Renowed British cosmologist Stephen Hawking publishes his original 1966 doctoral thesis online for the first time. The research paper is now freely available to anyone who is interested to learn about the theoretical physicist's earlier views concering the universe.
Doctoral Thesis: Properties Of Expanding Universes
More than five decades ago, the 24-year-old doctoral candidate, Stephen Hawking, wrote his thesis, Properties of expanding universes, on the subject of how universes expand.
The research paper was officially made available to the general public for the first time on Monday, through the University of Cambridge's open access repository.
"By making my PhD thesis open access, I hope to inspire people around the world to look up at the stars and not down at their feet; to wonder about our place in the universe and to try and make sense of the cosmos," said Hawking.
The Subject Of The Work
In the thesis, Hawking examines and discusses the implications and consequences of the expanding universe. He uses the expansion of the universe to challenge the existing theory of gravity, Hoyle-Narlikar. The work then argues and concludes that galaxies cannot form from the early growth of perturbations.
The Most-Requested Work
According to the University of Cambridge, Hawking's 1966 doctoral thesis has been the "most-requested item" in the university's open access repository. Recently, the thesis has been receiving "hundreds of requests" from readers desiring to download the whole paper, the university said.
Free Access To Research
Hawking added that he hopes the move will also motivate others to not only think and learn but to also share their works and research with the general public.
"Anyone, anywhere in the world should have free, unhindered access to not just my research, but to the research of every great and inquiring mind across the spectrum of human understanding," he said.
Stephen Hawking's Early Life In University
Hawking began his university education at the University College, Oxford in 1959 at only 17 years of age. According to the physicist, he managed to study about a thousand hours during the first three years of his education in Oxford.
During Hawking's years as a doctoral student, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, a specific disease that causes neurons to die. The young man almost fell into a complete depression, at this point of his life, however, he managed to continue his studies and started developing a reputation for brilliance.
In 1965, Hawking then began working on his thesis that was inspired by Roger Penrose's theorem of a spacetime singularity in black holes. He tried to apply the same concept to the whole universe and his thesis was then approved in 1966.
