Stephen W. Hawking Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oxford

Hawking was born during WW II, so although the family home was in north London, his parents thought Oxford was safer.

Answer: It is the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death.

Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Gaileo's death (Jan. 8, 1642). Einstein was born on Mar. 14, 1897. Polish astronomer and mathematician Nicholaus Copernicus was born on Feb. 19, 1473. Newton's Principia Mathematica was first published in 1687.

Answer: True

Hawking said he fell over a couple of times for no apparent reason. His father took him to the family doctor and, after spending two weeks in the hospital having tests, Hawking was diagnosed with ALS. ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig Disease or motor neurone disease. Obviously, Hawking's physical condition never affected his brilliant mind.

Answer: Second place in the Gravity Research Foundation contest

Hawking said he and Penrose split a prize of $300.00. One of the many, many honours given Hawking was a CBE in 1982. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974, and was a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. Hawking also had 12 honorary degrees.

Answer: True

Hawking explains that when a massive star (one with at least twice the mass of our own sun) begins to lose its nuclear energy, spacetime around it starts to warp. It continues to warp as the star contracts until the warping is so great that a black hole is created. From this black hole nothing can escape--not even light.

The gravity inside the blackhole is so strong that anything entering the black hole will be crushed. Time inside a black hole ends. To an observer of a black hole, all you can see is its mass, rotation, and charge.

But with Hawking's formula the entropy (the different internal states) of the black hole can be figured out. Hawking also proved that black holes have temperature. If you are interested in Hawking's formula, it is given and fully explained in his new book, 'The Universe In A Nutshell', published in 2001.

Answer: All of them are true.

Yes, Hawking has quite a 'Star Trek' history! In episode 252, 'Descent' of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', Hawking plays poker (and wins) against Einstein, Data and Newton! He wrote the foreword for Laurence M. Krauss's book 'Physics of Star Trek'. In the final episode 'All Good Things', Data holds the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics that is presently held by Hawking (since 1979)! There's a chapter about 'Star Trek' in his book 'The Universe In A Nutshell' (2001), that shows photos of his appearance.

Answer: False

No, they had three children. The Hawkings were separated in 1990, and both remarried. Hawking also had one grandchild.

Answer: Isaac Newton

The Lucasian Chair of Mathematics was created in 1663. Newton was appointed to the post of professor of mathematics at Cambridge in 1669. None of the other three ever taught at Cambridge. Feynman won the Nobel Prize for quantum mechanics in 1965, and was teaching at Caltech until his death in 1988. Einstein spent the last 20 years of his life at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Gott wrote the book 'Time Travel In Einstein's Universe', and is a professor of astrophysics at Princeton.

Answer: It was co-written with Roger Penrose.

Yes, it stayed on the London Sunday Times bestseller list for over four years. In 1998, for breaking the previous bestseller list, it was featured in the 'Guinness Book of Records'. In 1992, 'A Brief History Of Time' was made into a documentary directed by Errol Morris.

Answer: Sadly, he had to give up his Cambridge post in 1989.

Hawking still helds his Lucasian Chair at Cambridge until his death in 2018. Hawking's book, 'The Universe In A Nutshell' was published in 2001, and he travelled the world with his wife giving personal appearances.