Skip Channel4 main Navigation
|Powered By Google


Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe header image



Programme one: Hawking So Far

21-year-old Stephen Hawking
    Next 

In 1963, 21-year-old Stephen Hawking was a promising PhD student with everything to live for. His life was shattered by the devastating news that he had motor neurone disease and probably had at most two years to live. Whilst the blow stunned him, it also sharpened his ambition and fixed his determination on the biggest questions in the universe.

21-year-old Stephen HawkingPedro Ferreira Roger Penrose and Stephen HawkingHawking saw the potential for black holes in creation
Hawking could show that the universe arose from a singularityIf the nucleus is the size of a marble and an electron is the width of a hair, then the distance between them would be two milesAtomic level particles are like empty force fields. They are said to shimmer. Pairs of subatomic particles emerge out of the void, exist for a fleeting moment and then collide and destroy each other.
If pairs of subatomic particles should bump into a black hole, something odd occursThe particles of negative mass that enter the black hole will have a startling effect. Their negative mass will decrease the size of the black hole.
Master of the Universe: Video Clips
> Watch Again
Watch Master of the Universe on 4oD
> The Theory of Everything
String Theory and how the universe works
> What We Still Don't Know
Are we alone? Why are we here? Are we real?
> The World's First Time Machine
Discover the truth behind time travel
> Space FAQs
Black holes, asteroid collision and much more...
> Science RSS