Stephen Hawking is one of the most respected names in astrophysics and the renowned physicist is about to bring his expertise to the fore in terms of educational apps. Random House has announced that it will be releasing an app called Stephen Hawking's Snapshots of the Universe. The app will help both children and adults learn more about the universe they live in.
The app, which retails for $4.99 will immerse users in 8 experiments amd has been designed to teach them about the universe. Users will be able to learn about a variety of topics such as how planets remain in their respective orbits around the stars, the real nature of black holes, the relativity of time, as well as why objects in free fall have different velocities. Additional topics discussed in the app include the effects of parallax on stars, the relativity of things in motion, the relationship between gravity and acceleration, as well as the evolutions of human understanding about the universe.
Aside the from included experiments, users will also be able to watch a number of videos and other images that feature explanations from Hawking regarding the concepts discussed in the app.
The app, which is 435MB in size, is currently available on the iTunes App Store for the iPad (running on iOS 6.0 or later). However, no news has been announced about an Android release. "This app provides a great opportunity to introduce Professor Hawking's teachings to a whole new audience, through an entirely new medium. We are very proud to continue our publishing tradition with Professor Hawking, now across more platforms than ever," Senior Vice President of Digital Content at Random House, Scott Shannon says.
Hawking served as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for over three decades and he has published numerous books, of which "A Brief History of Time" is the most popular. Hawking's other works include "Black Holes and Baby Universes," "A Briefer History of Time," the autobiographical "My Brief History," "The Universe in a Nutshell" and "The Grand Design."
