Saying he was honored to be associated with the facility that bears his name, world-renowned physicist Stephen W. Hawking praised benefactor George P. Mitchell for his scientific vision during dedication ceremonies of the Stephen W. Hawking Auditorium Monday (April 5) at Texas A&M University.
Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist known for his theories on black holes who is also a best-selling author, presented brief remarks to formally dedicate the auditorium, located in the George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy that opened last fall.
Hawking was on campus to present a sold-out lecture Monday night, titled “Out of a Black Hole,” at 2,500-seat Rudder Auditorium.
The 90-year-old Mitchell and his daughter Sheridan were both present at the Hawking Auditorium dedication ceremony. The Mitchell family donated $35 million of the $82 million required to fund the two new physics buildings. Mitchell, who made much of his fortune from the oil and gas industry, noted that “there are a lot of similarities between physics and oil drilling. Physics plays an important part because it takes some very good math skills and they (physicists) are often a big part of the team.”
He noted that Texas A&M has long had a “world class” petroleum engineering program, so he decided to place maximum emphasis on helping make physics and astronomy a “world class” program at Texas A&M also.
Hawking said he was pleased to have the 182-seat auditorium named for him, adding “I am very honored this splendid auditorium has been named after me, and I hope to be back here many times.” The 68-year-old physicist is widely regarded as the most brilliant living scientist and many consider him the 21st Century’s closest equivalent to Albert Einstein.
Mitchell said it was a lengthy process to get Hawking to come to Texas A&M the first time in 1995, but since then, Hawking, who makes rare public appearances because of his health condition, has spoken four times at the school. His former pupil and doctoral student, Christopher Pope, who holds the Stephen Hawking Chair In Fundamental Physics at Texas A&M, said he has known Hawking for 34 years.
“He has been a great mentor and a truly great inspiration to me,” Pope said.
“His theories about the universe have changed the way we look at many things. I think you could sum up his work by saying, ‘Where did we come from, and how do we end up?’ ”
Hawking’s lecture stressed proven theories and misconceptions about the universe. He said black holes were proven in the early 1970s, but the idea that they existed went back about 200 years.
“Disney made a movie in 1979 called ‘The Black Hole’ after the science- fiction community was a little slow to catch up,” he explained.
“I remember watching the movie, which wasn’t that good, but it did have an interesting ending.”
Hawking explained that black holes, and their associated “event horizons,” are celestial objects so dense that nothing can escape their gravitational pull. “It’s like you’re in a boat going over Niagara Falls,” he noted. “Once you’ve reached the tipping point and you’re going down, you’re certain to fall in and nothing can stop you.”
But he said that recent research shows that black holes may have some sort of escape route – there may be a way out. “Black holes are not an inescapable prison,” he said, “and things can get out of them.”
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