Stephen Hawking – The Hindu (Mar 15 2018)
Few scientists manage to break down the walls of the so-called ivory tower of academia and touch and inspire people who may not otherwise be interested in science. For further reading, visit “The Hindu”.
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Courtesy: The Hindu
Word List-2 ( To improve Vocabulary)
- ivory tower (noun) – theoretical, conceptual, unpragmatic.
- academia (noun) – the community related to the education, research, etc.
- odds (noun) – likelihood, probability, chances of failure (or success).
- shattering (adjective) – very shocking, upsetting.
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (noun) – It is generally a brain disease. ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, patients cannot control their muscles. They become paralyzed. Most patients will die within five years after they develop the disease.
- let alone (phrase) – to say nothing of; not to mention.
- excel (verb) – be successful, perform exceptionally well, dignify oneself.
- black hole (noun) – a region in space where the pulling force of gravity is so strong that light is not able to escape (Courtesy: NASA).
- spectacle (noun) – display/show, performance, exhibition.
- grapple with (phrasal verb) – tackle, face, attend to.
- come up with (phrasal verb) – propose, put forward/present.
- singularity theorem (noun) – Hawking stated that a space-like singularity can occur when matter is forcibly compressed to a point, causing the rules that govern matter to break down. Hawking traced this back in time to the Big Bang, which he claimed was a point of infinite density. However, Hawking later revised this to claim that general relativity breaks down at times prior to the Big Bang, and hence no singularity could be predicted by it.
- acclaim (noun) – praise, applause, admiration.
- exude (verb) – emanate, discharge, release.
- invoke (verb) – cite, refer to, adduce.
- endeavour (noun) – attempt, try, effort.
- hold back (phrasal verb) – hinder, obstruct, inhibit.
- pursuit (noun) – aspiration for, quest for, search for.
- conviction (noun) – belief, opinion, view/thought.
- will (noun) – desire, wish, preference.
