# Stephen Hawking: Dead smart guy Nobel-less. What gave? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548 "2018-03-14T15:06:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/21 "2018-03-14T17:50:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Whack-a-Mole** : > > I get a sense here from the scientists responding that “popularizer” is a dirty word and not something to be well regarded. As if the real scientists are busting their asses in obscurity while some few make bank off their work. I certainly didn’t intend to give that impression. **aceplace57** , while I suppose one might argue that the atomic bomb was the first practical application of special relativity (I’d argue otherwise, but one can at least make the case), the definitive experiment proving it was actually done before Einstein published (though he didn’t seem to know about it at the time). Incidentally, Michelson also won the Nobel Prize, but his win wasn’t for that work, either (rather, it was for a general recognition of his work in precision measurement, especially as used in defining new standards for units). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/22 "2018-03-14T17:56:34Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I get a sense here from the scientists responding that “popularizer” is a dirty word and not something to be well regarded. As if the real scientists are busting their asses in obscurity while some few make bank off their work. I’m not sure where you got that idea from the posts in this thread. I and **Chronos** merely pointed out that he was a popularizer, and didn’t put any value judgement on it. I myself am more of a popularizer (science writer and exhibition specialist) rather than a research scientist. Some scientist may indeed look askance at some popularizers for, let us say, “going Hollywood.” But I don’t think either Gould or E.O. Wilson were less regarded in the scientific community because they published popular books. Mentioning that they were popularizers was merely to point out that the reputation of such scientists may be perceived to be much higher by the general public than it is among their peers. There’s no value judgement implied. Writing a popular book and appearing on _The Simpsons_ will get you well known to the public. It just won’t win you a Nobel Prize. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/23 "2018-03-14T18:21:51Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Yes, in 1963 the NHS gave him two years to live. Which just goes to show how bad the delays are in UHC systems. > > \ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/24 "2018-03-14T19:44:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > \ Writing a popular book and appearing on _The Simpsons_ will get you well known to the public. It just won’t win you a Nobel Prize. Batman’s a scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/25 "2018-03-14T19:46:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’m not sure where you got that idea from the posts in this thread. I and **Chronos** merely pointed out that he was a popularizer, and didn’t put any value judgement on it. I myself am more of a popularizer (science writer and exhibition specialist) rather than a research scientist. Perhaps it would be better then if you noted that not only was he a popularizer of science but that he was a legitimate scientist himself as the Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge and that that counts for something. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/26 "2018-03-14T19:56:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Yes, in 1963 the NHS gave him two years to live. Which just goes to show how bad the delays are in UHC systems. > > \ In case anyone doesn’t fully get this joke, a popular right-wing U.S. publication wrote > [@](#): > > People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless. That was in 2009, before the Propaganda Machine became so egregious that even a few Republicans have taken notice. The fools managed to expurgate their nonsense from the Wayback Machine; the earliest copy of the page I can find is > [@https://web.archive.org/web/20110530145451/http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=503058](#): > > **How House Bill Runs Over Grandma** > > Posted 07/31/2009 06:48 PM ET > > _Editor’s Note: This version corrects the original editorial which implied that physicist Stephen Hawking, a professor at the University of Cambridge, did not live in the UK._ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/27 "2018-03-14T20:10:42Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Perhaps it would be better then if you noted that not only was he a popularizer of science but that he was a legitimate scientist himself as the Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge and that that counts for something. Why should I mention that? No one (especially me) has questioned that he was a legitimate scientist. And I specifically said that he was like Sagan, Gould, and Diamond in being “respected scientists with important contributions in their fields.” You’re swinging at a straw man that has zero to do with anything that I said or implied. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/28 "2018-03-14T20:13:46Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > That was in 2009, before the Propaganda Machine became so egregious that even a few Republicans have taken notice. > > The fools managed to expurgate their nonsense from the Wayback Machine; the earliest copy of the page I can find is **Moderator Warning** **septimus** , I’m sure you’re aware that political jabs are against the rules in General Questions since you’ve been warned for it before. This is an official warning. If you continue to do this, you will find your posting privileges in jeopardy. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/29 "2018-03-14T20:22:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Why should I mention that? No one (especially me) has questioned that he was a legitimate scientist. And I specifically said that he was like Sagan, Gould, and Diamond in being “respected scientists with important contributions in their fields.” > > You’re swinging at a straw man that has zero to do with anything that I said or implied. It’s damning with praise - he was undoubtedly one of the most important physicists of the late twentieth century and that’s unconnected to his popular books. Hawking went from being the leading expert and a significant innovator in general relativity to being the leading expert and a significant expert in quantum gravity all before Brief History of Time was published. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/30 "2018-03-14T20:24:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You’re swinging at a straw man that has zero to do with anything that I said or implied. I am not swinging at strawmen. Tell me where you noted Hawking’s accomplishments when you mentioned his appearances on TV? > [@](#): > > You may have heard of him, but Hawking is far better known to the general public. For one thing, how often has Penrose appeared on The Simpsons, Futurama, and The Big Bang Theory? > > Source: [Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20844633&postcount=12) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/31 "2018-03-14T20:25:44Z")
I have a great deal of respect for popularizers. I wish I could have done it, but my specialty is just not ready for it, or else I don’t know how. Does the name John Conway ring any bells. He wasn’t exactly a popularizer, but a fine mathematician who invented the game of life and was known for that. Although that had a serious mathematical purpose too: to get people with access to computers to find certain constructs with which he could prove the existence of a self-reproducing cellular automaton. I once asked a doctor why Hawking could live so long when on average sufferers of ALS lived no more then two years. The answer I got was that ALS is not a single disease and he must have had a rare form of it. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/32 "2018-03-14T20:26:26Z")
I think people conviently forgot that the success of A Brief History of Time was built largely on his formidable reputation as a physicist. A Brief History… wasn’t particularly good as a popular physics book. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/33 "2018-03-14T20:30:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Writing a popular book and appearing on _The Simpsons_ will get you well known to the public. It just won’t win you a Nobel Prize. Whereas writing music and appearing on _The Simpsons_ will. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/34 "2018-03-14T20:32:46Z")
I think it’s not illegitimate to assume that people **already** know Stephen Hawking was a great scientist. It wouldn’t be true all the time, but it would be true enough of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/35 "2018-03-14T20:32:57Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I have a great deal of respect for popularizers. I wish I could have done it, but my specialty is just not ready for it, or else I don’t know how. From your post I am guessing your specialty is mathematics. If so then it has been popularized. There is a well visited and well regarded YouTube channel called [Numberphile](https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile). It’s pretty great. Give it a look. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/36 "2018-03-14T20:41:34Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > It’s damning with praise - he was undoubtedly one of the most important physicists of the late twentieth century and that’s unconnected to his popular books. Sorry if “respected scientist with significant contributions in his field” wasn’t effusive enough for you.:rolleyes: > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I am not swinging at strawmen. Tell me where you noted Hawking’s accomplishments when you mentioned his appearances on TV? Again, why should I? The TV appearances help explain why he was so well known to the general public. You seem to find mentioning them somehow demeaning. I do not. As I said, I myself am a popularizer rather than a research scientist. I have great respect for popularizers. It just something different than recognition by the scientific community. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/37 "2018-03-14T20:53:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Again, why should I? No reason. Your posts just sounded like sour grapes and taking a backhanded swipe at Hawking. Seems I was not the only one who picked up on it either. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/38 "2018-03-14T20:58:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Warning** > > **septimus** , I’m sure you’re aware that political jabs are against the rules in General Questions since you’ve been warned for it before. This is an official warning. If you continue to do this, you will find your posting privileges in jeopardy. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator I apologize sincerely. I _did_ know the rule. (Or, since it was an obit, maybe I thought we were in Mundane Pointless. Even in that forum, however, my snide remark would be out of line.) Sorry. If I need further excuse I’ll invoke Imp of the Perverse or Tourette Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/39 "2018-03-14T20:59:12Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > No reason. > > Your posts just sounded like sour grapes and taking a backhanded swipe at Hawking. > > Seems I was not the only one who picked up on it either. Your interpretation (and those of others), as I said before, has absolutely nothing to do with what I posted. You are reading into them things that aren’t there. I have the greatest respect for Hawking both as a scientist and as a popularizer. I was merely offering an explanation for why he is perceived differently by the general public and scientists. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548/40 "2018-03-14T21:00:28Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I apologize sincerely. Apology noted and appreciated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-dead-smart-guy-nobel-less-what-gave/810548.md?page=3)