BBC2, 9.00pm Tonight:
Does Stephen Hawking's celebrity outweigh his real contribution to science? That's the question at the heart of this deep, deep film. That and lots of near-unfathomable questions about black holes. The biggest of which is whether they don't just eat up space and time, but information, too - a shocking theory that Hawking maintained for 30 years. If his "information paradox" were true, we're told, all that science holds dear would fly out of the window. Which is why Hawking's rivals have tried for years to disprove it, and apparently succeeded. Only now, Hawking, frailer than ever, is fighting back with a new hole theory. It's a heroic story, and the film does an admirable job with the daunting physics, giving us a taste of big ideas but never overtaxing us. You just hope Hawking lives long enough to bring off one last coup.
Threaded need not watch, he knows the answer already.
Does Stephen Hawking's celebrity outweigh his real contribution to science? That's the question at the heart of this deep, deep film. That and lots of near-unfathomable questions about black holes. The biggest of which is whether they don't just eat up space and time, but information, too - a shocking theory that Hawking maintained for 30 years. If his "information paradox" were true, we're told, all that science holds dear would fly out of the window. Which is why Hawking's rivals have tried for years to disprove it, and apparently succeeded. Only now, Hawking, frailer than ever, is fighting back with a new hole theory. It's a heroic story, and the film does an admirable job with the daunting physics, giving us a taste of big ideas but never overtaxing us. You just hope Hawking lives long enough to bring off one last coup.
Threaded need not watch, he knows the answer already.
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