Stephen Hawking Memorial Lecture

On 10th April 2018, Abhimanyu Marwah (XII-B), Priyansh Agarwal (XII-B), Manan Taneja (XII-A) and Siddhant Bist (XII-A), accompanied by our Physics teacher Ms. Archana Raichandani, attended the Stephen Hawking Memorial Lecture by Dr. Daksh Lohiya at Bal Bharti Public School, Sri Gangaram Hospital Marg.

Dr. Lohiya taught at Delhi University's Physics department from 1984 to 2016 and was appointed professor emeritus thereafter. He is a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge for advanced study in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. He spends 3 months at Cambridge every year.

Stephen Hawking left for his heavenly cosmos on 14th March 2018. The world lost a great physicist, cosmologist and author. Even though wheelchair bound, his contributions were more than what most of us can achieve with our able bodies. That one determined person on a wheelchair who couldnt move any body part other than his left thumb, established mindboggling theories in cosmology.

Our interaction was based on the works of Hawking along with Mr. Lohiyas experiences and conversations with him. We were blessed to meet someone who was so close to the celebrated Physicist.

The speaker began the conversation by naming the several theories formulated by Hawking. Some of them are 1. Hawking Radiation 2. Singularity in a Black Hole 3. Event Horizon 4. The book Brief history of Time

Professor Lohiya spoke of the time when he was Professor Hawking's student at Cambridge from 1978 to 1982. Dr. Lohiya remembered him as a ruthless examiner! Hawking grilled him for 11 hours on his PhD thesis with just two breaks!! In a moving tribute to his teacher, interspersed with laughter and sorrow, Dr. Lohiya spoke about the man with the razor mind.

The 2-hour session was one of the most enjoyable sessions we have ever attended. Dr. Lohiya recalled the experiments and theories that he was able to formulate in the supervision of the legendary physicist. Everything he recounted was so detailed that one could almost feel like one was right there!

In the end, Abhimanyu and Priyansh went up to Professor Lohiya to clarify their doubts relating to the theory of relativity and singularity, to which he responded in delight. It was an exhilarating experience.

Abhimanyu Marwah, Priyansh Agarwal (XII-B)