British cosmologist Stephen William Hawking
“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” – Stephen Hawking
Brief History Of Time: It’s the 81st birth anniversary of the genius British Physicist, Stephen Hawking, who forever changed the world with his understanding of the universe and his scientific theories.
He gave a whole new meaning to the term popular science.
Making Science Accessible to All
He devoted his life to studying the universe, developing his radiation theory among others. He made the complex workings of the universe, subjects like quantum physics comprehendible and accessible to the commoner through his book, ‘A Brief History of Time’ . The book was a breakthrough in popular science and millions bought his book and continue to do so.
Conferred with the title of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, his physical limitations of being bound to a wheelchair or using a voice box to communicate due to the ALS condition did not stop him from shining in all he did.
Hawking – The Pop Culture Icon
The British physicist is also a major pop culture icon till date and rightly so. He made cameos in and even inspired many television shows, movies and music.
His pop culture appearances as himself and even a full fledged film on him have made him a star in his own right. Among other things, his sense of humour has been a rage with people.
Hawking’s Pop Culture Appearances
To celebrate the man whose brilliance shone both in the scientific world and as a delightful pop culture icon, here are five of Stephen Hawking’s best pop culture appearances:
Star Trek: The Next Generation
In 1993, Hawking made his very first TV appearance on Star Trek.
In the episode titled ‘Descent,’ the character of Data can be seen playing poker with hologram versions of some of the greatest Scientific minds in human history like Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking.
Hawking keeps throwing tongue-in-cheek remarks at Newton for his ‘apple theory’ which are quite hilarious. He wins the poker game and his impish grin on winning the hand is a very brilliant TV worthy moment.
The Simpsons
Hawking lent his voice on four occasions to the animated series for a cartoon-version of himself. His first appearance was in 1999 for the episode “They Saved Lisa’s Brain.”
He even had funny lines like, “Your utopia is more of a fruitopia.” The animated Hawking even got to use the helicopter function of his wheelchair (ofcourse) to save the character of Lisa.
It was revealed in the DVD commentary of the episode that Hawking attended table reads and even personally typed in the lines which producers recorded as they would with any voice actor.
Futurama
Hawking made appearances on the animated show which was also created by Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
In 2000 he first appeared on “Anthology of Interest” episode, where his character was responsible for repairing any rips in the space-time continuum.
Here too with his on-screen sense of humour and his ripping off ideas persona intact.
There is a scene another character Fry, discovers one such rip, and Hawkings is happy to take credit for it and even says:
“Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?” grins Hawking.
In real life, Hawking officially presented Groening the lifetime achievement award at the 2004 British Comedy Awards.
The Big Bang Theory
Unlike the animated Simpsons and Futurama, this was a flesh and blood appearance for Hawking.
Hawking was seen here interacting with the smartest minds unlike the dull minds of the animated universe. Big Bang Theory is a major hit with smart geeks so is Hawking , the combination is just pure gold.
He appeared seven times with the lovable bunch of geeks on Big Bang Theory.
In 2012’s “The Hawking Excitation” episode, he gave quite the comedic moment when he meets the character of Sheldon played by Jim Parsons. He declares Sheldon’s theory about the Higgs boson particle “fascinating” and then casually adds, “Too bad it’s wrong.”
It is a geek TV gold moment.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Hawking is just as funny in real life as he is on fictional TV.
This 2014 interview is proof of how funny and witty Hawking truly was as he turns the jokes on host and comedian John Oliver.
Oliver asks during the interview, “You’ve stated that you believe that there could be an infinite number of parallel universes,” He further adds,
“Does that mean that there is a universe out there where I am smarter than you?”
“Yes,” Hawking replies. “And also a universe where you’re funny.”
This interview is truly worth watching.
‘The Theory of Everything’
This 2014 James Marsh-directed biopic film is based on the life of Stephen Hawking.
Hawking’s appearance here is as the main subject of the film and he also provided his voice for the film.
Eddie Redmayne who plays Stephen Hawking in the movie won a Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of the brilliant scientist.
The film beautifully traces the scientific mind of the genius, his personal life and impact of ALS diagnosis on his life.
When Redmayne received the Oscar he dedicated it to Hawking and Hawking’s first wife Jane, whose memoir inspired the film.
I am sure Mr.Hawking, you are alive and making funny jokes in one of the many parallel universes you believed could exist.
Here’s wishing Stephen Hawking a very Happy Birthday!
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