Recently the world lost celebrated Physicist Stephen Hawking. A man who was given just 1-2 years to live when he was 21 and went on to live for next 55 years, along the way he discovered some mind-blowing things and made the world aware about some really interesting concepts. He can even be called the man who made people fall in love with physics through his book – A Brief History Of Time and many other.
After Hawking’s demise, the whole world was mourning for him and many even shared how big of an impact the physicist had on them, even when they never met him. Along the way, people came to know of the fact that Stephen Hawking never won a Nobel Prize in his career for the work he did and things he discovered.
Stephen Hawking won accolades from his peers for having one of the most brilliant minds in science, but he never got a Nobel Prize because no one has yet proven his ideas.The Nobel committee not only looks for big and great ideas, but also for the evidence to accompany them.
Also Read: Stephen Hawking Quotes
“The Nobel Prize is not given to the smartest person or even the one who makes the greatest contribution to science. It’s given to discovery,” said California Institute of Technology physicist Sean Carroll. “Hawking’s best theories have not yet been tested experimentally, which is why he hasn’t won a prize,” as reported by the AP News.
Various Hawking fans came together on Twitter to describe the reason behind him not receiving a Nobel prize.
Stephen Hawking was brilliant but never won a Nobel Prize. Why? Lack of evidence confirming his work. https://t.co/G5B07nHmb4
— @borenbears (@borenbears) March 14, 2018
Stephen Hawking dying before ever receiving a Nobel Prize for his 1974 paper on the disintegration of black holes (now known as Hawking Radiation) breaks my heart. I am so sad.
— abdul 🐈⬛ (@Advil) March 14, 2018
That's because Nobel Prizes are not awarded for works that cannot be replicated experimentally. The paper you mention is great, but it is not appropriate por Nobel nomination.
— rayogui (@rayogui_) March 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/trickser26/status/974062513280217088
The cool thing is that it may not be till humans can visit black holes (carefully) that we can truly verify Hawking radiation though it saddens me to know that it probably won't be in my lifetime. Unless someone else far cleverer that me truly discovers how to enter 'hyperspace'.
— James Rooney (@jmrooney501) March 15, 2018
Greatness remains great even without prizes. Prizes are political, knowledge and intellect are out in the universe for anyone who wants them or to share them. This was Hawking's gift and prize…ability to share it all.
— Ann Panel (@APanel62) March 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/cherokeeweaver/status/973812901998981122
The only thing lacking was the Nobel Prize for the great Stephen Hawking for which he said, ‘The Nobel is given only for theoretical work that has been confirmed by observation. It is very, very difficult to observe the things I have worked on.’ #NYT
— narayan wagle (@narayanwagle) March 15, 2018
The fact that Stephen Hawking did not receive the Nobel Prize is also such a joke in the history of science.@NobelPrize
— Gert Postel (@PostelGert) March 14, 2018
Even Albert Einstein, a great physicist Hawking was always compared to, didn’t received the Nobel for his famed theory of general relativity. It was for describing the photoelectric effect, and only after it was verified by Robert Millikan, said Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb.
One can only hope now that someone could prove Stephen Hawking’s theory as soon as possible so that he could at least have some relation with Nobel history.
Jyotsna Amla