I'm Here To Chew Gum And Kick

If We Do Discover A Complete Theory, It Should Be In Time Understandable In Broad Principle By Everyone. Then We Shall All, Philosophers, Scientists, And Just Ordinary People Be Able To Take Part In The Discussion Of Why We And The Universe Exist.

I Have Sold More Books On Physics Than Madonna Has On Sex. [hawking Adopted This Statement From A Remark Made To Him By His Former Post-doc, Nathan Myhrvold.]

Thus, In A Sense, We Are All Doomed. Even If We Stay Away From Black Holes

One Can Imagine That God Created The Universe At Literally Any Time In The Past. On The Other Hand, If The Universe Is Expanding, There May Be Physical Reasons Why There Had To Be A Beginning. One Could Imagine That God Created The Universe At The Instant Of The Big Bang, Or Even Afterwards In Just Such A Way As To Make It Look As Though There Had Been A Big Bang, But It Would Be Meaningless To Suppose That It Was Created Before The Big Bang. An Expanding Universe Does Not Preclude A Creator, But It Does Place Limits On When He Might Have Carried Out His Job!

As We Shall See, The Concept Of Time Has No Meaning Before The Beginning Of The Universe. This Was First Pointed Out By St. Augustine. When Asked: What Did God Do Before He Created The Universe? Augustine Didn't Reply: He Was Preparing Hell For People Who Asked Such Questions. Instead, He Said That Time Was A Property Of The Universe That God Created, And That Time Did Not Exist Before The Beginning Of The Universe.