Today is Stephen Hawking's birthday. He turned 70. I find him truly amazing and awe-inspiring. He is probably one of the most remarkable men who have ever lived on earth. He makes me feel that I live in a great historic moment in science, just like it would have been in the era of Galileo in mid 1500's or of Einstein in early 1900's.
Not only he holds one of the most prestigious posts as a professor of mathematics in the University of Cambridge, he is also best known as the most brilliant theoretical physicists (...I don't even know what that is) since Einstein. For more facts you can look at Wiki.
That's not all. What amazes me most is that he has had Motor Neuron Disease since he was 20-years-old, hence his synthesizer voice. He was diagnosed to live no more than several months then. Most people apparently die within a few years of diagnosis. Medical specialists are still baffled by the fact that he outlived a scientific prediction by half a century - a somewhat wonderful irony.
On top of that, he is a philosophical thinker with a great sense of humour. I like quotes (not to the extent where I would go and buy a book, though) and he said, "The human race is so puny compared to the universe that being disabled is not of much cosmic significance".
I understand nothing about physics nor cosmology, but still I try and toil through some books on these subjects because I have a feeling that they may hold the key to understanding why optimism outperforms the medical knowledge and technology presently available to us.
Nothing whatsoever to do with physics, but this is a very cheap, easy, and very very tasty dish. You must try :)
Ingredients (for 1 person):
one person's portion of cooked rice
half a spring (or pointy) cabbage, cut into about 5cm chunks
3 anchovy fillets, chopped small
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
some olive oil
Basically this is just a big bowl of fried rice. Get your wok or largish frying pan hot and drizzle some olive oil. Fry garlic and anchovy fillets until anchovy dissolves. Add the cabbage, and when it's wilted add the rice. Season with salt and black pepper. Ready to eat! I sprinkle more black pepper on top.