How is Steven Hawking regarded by his physicist peers? Is he really *all that?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Is he regarded by his peers to be the promethean “supergenius” that popular media has him pegged as, or simply a good physicist with superb PR?

2

In the world of science, his reputation is exactly as it should be. He’s highly respected by his colleagues and peers, but not regarded as uniquely brilliant.

Among the public at large, well, he’s probably the ONLY living physicist most people can name (we have a Nobel Laureate here in Austin, but I doubt one Austinite in 1,000 could tell you who Steven Weinberg is). And, sad to say, his handicap has probably made him seem more… glamorous (?) in some circles. People who have no idea what his work or his theories involved recognize him because of his wheelchair, his computerized voice, and his appearances on “Star Trek” and on Pink Floyd albums.

3

Well, not to mention that he’s the only physicist who is also a superhero. (Too bad the Onion requires the premium membership for access to its archieves.)

Weinburg is a smart guy, but apparantly nobody is really interested in hearing about how damn-fool and unfeasable ballistic missile defense really is.

Stranger

4

I would also say he is brilliant but not uniquely brilliant. Even Stephen Hawking acknowledges this. I once read an interview with him where he said the reason for his popularity is " … the crippled genius idea makes for a good story…"

Still you don’t rise to his position without some serious talent. I’d like to be half as smart as him.

5

I have always felt that Hawking was very highly regarded in his high-falootin circles. You can’t deny his ability to grasp the complex problems posed by astrophysics.

But I think where his “supergenius” shows is when he uses his ability to write books about his discipline that appeal to the masses. Almost any layman can pick up “A Brief History of Time” or “The Universe in a Nutshell” and at least comprehend some of it. Hell, “The Universe in a Nutshell” even has full page color illustrations!

His bestselling books subsequently launched the media hype about his “fantastic intellect”. While I do think that he is extremely smart, I don’t beleive he lives up to the pedestal the media has placed him on.

6

I think that he does have a bigger rep outside physics circles than in.

One of my friends* is a physicist and knows Hawkings. He says “Hawkings, he ain’t THAT smart” just about any time Hawkings name comes up. Of coarse he says the same thing about Richard Feynman, whom he also knew.

Slee

*The guy has a PHD in physics, was a professor at BYU, worked at Sandia National Labs and started his own ‘physics for hire’ buisness. Very smart man.