you for considering this request. 24.52.15.253 (talk) 15:56, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Done - Thanks! --ElHef (Meep?) 16:33, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Religious beliefs - or absence of religious beliefs

We need to get this question settled before an edit war breaks out.

1. Is his religion, or lack thereof, relevant to his notability - in other words, do we really need to mention it at all?

2. In terms of the BLP rules only a properly referenced directly quoted statement by the subject himself can be used to substantiate a statement in the article about a person's religious beliefs or lack thereof.

3. A later statement (that complies with 2 above) replaces and nullifies any and all earlier statement(s) that contradict it.

Is it relevant? I think it is, because he has been reported to make statements about god(s) and the origin (and ultimate fate) of the universe. Towards the end of the 2000–present section there is a correctly quoted and sourced statement (that complies with the BLP rules as explained above) that he does not believe in the existence of a god - which is the definition of atheism. This statement was published after an earlier discussion on this talk page reached a weak consensus that he was a deist. The later statement nullifies any and all sources used to reach that consensus, thus that consensus is no longer valid. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 07:34, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

@Roger (Dodger67) - Thank you *very much* for your comments - and for starting this section - Hawking seems to choose his words *very, very* carefully - which requires readers to read his words *very, very* carefully - Hawking does not directly say he does not personally believe in God in the quote (see below) - there's a big difference between presenting an academic "explanation" (that "there is no God") (which Hawking does) and presenting his personal "belief" (that "there is no God") (which Hawking does not) - perhaps a WP:reliable source that Hawking does not personally believe in any God, including an indifferent (or impersonal) God, as defined by Spinoza for example (and believed by Einstein?), and as noted in an earlier discussion, would be helpful in this discussion? - in any case - thanks again for your comments - and - Enjoy! :) Drbogdan (talk) 12:32, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Copied from Stephen Hawking article:

"We are each free to believe what we want and it is my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful."

— Stephen Hawking, Discovery Channel (August 15, 2011)

I read the phrases "...it is my view that..." and "This leads me to a profound realisation." to mean he is stating what he believes to be true, thus it is a clear statement that he is an atheist. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 13:17, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Hello all. As you may or may not know, I have been (very slowly, especially recently) working on this article to clean up and clarify certain aspects. The whole religion thing is something that I have been putting off because it is such a minefield, with biographers etc saying very different things about his religious beliefs; sometimes, I get the impression depending on what they themselves believe. I also get the impression that that may have happened here, with WP editors over the years selecting quotes from Hawking that allow them to claim him as one of their own. The other thing I note is that Hawking himself does give mixed messages and seems to have changed his mind a fair bit over the years - not unusual of course, and also something that he has been known to do in his physics work too. I agree that this is an important topic about Hawking, because it is a subject that gets a lot of coverage in reliable sources, and that clear statements from him are what we require. But I will also agree that Hawking has often been maddeningly obscure/obstuse about these things and as a result we have to be careful that we as editors don't engage in OR about what he actually means. There are plenty of good secondary sources doing that already, and the answer is to summarize them fairly. It's not going to be easy though, which is why I have been finding excuses to delay! Slp1 (talk) 13:56, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for the comments - brief followup to recent comments by Roger (Dodger67) above => yes, but "...it is my view that..." suggests an academic sense to me, and not a personal one (after all, the word "view", and not the word "belief", is being used in the phrase) - incidently, a keyword, to me, in the quoted phrasing above is the word "probably" - an atheist may believe more assuredly about such notions I would think - a believer, at least of some sort, may have some doubt - and leave the door open, so-to-speak, to a better appreciation (or a "profound realization"?) of the older traditional beliefs - or a "profound realization" of some newer ones? - maybe some better, more clear WP:Reliable Source, would help? - this all may be in line w/ recent comments by Slp1 as well - in any regards - hope my present comments help in some way - and - Enjoy! :) Drbogdan (talk) 15:09, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

• From the quotes, I don't see that Hawking self-identifies as either an atheist or a deist per se; rather, I'm seeing that he has made somewhat contradictory statements that could variously be interpreted either way or, if one splits hairs, perhaps neither way. Assuming the more recent statement nullifies the earlier one, then it sounds a lot like atheism, but (1) I don't think we can assume such nullification and (2) I think it's still a bit of a leap to put the atheist label on him (just as it would be a leap to label him a deist if he hadn't made the later statement). Better to leave the field blank and just include in the text what he has said on the subject. That will allow readers to draw their own conclusions and will avoid labeling him in Wikipedia's voice. Rivertorch (talk) 16:51, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

@Rivertorch - FWIW - Thank you for commenting - your comments seem reasonable - I thoroughly support your suggestion to keep the field blank - for now - at least until further clarifications of the issue become available - Thanks again - Enjoy! :) Drbogdan (talk) 17:33, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

 Done - removed [ [Category:Deist]] - field is now blank - hopefully, this is *entirely* ok w/ all? - Enjoy! :) Drbogdan (talk) 17:46, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

A good solution - let him speak for himself and do his own hairsplitting if he wishes. This again shows how problematic the "overuse" of categories can be. Categories tend to force a black/white binary and don't allow for the full spectrum inbetween. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 11:36, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

Simple categories and simplistic Infobox entries are a blight on Wikipedia, especially when it comes to religion. And we shouldn't be drawing ANY conclusions. That's original research, and not permitted. HiLo48 (talk) 11:44, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I agree 200% about the dangerous B and W nature of cats and infonboxes as I result I usually simply do not get involved with editing them etc. Despite this(!) I have just removed another one cat: "Critics of Religions" or something similar. I've read several bios and I have seen no criticism of religions either specifically or generally that would justify this in a BLP article. But "Religious Skeptic" is probably okay, don't you agree? Slp1 (talk) 11:46, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

@Slp1 - Yes, I *entirely* agree w/ you on the categories - I thought about the same ones earlier - and in a similar way - but decided, at the time, to leave any edit activity to a better day - Enjoy! :) Drbogdan (talk) 12:20, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

I think he is atheist, say clear atheist. As far as I know, an atheist is somebody who does not believe in God or deities(Oxford illustrated dictionary). Then what is the problem to add his religion as Atheism. I respected him earlier but his book Grand design set me thinking his atheism. Benison talk with me 16:04, 28 August 2013 (UTC)

"I think he is..." <- This really drives the point home. WRT article content nobody cares what you, I, or any other WP editor, "thinks". We are only allowed to report reliably sourced facts, our own interpretations and/or opinions are completely irrelevant. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 16:19, 28 August 2013 (UTC)

@Roger (Dodger67) - Yes, I *entirely* agree w/ you on this also - but even moreso re WP:ALIVE afaik, *any* religious designation requires that the person has "publicly self-identified with the belief in question" - ie, the WP:Reliable Source needs to cite the person themselves - and not someone else - this does not seem to have (clearly) happened w/ Stephen Hawking at the moment - in any case - hope this helps in some way - Enjoy! :) Drbogdan (talk) 18:24, 28 August 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 4 August 2013

The IPA pronunciation guide for Hawking's name is wrong. Could it please be changed to 'stiːvən 'hɔːkɪŋ Kiyobean (talk) 18:34, 4 August 2013 (UTC)

I might be stupid and/or blind, but I think that's identical. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 21:31, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

@Martijn Hoekstra:. I don't understand IPA so I can't help, but a direct comparison in edit mode shows that the difference is "ə" in place of "ɛ".--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:13, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

 Done. Well spotted! Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 17:43, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for handling that. Now I just have to find out whether I'm blind or stupid. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 21:15, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 24 November 2013

{edit semi-protected|answered=yes}}

Please add Hawking's 2011 book entitled "The Dreams that Stuff is Made of." This is a selection of the earth ground breaking papers on quantum physics edited by Hawking. You might also point out the connection with "The stuff that dreams are made of" from The Maltese Falcon. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.83.182.22 (talk) 02:22, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Notification: Featured Article Review for Stephen Hawking

There are some serious deficiencies which several users have identified in this article that impacts whether it continues to say at FA status. It was promoted earlier this year after an FAC that wasn't rigorous. Please feel free to comment and contribute to the debate at Wikipedia:Featured article review/Stephen Hawking/archive1 on whether this article should be delisted and what work needs to be done.--ColonelHenry (talk) 17:08, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

Post-nominal initials

The lead specifies the following post-nominal initials: CH CBE FRS FRSA.

The infobox specifies the following post-nominal initials: CH CBE

I am not sure that post-nominal initials below in the infobox at all. Template:Infobox scientist specifies that the name parameter should be "the name that scientist was usually known by. Do not put the full expanded name here."

However, if any initials are included in the infobox, shouldn't they all? Is there any reason to be selective? —sroc 💬 13:58, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

First to propose GR/QM cosmology?

The header of the article claims that Hawking was the first to propose a cosmology including both GR and QM. This was not supported by any references until recently. The current reference demonstrates that Hawking did work incorporating both GR and QM, but since it is a paper by Hawking himself it doesn't seem like the appropriate reference for demonstrating that he was the first (although I haven't read more than the first couple paragraphs of the paper). If someone knows of a reference that can demonstrate this claim it would be greatly appreciated. Azaghal of Belegost (talk) 22:21, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Edit request, Early life and education

"Despite family financial constraints," reads wrong, does not refer to the family where he was raised as implied by the article; should be "despite their family's financial constraints ...". 68.58.224.249 (talk) 04:21, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Done, thanks! --ElHef (Meep?) 03:37, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Wrong Thesis Date

The thesis date in the "at a glance" section lists 1956. I believe this is a typo and should be 1965 according to other documentation online as well as listed in this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.136.236.176 (talk) 05:12, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Fixed. Thanks! Rivertorch (talk) 07:25, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

PROTECTED?

I think the real reason this article has been given this 'protected' status is purely to exclude certain biographical details from the subject's profile which had been included in the original article. The original stated, correctly, that Hawking's mother was Scottish, from Glasgow, and he was therefore duly categorized as an Anglo-Scot. It is clear the Little Englanders have conspired and with the obvious cooperation of Wikipedia to have this 'regrettable' detail permanently removed from his biography in order to create the illusion he is a 'son of England' in the genetic as well as national sense. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.78.251.170 (talk) 04:00, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

The article's protection level has been adjusted a whopping 21 times since it was created. It has been semi-protected for the 28 months, and the vandals have been kept largely at bay during that period. If you'd like to propose specific changes to the article, please feel free. Be sure to include reliable sources. If you'd like the semi-protection removed, you can make a request at WP:RPP; however, I think you'll find that suggestions of anti-Scottish conspiracies are unlikely to prove persuasive. Rivertorch (talk) 06:28, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Add more detail on voice

Since this article is protected, I cannot add this myself, so I leave it to the community... Stephen uses a DECtalk DTC01 speech synthesizer. The voice is the default male voice, "Perfect Paul". It is not Hawking's own voice nor modelled on it. The synthesizer he uses today is different, yet retains the "Perfect Paul" voice. References: http://wsportafolios.wikispaces.com/file/view/STEPHEN+HAWKING.doc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECtalk 108.213.76.24 (talk) 17:54, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 February 2014

Hawking received his PhD in 1966 (see url, http://www.worldcat.org/title/properties-of-expanding-universes/oclc/62793673). In the box on the side it says he received it in 1956 when he would have been 14. 216.40.151.11 (talk) 06:49, 14 February 2014 (UTC) Y Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:41, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

pre 22 picture?

Can we get a picture of him as a young man?--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 06:11, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Ph.D. award?

Since when is a Ph.D. an award? Is an M.Sc. or B.Sc. an award as well? I would move this to another heading (away from awards). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.103.201.120 (talk) 00:05, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

Photo

New Profile picture? http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NASA-Can-Stop-Looking-for-Black-Holes-Says-Stephen-Hawking-2.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.84.167.153 (talk) 16:57, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 May 2014

Please change the wording in the first sentence under University. The existing text reads as follows: "Hawking was educated at the University of Oxford in October 1959 at the age of 17."

This should read "Hawking began his education at the University of Oxford...", or "Hawking entered the University of Oxford..." I'm pretty sure his Oxford education wasn't just in October 1959.  :) Minkymoe (talk) 04:39, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

Quite right. I have fixed it. Thank you for drawing our attention to it. HiLo48 (talk) 04:45, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 May 2014

"Hawking had experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at Oxford, including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing.[69][70] Nevertheless, the problems worsened..."

Nevertheless means "in spite of that", which is exactly the opposite of the intended meaning. An adverb isn't needed there; removing that one word would fix the problem: "The problems worsened...".

Minkymoe (talk) 04:50, 4 May 2014 (UTC) Minkymoe (talk) 04:50, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

Yep. Fixed. I can't wait until you've been here long enough to be allowed to edit these things yourself! Keep up the good work. HiLo48 (talk) 06:08, 4 May 2014 (UTC)

Religious views

There is no mention of Stephen's religious views?? 14.139.229.35 (talk) 22:22, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Are you suggesting there should be some mention? What should it be? HiLo48 (talk) 22:32, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Yes. This page suggests he is an atheist- http://www.space.com/20710-stephen-hawking-god-big-bang.html 14.139.229.35 (talk) 11:23, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

But why mention it? HiLo48 (talk) 18:04, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

Good question. All I know is that editors have taken a keen interest in the subject on every scientist on my watchlist, supplying references and quotes. Hawkeye7 (talk) 04:10, 11 May 2014 (UTC) There is no God and Dirac is His prophet

Vandalism

Someone has put "Hawking travelled extensively to promote his work, and enjoyed partying and dancing[citation needed] into the small hours." This is obviously untrue, as he was in a wheelchair at the time. Could someone fix this? It should look like this: "Hawking travelled extensively to promote his work." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.27.77.192 (talk) 16:01, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

how the universe started

how about the positive and negative atoms one light one dark was god playing marbles and when they collided our universe was the result. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.242.120.122 (talk) 17:14, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Biggest blunder reference not correct

Somewhere half through the 2000-present part, it says:

In the 2005 paper he published on the subject, he argued that the information paradox was explained by examining all the alternative histories of universes, with the information loss in those with black holes being cancelled out by those without.[222][288] In January 2014 he called this his "biggest blunder." [289]

If you follow reference 289:

Hawking changes mind about Black Holes United Press International

You won't find that Hawkings said that this was his biggest blunder. If you do a quick search on the internet you'll find enough articles where his quote is indeed mentioned. So maybe the reference should change? This one seems like a good candidate:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328460.500-stephen-hawking-at-70-exclusive-interview.html

Also, I don't think it's clear in the context of the sentence WHAT exactly his biggest blunder was. In the interview Hawkings says his biggest blunder was the thought of information being lost in black holes, but if you read the sentence we have on Wikipedia, one might think that his biggest blunder was the 2005 paper where he argued that the information paradox can be explained by examining all the alternative histories of universes etc.

Edit: While I'm exploring this subject a bit more, I notice that he said this in 2012 and not 2014. So, maybe we're talking about some other 'biggest blunder'? I'm a bit confused now...

This still hasn't been fixed in our article. As the above poster points out, our article is vague as to what the biggest blunder was, using an antecedentless "this". The mention of his "biggest blunder" is cited to what is now ref #288; this source does not contain the quote and at the bottom it says that it has been updated to remove a fictional quote (stemming from a joke article about US politician Michelle Bachmann). However, the New Scientist article cited by the above poster gives the following question and answer:

Einstein referred to the cosmological constant as his "biggest blunder". What was yours?

I used to think that information was destroyed in black holes. But the AdS/CFT correspondence led me to change my mind. This was my biggest blunder, or at least my biggest blunder in science.

Please correct the citation in our article giving the source that actually contains the " biggest blunder" quote, and please clarify specifically what the blunder was. Thanks! 208.50.124.65 (talk) 17:54, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Please undo vandalism of 1:40 on 27 April 2014

It's presumably by a sock puppet of banned user NaomiNaomiNaomi, who did the same vandalism on 29 March and which was reverted on 4 April. 208.50.124.65 (talk) 22:40, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 August 2014

Please add, to the list of doctoral students, Christophe Galfard, who was Stephen Hawking's Ph.D. student until 2006 (and from 2000), as you can check here: http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=112214

or on "Christophe Galfard" on French Wikipedia:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christophe_Galfard

or in the acknowledgments of Hawking's 2005 paper below:

http://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-th/0507171.pdf

Thank you.

Tristam Drake (talk) 16:16, 14 August 2014 (UTC)

The list of doctoral students is only for notable people. In other words, that means people who have a Wikipedia article on them. Stickee (talk) 03:33, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

 Done Just noticed he had an article on fr.wiki. Stickee (talk) 03:48, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

Time travel party

Is there some reason why this event was not added? See here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/02/stephen-hawking-time-travel_n_1643488.html StainlessSteelScorpion (talk) 15:21, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

This is one of the favorite Hawking stories told. It illustrates his thought experiment skills, his time travel beliefs, and his wit. I agree that inclusion is a good addition. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/time-travel-simulation-resolves-grandfather-paradox/ ; a RS? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/10488058/Professor-Hawking-fan-tries-to-prove-time-travel-by-creating-invitations-for-party-thats-already-happened.html ; http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/stories/stephen-hawking-invites-you-to-a-party-for-time-travelers-that-may-have ; Is this one considered a RS? British newspapers are quite confusing! http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/02/time-travellers-invited-to-professor-stephen-hawkings-party-itll-be-in-2009-4210850/

Thank you, you get the idea, Wordreader (talk) 16:40, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

Recent atheism comments

Regarding the recent atheism story, I never before heard of the source this article cites, called "Raw Story". Here are some sources you can substitute that are main stream, including the El Mundo original (an online translator will help non-Spanish speakers): http://www.elmundo.es/ciencia/2014/09/21/541dbc12ca474104078b4577.html ; follow-up article http://www.elmundo.es/ciencia/2014/09/24/5421d8dc268e3ee8458b4588.html ; http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/im-atheist-stephen-hawking-god-space-travel-n210076 ; http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/09/25/Stephen-Hawking-admits-he-is-an-atheist/9961411640924/ ; video http://www.ajc.com/videos/news/astrophysicist-stephen-hawking-says-he-is-an/vCtFKr/ .

The following is not a main stream source, but I like the title: "In the Least Surprising News You’ll Hear Today, Stephen Hawking is an Atheist" - http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/09/24/in-the-least-surprising-news-youll-hear-today-stephen-hawking-is-an-atheist/ .

Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 16:42, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

New book

Next month a book titled "Starmus" written by Hawking will be released. Should it be mentioned? --217.21.43.22 (talk) 15:40, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

We don't appear to list all his books. We have a selected list (four lists really) under Bibliography. I think time will have to tell us if the new book fits into any one of those lists. HiLo48 (talk) 17:40, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Benedict Cumberbatch photo

I question the addition of the photo of Benedict Cumberbatch to this article. The article isn't in a fan magazine site, but is an encyclopedic entry on the scientist, Stephen Hawking. Showing good sense, there's no photo of Hawking in the Cumberbatch article. Please consider striking it. Leave the bulleted comment on the film with a WP link to Cumberbatch or change the list to paragraph form. Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 17:03, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

Please delete Cumberbatch - his photo here is plain silly. I'd do it myself since nobody has countered my post, but I'm afraid the hole will mess with the formatting and I won't be able to fix it. I promise you that I'm not a Cumberbatch disliker. I'm glad he won an Emmy. I swear that I wait with as much anticipation as anyone for new Sherlock episodes to air. He just doesn't belong here. Thank you, Wordreader (talk) 22:59, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

 Done I have deleted it - causing no formatting problem that I can see in IE11 displayed on a wide screen. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 09:43, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

Edit request Hawking's speech

Intel has worked with Hawking to develop a new speech system, this paragraph is no longer up to date. See: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2853905/intel-swiftkey-upgrade-stephen-hawkings-communication-technology.html

"In a method he uses to this day, using a switch he selects phrases, words or letters from a bank of about 2500–3000 that are scanned.[79][80] The program was originally run on a desktop computer. However, Elaine Mason's husband, David, a computer engineer, adapted a small computer and attached it to his wheelchair.[81] Released from the need to use somebody to interpret his speech, Hawking commented that "I can communicate better now than before I lost my voice."[82] The voice he uses has an American accent and is no longer produced.[83][84] Despite the availability of other voices, Hawking has retained his original voice, saying that he prefers his current voice and identifies with it.[85] At this point, Hawking activated a switch using his hand and could produce up to 15 words a minute.[86]"

Anvilamster (talk) 05:12, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 December 2014

Please, close '{{plainlist' template in the children field of the main infobox MDA (talk) 08:04, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

It is closed. Materialscientist (talk) 08:06, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, but it is formed improperly: the field 'religion' is treated as an argument to the plainlist template, and therefor is ignored. Obviously it's an argument of the main infobox. So the closing '}}' statement should be moved up --MDA (talk) 08:12, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

 Done The plainlist is now closed correctly

However, "Religion" still does not show, as it is not a parameter supported by Template:Infobox scientist - Arjayay (talk) 08:48, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

Citation overkill

Currently (2014-05-23 14:09) this page is littered with excessive citations. This seems to be a case of Wikipedia:Citation_overkill. Here is one example: "He is a vocal supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]". Here is the prime example: "During his career Hawking has supervised 39 successful PhD students.[2][3][4][5][319][320][321][322][6][323][324][325][7][326][327][328][8][329][9][330][331][332][333][334][335][10][11][336][337][338][339][340][341][342][343][344][345][346][347][348]". The page also seems to have a citation every other line. Obviously having a citation is important for controversial/moot statements, but this does seem in excess. Either way I cannot edit this page. --User:Stevenchartis

Agreed - it looks idiotic. If there are no objections, I'll explore ways to group the 39 dissertation cites into a table or something. Thoughts? jxm (talk) 15:46, 11 November 2014 (UTC)

I agree. At the end of the 1st paragraph there are 10 consecutive citations; that's too many. Some or most of the citations should be moved or deleted.--Solomonfromfinland (talk) 03:42, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

What's amazing about the 10 citations at the end of the Lead section's opening paragraph is that NONE of them support the material. Two of them are dead links and none of the remaining eight (several of which are just the publications' list of articles on Hawking) mention the MWI.

Also, why did none of you three work to fix the problem over a month ago? Nightscream (talk) 01:32, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 January 2015

This page significantly under-represents SWH's PhD students. He actually had 30 or 40 (including me). The page seems to include only those with Wikipedia pages, only a comparatively small selection of his total number.

Prof Jonathan Halliwell Imperial College 86.155.24.150 (talk) 19:50, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 19:54, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 January 2015

Now that it is January 8th 2015, Stephen Hawking is 73 years old not 72. Happy Birthday Mr. Hawking!

138.192.86.27 (talk) 17:28, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

The infobox shows he is 73. RudolfRed (talk) 17:48, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

Add to "Appearances in popular media" In 1997,his synthesiser voice was recorded for the Radiohead track "Fitter Happier" on the OK Computer album. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.179.101.220 (talk) 19:37, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Add to "Appearances in popular media" In 2013, he starred in and narrated a documentary chronologically detailing his upbringing, disease progression, and scientific discoveries. The following year he voiced himself for The Theory of Everything, a dramatic interpretation of his relationship with former wife Jane Wilde; Eddie Redmayne won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his portrayal of Hawking in his youth. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.168.136.7 (talk) 21:21, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

European Organi*z*ation for Nuclear Research

The official name in English of CERN spells "organization" with a "z" not an "s". See Oxford spelling if you're going to complain that it's "not British English". I can't fix because it's protected. --80.15.91.77 (talk) 01:28, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Addition to "Appearances in Popular Media"

Hi Wikipedia administrators,

just thought I would bring to your attention the fact that this "Stephen Hawking" page now needs an addition in its "Appearance in Popular Media" section. Obviously the new film "The Theory of Everything" based on Jane Hawking's biography of Professor Stephen would be a main point in this section, especially after the notoriety the Oscars would have brought it.

I hope someone can get onto it soon. I was paging through his page, and then wanted to go back to the film, and thought I would go to "appearances in popular media" and click the link from there. To which I was surprised to see no such link existed!

Thanks for the remarkable work, everyone! Love it.

Best regards,

James Preston Durban, South Africa — Preceding unsigned comment added by JamesPrestonZA (talk • contribs) 08:34, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Added a mention. BTW you don't have to be an administrator to modify the page; anyone who is WP:AUTOCONFIRMED can do it. Rolf H Nelson (talk) 06:08, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Unprofessional language in Education > Graduate section

Some of the language in the Wikipedia page for Stephen Hawking, section Education, subsection Graduate is unprofessional, including the use of present tense rather than past tense and the inclusion of imprecise and inappropriately emotional language. The text in question includes:

"However, two years slipped away quickly and he was still breathing. Miraculously, the disease's progression has slowed. Although Hawking had difficulty walking without support, and his speech was almost unintelligible, disability and death is still that far away. With the encouragement of Dr. Sciama, he returned to his work with a new perspective on life-it is precious and why not make it meaningful."

Problematic language in the text above includes: "...two years slipped away quickly and he was still breathing" "Miraculously" "...progression has slowed..." "death is still that far away..." "a new perspective on life" "it is precious and why not make it meaningful" 76.85.195.241 (talk) 05:31, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

Mysterious Progression

The "Graduate" section contains the following sentences:

After his diagnosis, Hawking fell into a depression; though his doctors advised that he continue with his studies, he felt there was little point. Despite the disease's progression—Hawking had difficulty walking without support, and his speech was almost unintelligible—he now returned to his work with enthusiasm.

I'm curious about exactly how Hawking went from thinking his studies were pointless to "return[ing] to his work with enthusiasm." As a matter of fact, I came to this article looking for this information, so I can't edit for content. Can anyone shed some light? If nothing else, it makes the narrative clunky.

Sugarbat (talk) 22:02, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

• I gave it a try. The diff is here. Please take a look and see if it's OK.--老陳 (talk) 06:38, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

You got the ball rolling, and after some tweaking that part now looks great and makes much more sense. Thank you for your contribution. :) Sugarbat (talk) 23:46, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Media

Readers might be interested in a rare Professor Hawking interview of about two hours, by a French journalist, which has been copied on line hereNougaret (talk) 08:54, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

First to propose... what?

Referring to the first paragraph, I'm having a hard time finding out what kind of cosmology Hawking proposed to unify relativity with quantum mechanics, and when this proposal was made. Articles on Grand unified theorys and the Theory of everything don't attribute the ideas to Hawking in the text, and his only citations seem to be popular literature instead of research. Am I missing something? SocraticOath (talk) 13:49, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 March 2015

On the section of Disability the first section 2nd row y'all spelled paralyzed as paralysed that's all I found thank you

 Not done The article uses British English. — Yash! ^[talk] 21:43, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

dumbness

the way people are dumb is sometimes funny — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.16.159.246 (talk) 07:19, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

Philosophy vs Science

It should probably be added that Hawking was referring to Metaphysics (problems like "Mary Sees Red") when he anoucned that philosophy was dead? http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/27/physics-philosophy-quantum-relativity-einstein 95.147.89.185 (talk) 02:30, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

To me it's already clear from the context of the text that he's not talking about politics or aesthetics. Rolf H Nelson (talk) 05:09, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 3 April 2015

on the education Graduate section the 3rd line you spelled motor-neuron you spelled it as neurone but it is neuron Doctorwho503 (talk) 19:40, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Done Mlpearc (open channel) 19:44, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Disagree. "Motor neurone disease" is the correct UK spelling. I'm not a doctor but I believe in the US we usually call it ALS and only rarely refer to it as "motor neuron disease", unless we're specifically including the other four non-ALS MND's. So we should consistently say "motor neurone disease" and not "motor neuron disease". Rolf H Nelson (talk) 05:20, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Mr. Hawking?

The third paragraph starts off by calling Dr. Hawking "Mr. Hawking". Considering that he has long since held his Ph. D., shouldn't we call him Dr.?

"Mr. Hawking suffers from a rare early-onset, slow-progressing form..."

130.207.218.196 (talk) 20:46, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

No, there should be no honorifics. Eric Corbett 20:55, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 17 May 2015

Why does CH CBE FRS FRSA follow the title of Stephen Hawking's page? Is this a spoof? Storymappinglib (talk) 00:46, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

No it isn't a spoof, they're all abbreviations of titles he's earnt- you can click on each one to read the article about it, they're all British/Commonwealth titles.

CH=Companion of Honour, CBE=Commander of the Order of the British Empire, FRS=Fellow of the Royal Society, FRSA=Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Joseph2302 (talk) 00:53, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

post nominals

The post nominal acronyms or abbreviations that follow his name in the lead section should be followed by commas, which is the standard inside and outside of Wikipedia. Without the commas they appear to the reader be either an error or something other than what they are. StBlark (talk) 12:16, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Done. HGilbert (talk) 12:33, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

about of black hole

hello sir , my name is keshav . can you tell me something about black holl. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.180.132.160 (talk) 04:32, 6 August 2015 (UTC)

Israel academic boycott

According to Nature,the University of Cambridge said in a statement that Professor Hawking was withdrawing for health reasons,and the decision was “based on advice from Palestinian academics that he should respect the boycott”.http://www.nature.com/news/hawking-decision-fuels-israel-debate-1.12986 But this is not mentioned in the page.--Kaileeslight (talk) 12:07, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

It's under Politics. zzz (talk) 20:47, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 September 2015

<|--Begin request--> 104.231.87.242 (talk) 14:03, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Not done: as you have not requested a change.
If you want to suggest a change, please request this in the form "Please replace XXX with YYY" or "Please add ZZZ between PPP and QQQ".
Please also cite reliable sources to back up your request, without which no information should be added to, or changed in, any article. - Arjayay (talk) 14:34, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 1 October 2015

Aryaranjan (talk) 05:16, 1 October 2015 (UTC) please add about dr hawkings movie which are hAWKING AND THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING WHICH POTRAYS HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH JANE WILDE

 Done - although it was already listed in the films section at the bottom of the article. - Arjayay (talk) 07:38, 1 October 2015 (UTC)

Why this picture?

On Wikipedia it seems articles about people usually use a recent picture of the person, unless they're dead. Why does Stephen Hawking get this old picture of him? 177.102.146.208 (talk) 18:10, 20 October 2015 (UTC)

Hi, which picture do you propose? Gap9551 (talk) 19:10, 20 October 2015 (UTC)

Broken link on reference 262

The link in reference 262 seems to be broken. Since the article is locked I can't update myself, here is a working link to the same source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/10/31/uk-pope-hawking-idUKTRE49U6NB20081031 — Preceding unsigned comment added by JerryPreissler (talk • contribs) 13:19, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

Stephen River

• Voice samples from Stephen hawking are on The Endless River, track 14 (Talkin' Hawkin'). Does that need to be mentioned in this article?

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.61.154.135 (talk) 09:03, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

typo

Typo: "an thread" - should be "a threat" --71.244.0.48 (talk) 03:16, 22 January 2016 (UTC) It is on section 4 subsection 1 second paragraph titled "With regard to Nuclear War, Genetically Engineered Viruses, and Unknown Dangers", it's the last sentence. I am attaching a link to the subsection for the convenience of those who wish to fix the typing error https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking#Future_of_humanity 82.81.17.90 (talk) 11:06, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

String theory

I believe that there is much evidence to suggest that the "string theory" shows time, like gravity sound light etc., travels in waves. The strings that have been "discovered" are simply the intersection of these waves at a single point in time. If it were possible to expand the research, instead of concentration upon the small points of these intersections, this would definitively show the existence of time wave lengths. I am not proposing that these waves could be "traveled"; at least not at this point in time. I wish that I could show the wavelength but, alas, it is not yet time (and because I don't know). john matacola — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmatacola (talk • contribs) 17:28, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Hawking has received numerous awards and honours.

Would it be possible to make an incomplete list? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.119.72.6 (talk) 19:29, 9 March 2016 (UTC)

Appointment as Reader

This edit [2] by @Slp1 added a claim that Hawking "returned... to a new home, a new job - as reader." First, I can't find any independent confirmation of this post, but worse, the whole thing has become confused and "reader" has become a job description for Don Page, as two sentences got joined together. Although "Reader" is an academic rank, it normally describes a specific post ("Reader in theoretical physics" or whatever). Can someone find a more explicit form of this? Imaginatorium (talk) 04:54, 19 March 2016 (UTC)

Awards and honours

When was the "Awards and honours" section reduced to an over-long discussion of his becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society while not mentioning even a single one of his many other awards and honours? Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 09:07, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Maybe everyone has become bored of his bizarre pontifications about 'humanity's' future residing in the colonisation of extra-solar planets (amongst others).

When the media want a daft statement from a once great mind they go stroking Hawking's huge ego for a silly entertaining quote.

A great(?) physicist he was; a caricature he has become by pretending to be an expert in everything.

1812ahill (talk) 22:22, 12 April 2016 (UTC)

Could these sentences be introduced at 'Appearances in popular media'?

Stephen Hawking says that it is important for the UK to stay in the EU for economic, political, security and scientific reasons. He also expresses his point of view on Donald Trump.

Thank you.--Clairec78 (talk) 17:33, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

References

OBJECTION to his political views

Current article (01 June 2016) states that Hawking objects to Donald Trump for president of the U.S. I object to inclusion of this material in the main page. Reasons being: A) he is not a U.S. Citizen and has no right to vote in the U.S., and B) his field of expertise is not political science. Continued expression such as this gives ANYONE with an article on WP the right to express opinions on any candidate up for election in any country - not newsworthy nor worthy of being posted. If Hawking was up for election in the U.S. Presidency - no problem. Anyone else - this is not worth anyone's time.

The argument that the Trump comments are newsworthy would be that it's being widely reported (got its own article in the NYT, Guardian, others). So its inclusion would be valid per WP:WEIGHT. Should we decide to include it? IMHO probably not. It seems like it's non-insightful about Hawking, it comes across to me like WP:RECENTISM coverage of a boring interview, and the media coverage seems to me kind of fluffy (hey, even super-genius Steven Hawking can't figure why anybody would support Trump!) Rolf H Nelson (talk) 03:37, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

I agree that this is not notable, and support removal of the "Trump" reference. As you said, Hawking can't work out why, but this just means he is rather naive about US popular politics. Imaginatorium (talk) 10:44, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

Missing book

Under Bibliography -> popular publications the following book by Hawking is missing: The Dreams That Stuff Is Made Of: The Most Astounding Papers of Quantum Physics and How They Shook the Scientific World (2011)

https://www.amazon.com/Dreams-That-Stuff-Made-Physics/dp/0762434341?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Thank you. I've added it and also added it as a red-link (an item which has no current article) to the Hawking template (and because of this request I noticed his 2013 memoir wasn't on the template, and added that). Nice find and an omission in Wikipedia, good work and thanks again. Randy Kryn 18:06, 8 June 2016 (UTC)

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Marriage and Children

The article states "Hawking has three children from two marriages". This seems misleading, as it suggests he has children from each marriage. Surely it can be reworded. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:647:4800:54:D483:57F:C2FA:3474 (talk) 17:29, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

I'm actually going to try to remove the sentence from the lede; it's a judgement call, but we usually don't include such things in the biography lede unless you're Thomas Jefferson. Rolf H Nelson (talk) 05:04, 12 August 2016 (UTC)

Nationality

He's described as 'English', but his nationality is surely officially British. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.227.133.157 (talk) 11:41, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

Both are correct. People who are natives of England (hence English, as he is described in the lead) are British citizens (as his nationality is described in the infobox). General Ization ^Talk 12:02, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 January 2017

Change the age from 74 to 75 Jack8434 (talk) 00:02, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

 Not done The age in the infobox is automatically adjusted by a template. Give it a chance! Exemplo347 (talk) 00:04, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 January 2017

Change the age from 74 to 75. Jack8434 (talk) 00:12, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

 Not done It doesn't matter how many times you request the same change - the answer is still going to be "the age is adjusted automatically by a template. Give it a chance!" Exemplo347 (talk) 00:17, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Page manually purged. —C.Fred (talk) 00:17, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Films and Series

Stephen Hawking also appeared in: Star Trek: The Next Generation; Season: 6 Ep. 26 - The Desent Pt.1; Original Air Date: 06/21/1993 which is not listed

 Not done appearance is ST:TNG is mentioned and well referenced in the Appearances in popular media section. Nthep (talk) 15:26, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

He is well known as an actor as much as a scientist. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:805:4201:1737:C824:137D:5888:957 (talk) 12:45, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

I'm sure many people learned of Hawking mainly through his cameos and other references in popular culture, but this is true of almost all world-famous subjects. Wikipedia chooses to downplay such references (which I would take to include "stunt-casting" cameos) when the subject is extremely well-known: per WP:IPCEXAMPLES, "The importance of the works it may be reasonable to mention in a pop-culture section should rise commensurately with the level of notability of the subject of the article in which the section appears" because we judge that "A litany of innumerable novels, TV shows, and films featuring (say) Julius Caesar... is not useful". So it's fine to leave mention of the exact episode name and airdate to the separate Stephen Hawking in popular culture page; in addition, other resources such as IMDB can provide coverage to complement Wikipedia. Rolf H Nelson (talk) 00:34, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Is one of his fields Cosmology?

In the info box I believe "Cosmology" should be added under "Fields". I cannot make the change myself as I am an IP user. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.228.101.152 (talk) 16:53, 19 November 2016 (UTC)

Cosmology is essentially all he does. The info box says "general relativity" and "quantum gravity"; but his work in those areas is ultimately motivated by Cosmology. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.223.130.32 (talk) 20:02, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

Digitised PHD Thesis

A link to Hawking's phd thesis that has been fully digitised and put online today would clearly be of interest to readers of his page? https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-PHD-05437/8 Irisbox (talk) 16:10, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

NOTE:

A Phd candidate writes a dissertation, not a thesis — as you can see at the bottom of Hawking’s dissertation. There is a real difference between the two.

Peace, Beth Walters — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:301:7706:FF50:CAE:F1EA:5C62:B137 (talk) 18:46, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

I doubt if the distinction is universal. Take a look at the thesis article. Eeekster (talk) 02:53, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Indeed. See this, this, and this. Rivertorch^FIRE_WATER 16:24, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Punctuation

Under the heading "Religion", inverted commas are used oddly.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.123.215.180 (talk • contribs) 10:37, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Stance on Israel

At some time in the past material has been removed concerning Hawking's these would be covered by references [318][319][320] that do remain in the article. The removed material must be restored because Hawking is on record with supporting the boycott divest movement against Israel and refuses to attend academic conferences in Israel. Leave tag in place until the material is restored. Wlmg (talk) 12:47, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

I independently noted the absence of references to his controversial stance on this issue, but was unable to correct this because someone has 'protected' it. Chrismorey (talk) 04:09, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

I added it back in the article. It was/is a very controversial issue, and many leading news organizations have noted it. Definitely worth mentioning in a politics section. If anyone wants to remove it, they need to give a good reason why.

--Arsaces (talk) 04:59, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

And it was removed again, without disclosure of that fact in the edit summary.[3] It is impeccably sourced (Jerusalem Post, New York Times, and the Guardian) and is properly in the Politics section, along with Hawking's other political views and actions.

I have restored it; it should not be removed unless consensus is reached here. Kablammo (talk) 14:39, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Oxford BA or MA

The Alma Mater for his Oxford degree is shown as a BA. Would he not have received the honoury MA (Oxon)? See Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dainamo (talk • contribs) 17:47, 31 January 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 March 2018

Death: March 14 2018 110.44.120.5 (talk) 03:56, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Thank you, it’s in the article. --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 03:57, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 March 2018

According to news articles, he died on the 14th of March 2018. The article states the 13th. 2.223.123.156 (talk) 04:04, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Already  Fixed General Ization ^Talk 04:06, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

On the lead...

Can someone write a new second sentence that explains Hawking's impact in general terms that anyone can understand? Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 04:20, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 March 2018

Add that the cause of his death was possibly his long-going struggled ALS. DatCreeper (talk) 05:27, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. AdA&D 05:29, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Unsubstantiated speculation on the cause of his death is not appropriate for Wikipedia. Ollie231213 (talk) 05:31, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 March 2018

Add books to Selected academic works

• Euclidean Quantum Gravity (1993)
• Hawking on the Big Bang and Black Holes (1993) 119.75.22.66 (talk) 06:17, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

 Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit semi-protected}} template. The section isn't a comprehensive list of all of his academic works, only ones that are most significant in terms of impact on the field or coverage in reliable sources. Mz7 (talk) 07:32, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Honorary Professor of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands

Stephen Hawking was appointed in 2016 Honorary Professor of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands). I think this information should go in the section "Recognitions". See references: Director del IAC recuerda a brillante científico y a un luchador por la vida, Stephen Hawking, Profesor Honorario en Canarias.--87.223.34.161 (talk) 10:22, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Is mentioning the lack of disclosure of cause of death really necessary?

Lead: "He died of an undisclosed illness on 14 March 2018."

− − Death section: "They did not reveal the cause of his death, only stating that he "died peacefully".[298][299]"

− − Stephen Hawking was at the average age for British men to die naturally. He had a chronic illness that was predicted to kill him over 50 years ago. If someone died suddenly at age 25 we could use such language as "undisclosed illness" and "they did not reveal the cause of his death", but it just doesn't seem right to do it here, acting as if the family were hiding some deep and surprising secret from the rest of the world. Anarcho-authoritarian (talk) 14:48, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

I agree. Removed. Kablammo (talk) 14:57, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 March 2018

119.56.103.198 (talk) 15:37, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

y'all should include a part about how stephen hawkings death was, coincidentially, on pi day

 Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit semi-protected}} template. NeilN ^{talk to me} 16:02, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

MND rather than ALS

As the article is written in British English, the references to his disease should call it Motor Neurone Diseases, as that is what it is called in the UK and that's what Hawking called it. The ref to ALS should follow. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.175.255.178 (talk) 08:57, 14 March 2018 (UTC) I agree. Done.--Slp1 (talk) 16:08, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 March 2018

Stephen Hawking passed away on the 13th of March not on the 14th.

Sources: https://theblast.com/stephen-hawking-dead-dies/ Published March 13, 2018 at 9:23 pm PDT

http://abc7.com/.../physicist-stephen-hawking.../3213147/ Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 11:44PM LesCourtney (talk) 20:04, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

 Not done: Please read the section above. NeilN ^{talk to me} 20:08, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Death

Just heard on BBC Radio 5 that Prof. Hawking is dead. Expecting more on this. BBC report Dsalt (talk) 03:44, 14 March 2018（The world time） (UTC)

Users keep editing that he died on with 13 March or 14 March. Which date is right? FunksBrother (talk) 04:04, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Family announced he died "in the early hours of this morning" on Wednesday 3/14 UK time. General Ization ^Talk 04:05, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

what was the cause of death?199.119.233.160 (talk) 04:25, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

An official cause may be announced later, but a) he was 76 years old, and b) he had lived with ALS for more than 50 years. His death was not unexpected, in fact, he outlived nearly everyone's expectations. General Ization ^Talk 04:28, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

The family did not release the cause of death with their announcement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jcoat (talk • contribs) 06:51, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

This BBC News video (despite having the article saying he died on Wednesday) was created an entire day before [4] at 6:53pm so the only people that can answer this is the BBC themselves. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Deegeetill (talk • contribs) 15:48, 14 March 2018 (UTC)‎

What is the cause of death Musthaq n (talk) 09:36, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

We don't know, General Ization literally outlined this in the comment just above. Lordtobi (✉) 09:44, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

What is the cause of his death? 2601:98A:400:82F8:71AE:9FEF:5D44:A51B (talk) 18:36, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

IP, that has already been answered just above, to the extent that we can; please read the rest of this section. General Ization ^Talk 20:56, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Tribute and Change of Picture

On this somber day we commemorate Stephen Hawking for his tireless service towards the development of astrophysics and more. I wondered how others would feel changing Professor Hawking's picture on his main infobox to a more modern photo of him, rather than the 1980s photo of him. The photo is stephen_hawking_2013.png — Preceding unsigned comment added by DoctorSpeed (talk • contribs) 14:50, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

How is the time a photo is taken any more/less of a tribute to someone, as if that even matters? TarkusAB^talk 01:45, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Reception section

I am hoping to create or for somebody else to create a section regarding his reception amongst predominant scientists such as Sean Carroll, Lawrence Krause and others and their reaction to his recent passing. But first I'd like to know what other users feel about creating such a section.--NadirAli نادر علی (talk) 02:44, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Death date

Sources say his family said he "died today" and released the statement in the early hours of March 14 (source). Thus, the date of death should be March 14 until specified otherwise. EvergreenFir (talk) 04:41, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

The BBC and Sky News report that he died “in the early hours of Wednesday” i.e. 14th March. --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 05:17, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

The Guardian explicitly says 14 March 2018 now EvergreenFir (talk) 05:49, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

He died on Pi Day. ;-] 210.186.24.203 (talk) 13:43, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Not according to CNN they published it on the 13th. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.176.182.183 (talk) 18:29, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

I retract the above comment (but leave it, since it may enlighten the subject). HE DIED ON THE 14th GREAT BRITAIN TIME. The CNN report was done in USA, and that is why it was published on the 13th (USA TIME).

I received the news of his death yesterday (the 13th) and there are many news articles referring to his death on the 13th, several of them written on the 13th. https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/931658/stephen-hawking-dead-motor-neurone-disease-alien-news-quotes-breakthrough https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/14/stephen-hawkings-secret-to-surviving-his-terrible-condition-a-sense-of-humor/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/stephen-hawking-tourist-of-the-universe-dies-at-76-1.3842080 http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/03/14/stephen-hawking-dead-eddie-redmayne-more-celebrities-react-to-his-death.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.179.37.202 (talk) 02:39, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Yeah but... [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. EvergreenFir (talk) 02:46, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Never mind that your Washington Post and ctvnews.ca sources both say Wednesday, which was the 14th everywhere on the planet (same calendar everywhere). I would suggest that the 13th-ers give it up. ―Mandruss ☎ 04:50, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Suggesting inclusion of Award Ribbon in infobox

Extended content

Stephen Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA Hawking at NASA's StarChild Learning Center, 1980s Born Stephen William Hawking (1942-01-08)8 January 1942 Oxford, England Died 14 March 2018(2018-03-14) (aged 76) Cambridge, England Education St Albans School Alma mater University of Oxford (BA) University of Cambridge (MA, PhD) Known for Hawking radiation Penrose–Hawking theorems Bekenstein–Hawking formula Hawking energy Gibbons–Hawking ansatz Gibbons–Hawking effect Gibbons–Hawking space Gibbons–Hawking–York boundary term Thorne–Hawking–Preskill bet Spouses Jane Wilde ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1995)​ Elaine Mason ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 2006)​ Children 3, including Lucy Awards National Honours title=Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Most Excellent Order of the British Empire title=Presidential Medal of Freedom United States of America Presidential Medal of Freedom Adams Prize (1966) Eddington Medal (1975) Maxwell Medal and Prize (1976) Heineman Prize (1976) Hughes Medal (1976) Albert Einstein Award (1978) RAS Gold Medal (1985) Dirac Medal (1987) Wolf Prize (1988) Prince of Asturias Award (1989) Andrew Gemant Award (1998) Naylor Prize and Lectureship (1999) Lilienfeld Prize (1999) Albert Medal (1999) Copley Medal (2006) Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009) Fundamental Physics Prize (2012) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2015) Scientific career Fields General relativity Quantum gravity Institutions Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge California Institute of Technology Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Thesis Properties of Expanding Universes (1966) Doctoral advisor Dennis Sciama Other academic advisors Robert Berman Doctoral students Bruce Allen Raphael Bousso Bernard Carr Fay Dowker Christophe Galfard Gary Gibbons Thomas Hertog Raymond Laflamme Don Page Malcolm Perry Wu Zhongchao 29 others Website Hawking.org.uk/ Signature References

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Vchapman (talk • contribs) 05:24, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Iconic voice synth

We should include a soundbite of his iconic synthesized voice. If someone has one available, it would be good to add. -- 70.52.10.192 (talk) 06:01, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

• Several of his presentations have the phrase "My name is Stephen Hawking" so that would make a good soundclip -- 70.52.10.192 (talk) 07:08, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Edit request

Hi please can somebody replace english to Is a British physicist in the introduction. It’s more specific. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.4.232.254 (talk) 15:39, 15 March 2018‎ (UTC)

 Not done The current content, "was an English theoretical physicist ...", is more specific. "British" refers to England and the rest of the United Kingdom, so is less specific. General Ization ^Talk 15:46, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Yup. Britmax (talk) 15:56, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 March 2018

Please change the date of death of Stephen Hawking from March 14th to March 13th Here is one source I found http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/03/14/stephen-hawking-dead-eddie-redmayne-more-celebrities-react-to-his-death.html It's hard to find many sources because most are saying it's on the 14th, which is false. But I don't have much to offer besides one link, and my opinion on the matter. Also on Neil deGrasse Tyson's Facebook page he reported Stephen Hawking's death on March 13thm, so unless he predicted the future I think this is worth considering (https://www.facebook.com/neildegrassetyson). Cloudwe4ther (talk) 17:52, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

 Not done The fact that "most are saying it's on the 14th" should tell you something, and the report at the link is clearly false as Hawking died early on March 14 (local time) in England (which was late on the 13th in the United States). NGT published his Facebook post at 12:16 am EDT on March 14, hours after the 14th had dawned in England. See Time zone, as well as the plethora of discussion on this page. General Ization ^Talk 17:56, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Use British English tag needed?

Is a Use British English tag needed in the article? Many edits appear to be adding elements of American English, and there's no instantly visible message when editing that states to use British English. - Sir Beluga 19:20, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Already there; has been for some time. Adding an {{EngvarB}} (as already here) or any preferred language tag does not add a banner to the page. General Ization ^Talk 19:22, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Oh, now I see. When in the edit tab of the United Kingdom article, there's a box that says "This article is written in British English," but not when editing the Stephen Hawking article. The tag that is already in the Stephen Hawking article does confirm that British English should be used, but not everyone may recognize that. - Sir Beluga 19:29, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

That is the result of Template:Editnotices/Page/United Kingdom, specific to United Kingdom. See WP:Editnotices for information about how those are created. General Ization ^Talk 19:39, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 March 2018

{{subst:trim|1= Raisedadead (talk) 19:42, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. RudolfRed (talk) 20:29, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 March 2018

Request : Add sons (Robert and Timothy Hawking ) to 'children'

From : Gh0st-1n-th3-M2ch1n3 (talk) 13:25, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

 Not done Timothy, Robert and Lucy are all mentioned in the body of the article. We do not typically name children in the infobox unless a child is notable. General Ization ^Talk 13:41, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

edit request

Hi, I'd like to edit the Wikidata item for Stephen Hawking and add a new SNAC Ark ID - w6hj782v Thanks, Dina - SNAC Liaison, NARA DinaHerbert 20:35, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

This is not WikiData. See here. General Ization ^Talk 20:37, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

Overthought?

I copy a thread from my UTP, since it belongs to the refs in this article.

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Hawking revert

Re: [10]

Hello. I gather you feel that |newspaper= is meant only for the paper version of a newspaper, not the web version. That has not been my experience, and if it were true the template wouldn't allow |url= with |newspaper=.
Regardless, you could have changed |newspaper=The Telegraph to |website=The Daily Telegraph or |work=The Daily Telegraph—they are all aliases of the same parameter and the choice has no effect on what readers see. If you'll look at the infobox in the article The Daily Telegraph, you'll find that the value of its Website field matches the domain name of the |url= in the citation template. The media group is a holding company and has no place in that parameter. Nobody reads Telegraph Media Group. ―Mandruss ☎ 18:27, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

@Mandruss: I was led to the article by the link The Telegraph, which was given in the References section, being a disambiguation page. My concern is not that The Daily Telegraph or the The Sunday Telegraph would not both use the url: www.telegraph.co.uk, but rather that both newspapers are not immediately involved in the linked content of the references. The content displayed with all these references is licensed to Telegraph Media Group, which is, as you stated, not a newspaper or a work. In damb'ing I removed the link The Telegraph and re-replaced with the plain text "Telegraph Media Group", and hinted to my reservations in the edit summary. I am still concerned that e.g. ref#171 in the article, which still contains the text "The Daily Telegraph", may be wrong, because of the content, belonging to this ref, is explicitly attributed to the "Telegraph Media Group", and I see no reference therein to any rights of "The Daily Telegraph".

I know that the users do not see this parameter, but to me it is questionable, if just any actual newspaper of the factual content owner(?) should be inserted under "newspaper". Purgy (talk) 20:22, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Seems like overthink to me, but if you see a significant problem here, you could use |publisher=Telegraph Media Group instead. ―Mandruss ☎ 20:29, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

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In case someone wants to take care of ... Purgy (talk) 07:59, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

Pictures of Hawking not in a wheelchair?

Aren't there any pictures of Hawking not in a wheelchair? He wasn't born in one, you know. AFAIK it was only in his adulthood that his disease progressed so far that he needed one. JIP | Talk 14:18, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

There's some, but they are most likely copyrighted (found a few by Googling "young Stephen Hawking") and so would be pretty hard to fit in under fair use as we already have several of him in the wheelchair. -A lad insane (Channel 2) 14:34, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Funeral

Stephen Hawking will be buried in Westminster Abbey, the first scientist to be granted such an honour in eighty years. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.244.210.117 (talk) 12:48, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

References