For most of us, Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time is a coffee table book -- something we wanted to read (or wanted others to think we read) but never did. That’s a shame, because Dr. Stephen Hawking is more than a contemporary bright light of theoretical physics and cosmology: He’s a man with cheeky sense of humor. “When I hear about Schrödinger's cat,” he once said, “I reach for my gun.”
Whether you’re an aficionado of things quantum-gravitational or just want to see what all of the fuss is about, don’t miss Hawking’s “My Brief History” talk at Arizona State University’s Origins Project Science & Culture Festival. A multimedia tour of the planets incorporating recent NASA imagery and narrated by Laurence Krauss will precede the speech. Due to Hawking’s health issues, there’s always the chance he’ll send a proxy or a recorded message, but even hearing a canned speech from the famed astrophysicist is like staring into the sun.
Sat., April 9, 7 p.m., 2011
