According to Dr. Alan MacDonald -- but I've forgotten when and where MacDonald said this -- Stephen Hawking grew up in Africa, where his father was a medical missionary and where Stephen contracted an African strain of spirochete. There are different species of ticks in Africa and therefore a different strain of spirochete there, a much slower-growing spirochete, than what we are a familiar with here.
Thus, Stephen Hawking's ALS was a much slower progressing form of ALS than what we are familiar with in the US. That's why Hawking was able to live for so many years with ALS, following his diagnosis with ALS at around age 28, according to MacDonald's explanation about it.
Sorry that I don't have a link to the quote from Dr. Alan MacDonald. Maybe somebody else knows where to find that quote, I hope.
Posts: 4563 | From TX | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
Bartenderbonnie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 49177
That's more easily said than done, I fear. To do so requires an autopsy of the brain, which is very hard to do on living subjects. Just kidding, of course.
Hopefully, Alan MacDonald's brain autopsy research will lead the way though.
PS -- Thanks for the helpful link, Bartender B.
Posts: 4563 | From TX | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
TX Lyme Mom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3162
posted
My husband had the privilege of meeting Stephen Hawking in person when he was a visiting professor in our Physics Dept. here at TAMU. Here's a fitting tribute to Hawking from our local newspaper.
Stephen Hawking, Texas A&M had special relationship Renowned physicist’s friendship with philanthropist George P. Mitchell led to involvement with university
Stephen Hawking with George P. Mitchell Buy Now Philanthropist George P. Mitchell, left, greets world-renowned astro-theorist and author Stephen Hawking at a private reception held in Hawking’s honor on the 11th floor of Rudder Tower in 2011.
Deciphering Hawking Professor Stephen Hawking gives his lecture "The Origin of the Universe" Sunday afternoon to a packed Rudder Auditorium in 2007. The speech was his second at Texas A&M University, and was part of a lecture series in the physics department. Eagle Photo/Butch Ireland Physicist Hawking wows capacity crowd at Texas A&M Cambridge University professor Stephen Hawking lectures on "Godel and the End of Physics" in 2003 at Texas A&M University in College Station.
It may not be obvious to the casual observer, but Texas A&M University's physics and astronomy programs owe a great deal to Stephen Hawking -- and an Aggie who held a long-standing fascination with the iconic man, according to College of Science officials.
Hawking died early Wednesday at 76, more than 50 years after being diagnosed with the degenerative disease ALS. Over the period of nearly a decade leading up to 2012, Hawking gave four sold-out lectures on the A&M campus in College Station.
Ed Fry, an A&M distinguished professor of physics who served as department head in 2002, said Hawking's relationship with the university can be credited with encouraging support that resulted in the department's success today -- largely through the interest and generosity of Texas A&M class of '40 graduate George P. Mitchell, who ultimately gave nearly $100 million to the university.
Peter McIntyre, current head of the department of physics and astronomy, said the partnership began with a phone call between himself and Mitchell, in which he suggested the possibility of bringing Hawking to the campus for a lecture.
McIntyre and Mitchell had previously both been involved in the U.S. government's failed project to construct the Superconducting Super Collider near Waxahachie, after which the men kept in touch. As the story goes, Hawking mentioned the failed project as among his greatest disappointments during an interview with PBS in 2002 -- a statement that McIntyre said helped convince Mitchell to support the idea of approaching the physicist about a potential collaboration.
Since then, McIntyre said the impacts of the two men can be traced to the rapid development of the astronomy program, the creation of the George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy on campus, the recruitment of prestigious faculty and the university's stake as one of the 10 founding members of the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile, among other advancements.
McIntyre said during the times he stayed on campus, the world-renowned physicist would delight in traveling across campus in his wheelchair, interacting with star-struck students who often greeted him with a "howdy."
"He loved to go across out campus in his motorized wheelchair, from the [Memorial Student Center] across to the physics building," McIntyre said. "Many an Aggie were brought up short by seeing Stephen Hawking rolling across campus with a big smile on his face. He enjoyed seeing all the Aggies and having them say 'howdy' to him. It was a special thing."
McIntyre said Hawking, for whom he held immense regard, was an "adventurous, unconventional" man. On one occasion, he recalled a party in Hawking's honor held at a colleague's ranch where, at the time, a herd of emus were being raised.
"Stephen had never seen an emu before and he was utterly fascinated," McIntyre said. "He sat out in the pasture with the emus in his wheelchair, controlling it himself, to go get up close and personal with these emus. The nurses were concerned, but he had a great time. He absolutely loved it, and that was kind of the character he was."
He said Mitchell, who died in 2013, went on to form a friendship with Hawking that helped to solidify the relationship with A&M and open up new opportunities for the university's faculty to interact with among the most elite researchers in the field from around the world. He added that it also spurred on an interest in the field for the petroleum engineering graduate that helped contribute to his financial support of the department's growth and evolution over the years.
Joe Newton, former dean of the College of Science, said Hawking's presence and relationship with the university helped to attract scientists both temporarily and even permanently to A&M for conferences and through the exchange program that was developed with Hawking's home university of Cambridge north of London.
Newton said ultimately the relationship forged between Hawking and the university "significantly raised our visibility internationally."
"He was, of course, one of the great minds of the last hundred years and it was just such a thrill for me to be able to be around him and to see the awe that people had for him and how, despite his disability, he could enthrall a group of people," Newton said.
Hawking defied ALS to become pre-eminent physicist.
Posts: 4563 | From TX | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
Bartenderbonnie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 49177
posted
Stephen Hawking quote ;
" I believe in the possible. I believe, small though we are, insignificant though we may be, we can reach a full understanding of the universe. You were right when you said you felt small, looking up at all that up there. We are very, very, small, but are profoundly capable of very, very, big things."
RIP Stephen Hawkings
Posts: 3217 | From Florida | Registered: Nov 2016
| IP: Logged |
randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
sad. how he made it, I dont know.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
Stephen Hawking also alluded to depression in one of his final Reith Lectures to the Royal Institue in London on the eve of his birthday. In the conclusion of his lecture he said, “The message of this lecture is that black holes ain't as black as they’re painted. There not the eternal prisons they once were thought. Things can get of of the black hole both on the outside and possibly to another universe. So if you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up - there’s a way out.”
Posts: 487 | From USA | Registered: Feb 2002
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic