Vicky Biccy's Blog

The Hawking Drive

I just read that Stephen Hawking will retire next summer. Aged 66, he will no longer hold his post as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stop working. He plans to continue his research in cosmology and gravitation.

I’m no scientist, but it’s clear that Stephen Hawking has battled enormous odds in his commitment to scientific research. No-one could blame him for calling it a day when he begins retirement next year, but there’s no sign that he’s intending to slow down.

I wonder what it is that drives him to continue his search for answers? Is it academic pride, force of habit, or perhaps that childlike urge to keep asking questions? I like my work, I enjoy life, but I can’t think of anything that would drive me to keep working into my seventies. Perhaps by the time I get there, I’ll have found a passion, something that bugs me so much that I can’t just let it be. I wonder what it will be - what will get under my skin and keep itching. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
 

Created on Wed 29th October 2008 12:46