Stephen Hawking: Do Black Holes Have No Hair?
Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the first of his Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Reith Lectures on the nature of black holes. Sue Lawley hosts.
Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the first of his two Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Reith Lectures on black holes. These collapsed stars challenge the very nature of space and time, as they contain a singularity - a phenomenon where the normal rules of the universe break down. They have held an enduring fascination for Professor Hawking throughout his life.
Rather than see them as a scary, destructive and dark he says if properly understood, they could unlock the deepest secrets of the cosmos. Professor Hawking describes the history of scientific thinking about black holes, and explains how they have posed tough challenges to conventional understanding of the laws which govern the universe. The programmes are recorded in front of an audience of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 listeners and some of the country's leading scientists at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London.
Sue Lawley introduces the evening and chairs a question-and-answer session with professor Hawking. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 listeners submitted questions in their hundreds, of which a selection were invited to attend the event to put their questions in person to professor Hawking.
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Tue 26 Jan 2016 14:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Tue 26 Jan 2016 15:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
Featured in...
Professor Stephen Hawking Collection—The Documentary, Stephen Hawking's Life and Thought
A look back at the life of one of the world's greatest theoretical physicists
An illustrated guide to black holes
As explained by Stephen Hawking
The Reith Lectures on Radio 4
Archive recordings from the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's flagship annual lecture series going back to 1948