Imagine three great minds from the 20th Century (one still alive) – Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Hawking – in conversation talking about God, The Universe and Everything Else. Wouldn’t that be cool? Well, it happened back in 1988!
Chaired by Magnus Magnussen for the BBC (he was the famous host of the BBC’s Mastermind quiz show), in this 52-minute discussion, the three men talked about the Big Bang theory, the connection between science and science fiction, the rise of computer science, extraterrestrial intelligence, and the puzzle that is human existence.
Stephen Hawking was a youthful 46 year-old who was already having to rely on his speech synthesizer — but his wit and deadpan humor was firmly established. Carl Sagan, who appeared via satellite, died 8 years later in 1996 (aged 62 – a great loss), and science fiction author and idea man behind geosynchronous satellites, Arthur C. Clarke died a few years ago in 2008 (aged 90).
It’s interesting that Hawking, now 71, was not expected to live beyond the age of 30 but yet has survived his two contemporaries.
Anyway, enjoy!
Filed under: Cosmology
