Stephen Hawking's Universe: How did the Universe Begin? What is a Black Hole?

There are four basic options if you wish to have an answer to the question "Where did everything come from?"

You may suspend judgment, you may use your imagination to come up with your own novel solution, you may cite God, or you may look to science. Combinations can provide a good level of comfort for many.

Should you wish to see how far science has got in answering this question, you will want to watch "Stephen Hawking's Universe."

In this six one hour documentary series by PBS, Professor Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University leads us on a tour of the history of scientific investigation into the origins of the cosmos. Hawking is widely recognized as a leading academic thinker on the question of the origins of the universe, and has a long history of investigations into the subject, most notably recognized for his seminal work on the physics of black holes.

Professor Hawking introduces each of the six episodes, each of which covers a different topic germane to our current scientific understanding of the universe. Replete with big questions, many of the episodes and their subject matter permit astounding questions for their introductory ponderings:

Program One: “Seeing is believing“...............where are we?

This program illustrates the long history of scientific investigation into the heavens. From the first speculations about our own significance and position in the heavens, the size and shape of the Earth, and other fundamentals of astronomy, we have made progress down through the centuries. Such figures as Newton, Einstein, Galileo and Ptolemy are profiled, and their work and groundbreaking discoveries are discussed here.

Program Two: “The Big Bang“......................where did we come from?

In this program we discover the history of scientific (and religious) thought on the genesis of the universe. Both the church and the scientists are in fairly firm agreement that there was an initial moment of creation, but the means of this are in dispute. Hawking takes us on a tour of the contributions to our understanding of the big bang (the scientists model for creation of the universe) that have been made by cosmologists and physicists.

Program Three: “Cosmic Alchemy“................what are we made of?

How did the many elements that make up the chemistry of our universe come into being? How did the universe itself emerge from a vacuum? To answer these questions scientific investigation beginning with the first alchemists and continuing down through the periodic table and Einstein have pondered these questions. In this program we learn how the elements have been investigated by such key figures as Marie Curie and her husband, and others. The discovery of radioactivity, the atom and other seminal findings are discussed here. Einstein's work on the means by which the laws of our universe permit matter and energy to be completely interchanged are discussed, a key necessity for the big bang.

Program Four: “On the Dark Side“.................how will the Universe end up?

The question of how the universe will end (discounting for the moment Douglas Adam's Restaurant at the End of the Universe) will be answered by scientist’s equations only when they can discover what the "missing mass" of the universe is made of. The weight of the universe can be calculated by the rate of it’s expansion and other factors (I have learned, though disclaim ANY understanding of this arcane calculation!) It has been shown that more than 99% of the mass of the universe is unaccounted for. This program features the scientists who are searching for this elusive material, and the technology they are using in their search.

Program Five: “Black Holes and Beyond“.......can the laws of the universe break down?

It is counter-intuitive to suppose that there are places in the universe where time and space as we understand them completely cease. It is likewise unthinkable to imagine the reality of a quasar, emitting more energy in a few minutes than the energy output of all the stars in our galaxy. As one of the scientist in this program points out, why should the narrow limits of human personal experience provide any meaningful level of intuition regarding such things? This program explores the hunt for black holes, and the history of radio astronomy, leading as it did to SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Or at least, extraterrestrial intelligence with a radio antenna. Black holes and quasars altered the face of the known universe, and their mysteries are, as yet, not completely understood.

Program six: “An Answer to Everything“........how did it all begin?

Albert Einstein spent the last decades of his life on a lone and lonely search for a theory of everything, tying the loose ends of all other areas of physics together in one grand mathematical explanation of the universe. Can the mind of God be written as a single equation on a T-shirt? The hunt, past and present for the grand unifying theorem has involved the greatest minds in science both past and present. Here they are featured in a program dedicated to answering perhaps the greatest question of all.....how did the universe begin?

In each of the programs in this series there are many long interviews with scientists working in each area. As they give their own views on their field of specialty we are shown footage of the machines they use for exploring the cosmos. The variety of technology employed is staggering, and explanations are given as we go along in terms understandable to the educated layman. No prior knowledge of science is taken for granted by the programs.

Computer graphics are used throughout the series to illustrate some of the concepts that cannot be video taped, such as what happens inside the event horizon of a black hole, the collapse of a star, the bending of space time etc. These graphics are covered by the narration, explaining things as they happen. The narration is spoken by Frank Langella, a popular voice-over talent in the documentary world. This is to be appreciated, since Professor Hawking speaks only by the assistance of a computer-generated voice, being afflicted with motor neuron disease. Whilst Hawking's computer speech is legible enough, one can see it would require some significant concentration to follow it for hours rather than for minutes.

The series as I viewed it is presented on three DVD’s, each featuring two programs of the series. The DVD is essentially devoid of additional features, other than an animated scene selection menu. A link is provided for DVD-ROM users to link to the related internet site from PBS.

The whole is presented in a cardboard box-set sleeve featuring a picture of Professor Hawking set against a background of stars.

I found this series fascinating, informative and fresh. I taped my disks off onto one long VHS tape, in which format it makes excellent material to watch over and over whilst working on other things, including sleep. So many facts, I find, are often best absorbed by slow osmosis.