Stephen Hawking Star Trek Poker

'Descent'

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode

Episode no.

Season 6 & 7
Episode 26 & 1

Directed by

Alexander Singer

Written by

René Echevarria (Part II)

Story by

Jeri Taylor (Part I)

Teleplay by

Ronald D. Moore (Part I)

Featured music

Jay Chattaway

Production code

252 & 253

Original air date

June 21, 1993
September 20, 1993

Guest appearance(s)

John Neville - Isaac Newton
Jim Norton - Albert Einstein
Natalija Nogulich - Adm. Alynna Nechayev
Brian Cousins - Crosis
Stephen Hawking - Himself
Richard Gilbert-Hill - Bosus
Stephen James Carver - Tayar
Jonathan Del Arco - Hugh
Alex Datcher - Ens. Taitt
James Horan as Lt. Barnaby
Benito Martinez - Salazar
Michael Reilly Burke - Goval

Episode chronology

← Previous
'Timescape'

Next →
'Liaisons'

List of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes

Stephen Hawking Star Trek Poker Games
Stephen Hawking Star Trek Poker

'Descent' is the 26th episode of the sixth season and the first episode of the seventh season of the American science fiction television seriesStar Trek: The Next Generation, the 152nd and 153rd episodes overall.

The time Stephen Hawking played poker on Star Trek To celebrate the life of Stephen Hawking, who died today, we look back at the time he played poker with some of the greatest minds in the Universe. Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking passed away today aged 76.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode they once again encounter the Borg aliens.

The episode, which was aired on television in 1993, features a guest appearance by astrophysicistStephen Hawking. He appears in the show's opening on the holodeck in a card game with android Data, as a holographic version of himself.

Plot[edit]

Part I[edit]

On the holodeck, Lt. Commander Data plays a game of poker with holographic representations of Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking. Answering a question from Newton, Data explains that the game is an experiment for understanding 'how three of history's greatest minds would interact' in such a setting. Just as Hawking wins another hand, a red alert is issued by Riker and Data suspends the program.

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Starfleet outpost. On arrival, they send down an away team consisting of Riker, Worf, Data and another security guard. They find the entire crew of the outpost dead. Suddenly they are attacked by a group of Borg. During the course of the fire fight, Riker observes that the Borg are not acting like the Borg they have encountered previously. For starters, each of them is armed with energy weapons and they refer to each other as individuals. In fact, these Borg appear to be fighting more like guerrilla warriors. While fighting a drone, Data feels an emotion — anger — resulting in his breaking the neck of the drone he was fighting.

At the same time, in orbit, an unidentified ship fires on the Enterprise and the crew returns fire. On the surface, during the firefight, one Borg begins talking to himself about the nature of the away team members, when he sees and mentions Data, he appears to signal a withdrawal. The alien ship beams up the remaining Borg from the outpost and flees with the Enterprise in pursuit. Suddenly the ship enters some kind of vortex and disappears without a trace. Back on the outpost, Riker asks Data what happened, but Data cannot explain it; he just felt angry. Admiral Alynna Nechayev arrives to take command of the situation. She reprimands Picard for not destroying the Borg when he had the chance ('I, Borg') and orders him to do so if another opportunity should present itself. Meanwhile, Data is trying to understand what caused his behavior on the outpost. He tries to experience emotion again through simulations of the event, but does not succeed.

The Borg ship reappears and attacks another outpost. Again, the Enterprise is the nearest ship, which makes Picard suspicious, given that there are now several Starfleet vessels patrolling the area. The Borg ship reenters the vortex and disappears when the Enterprise intercepts; however, this time the Enterprise is caught in its wake and follows. Once on the other side, the Borg attack, beaming drones on to the bridge. After a brief fire fight, one drone is killed and another wounded, but the distraction allows the Borg ship to escape, which again is unusual Borg behavior in that they always reclaim their drones, whether alive or dead.

The crew discover that the vortex they entered is a form of conduit allowing them to travel from one star system to another almost instantaneously. However they have yet to work out how it is activated which means, for the moment, they are unable to return to Federation space. Data is sent to speak with the Borg whom the Enterprise has captured in an attempt to gather intelligence, but the drone is able to manipulate Data into releasing him. They escape the ship in a shuttlecraft. Before the Enterprise can catch the shuttle it disappears into a conduit. However, the crew have learned how the conduits are activated. They give chase and track the shuttlecraft to a planet. An away team finds no trace of Data or the Borg and something in the planet's atmosphere is blocking their sensors, so Picard decides to conduct a ground search utilising nearly the whole crew of the Enterprise. Only a skeleton crew remains on board under the command of Dr. Crusher.

Searching the planet, Picard, Troi, a security officer and La Forge enter a building and are surrounded by noisy Borg. Their leader, appearing on a platform, resembles Data but Troi recognizes that it is Data's brother Lore. Data also appears, announcing that 'The sons of Soong have joined together, and together, we will destroy the Federation!'

Part II[edit]

Lore has discovered a way to give Data emotions and turned him against the Federation. Lore plans to lead these breakaway Borg to destroy all organic life; they believe that Lore and Data are perfect life forms. Picard, Troi, and La Forge are taken captive. Geordi's VISOR allows him to see a carrier wave being beamed from Lore to Data and they hypothesize that this is the source of Data's emotions and Lore's control over Data. For this reason Lore orders Geordi's VISOR removed. In orbit, the Borg ship is detected and Beverly orders the away teams on the planet to be beamed back aboard. However, there isn't enough time to get them all and 47 away team members still remain on the planet. Riker orders Dr. Crusher to leave the planet and come back only when it's safe to do so since the rogue Borg vessel has detected the Enterprise. Rather than leave the system, Beverly orders the crew to take the ship into the sun. Using the technology developed by Ferengi scientist Dr. Reyga, they modify the shields to allow them to get closer to the sun than the Borg can go. They use the ship's phasers to trigger an eruption on the sun's surface which engulfs the Borg ship, destroying it.

On the planet, Lore orders Data to perform an experiment on Geordi's brain – an irreversible procedure with a '60% chance' of being lethal. Geordi tries pleading with Data, who ignores him and continues setting up the process. In their prison cell, the away team constructs a device which they believe will reactivate Data's moralsubroutines, in the hopes that he will question his unethical actions, as well as the intentions of Lore.

Meanwhile, Riker and Worf encounter Hugh, who tells them that Lore is the leader of this Borg group. He says that at one time Lore's help was necessary, but that he has since destroyed many Borg through brutal experimentation. Hugh's group are 'rebel' Borg, wanting to remove Lore from power.

The away team manages to reactivate Data's ethical programming just as Data is about to start the irreversible part of the experiment. Geordi pleads with Data, asking him to check his conscience. Data falters, claims that there are anomalies in the experiment and postpones it.

Lore begins to doubt Data's devotion, and attempts to strengthen control by threatening to remove the emotions he has provided. Data appears to be subservient, but Lore remains suspicious, and orders Data to prove his loyalty by killing Picard. Data refuses, as the rebooting of his morality subroutines is complete. Two Borg seize Data and Lore is about to execute Data, when Riker and Worf arrive, accompanied by Hugh and some of his rebel Borg. A battle commences and in the ensuing confusion, Lore flees, pursued by Data. In their ensuing confrontation, Lore attempts to talk Data into escaping with him. Unswayed, Data shoots him with a phaser then deactivates him.

In the aftermath, Hugh becomes leader of the Borg group.

The Enterprise returns to Federation space. Data reports that Lore is to be disassembled permanently and he also intends to destroy the emotion chip, as it is 'too dangerous', citing the harm he has inflicted under its influence. However Geordi intervenes, and advises him to keep the chip until he is ready. (The chip would eventually be implanted into Data during the course of the film Star Trek Generations.)

Production[edit]

Stephen Hawking on a visit to NASA.

At a screening for the 1991 documentary film A Brief History of Time, which was based on the book of the same name by British theoretical physicistStephen Hawking, Hawking was introduced to the audience by veteran Trek actor Leonard Nimoy. A Brief History executive producer Gordon Freedman told Nimoy that Hawking was an avid Star Trek fan. This led to an arranged visit by Hawking of the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which included an opportunity by Hawking to sit in the captain's chair. Freedman told the show's executive producer, Rick Berman, that Hawking would appear on the show if asked. Hawking accepted the ensuing offer, marking the first time a guest star played himself on an episode of any Star Trek series. After he was sent the script, he made some modifications to it, including improving a humorous line of dialogue to make it funnier, which Berman called 'delightful'.^[1]

Later, when actor Brent Spiner, who appeared in the scene with Hawking, first read the script, and saw that Hawking was a character in it, he imagined that he might be asked to play the scientist, as he had played multiple roles in episodes before. Spiner was excited, however, to learn that Hawking had agreed to play himself, leading Spiner to remark, 'But I still think the guy cost me an Emmy'. Filming of the scene drew a crowd of staffpersons, including those whom screenwriter Ronald D. Moore said were not working on the scene but pretended to have a work-related reason to be there. Between camera setups, Hawking was placed in a closet-sized room at his request, because such solitude allowed him to think without distractions. Berman related that of all the notable people he had met through the course of his career, including presidents and business magnates, the visitor who stood out above the rest was Hawking.^[1]

This episode is the only episode to have the episode title and opening credits listed during the cold open, before the title sequence. Normally, the episode title and all guest stars, producers/director are listed after the opening title sequence.

Novel[edit]

A novelization of this episode was published by Pocket Books, it was one of five novelizations to be made of The Next Generation episodes, alongside 'Encounter at Farpoint', 'Unification', 'Relics', and 'All Good Things...'.^[2]

Reception[edit]

In 2017, Den of Geek ranked Jonathan Del Arco as one of the top ten guest star roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation.^[3] He also appears in the role of Third of Five (i.e. Hugh), in 'I, Borg' and 'Descent, Part II',^[3] and is scheduled to reprise the role in the upcoming series Star Trek: Picard.

In 2019, ScreenRant recommended 'Descent' as background on the character Data, for the series Star Trek: Picard.^[4]

Film Daily ranked Stephen Hawking as one of the greatest Star Trek guest stars.^[5]

Watch guides[edit]

The Nerdist suggested this episode as the conclusion of a story arc of this TV show.^[6] They propose a story arc with the Enterprise 1701-D confronting the Borg, that would include 'Q Who?', 'The Best of Both Worlds', 'I, Borg', and 'Descent'.^[6]

In 2020, Gamespot recommended 'Descent' parts I & II for background on the character of Data.^[7]

References[edit]

^ ^a^bSpiegel, Danny (June 8, 2015). 'Brilliant Mind Games'. TV Guide. p. 84.
^Ayers 2006, pp. 317-318.
^ ^a^b'Star Trek: The Next Generation — 10 Great Guest Performances'. Den of Geek. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
^'Star Trek: Data's Most Important Episodes For Picard'. ScreenRant. 2019-12-26. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
^Roberts, Amy (2019-06-12). 'Tom Hardy in space: The greatest 'Star Trek' guest stars ever'. Film Daily. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
^ ^a^b'A Guide to Binge Watching 7 Great STAR TREK Arcs'. Nerdist. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
^'Star Trek Picard: 10 Next Generation Episodes That Will Catch You Up On Data'. GameSpot. Retrieved 2020-01-13.

Ayers, Jeff (2006). Voyages of Imagination. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN978-1-41650349-1.

External links[edit]

'Descent, Part I' on IMDb
'Descent, Part II' on IMDb
'Descent, Part I' at TV.com
'Descent, Part II' at TV.com
Descent, Part I at Memory Alpha (a Star Trekwiki)
Descent, Part II at Memory Alpha (a Star Trekwiki)
Descent, Part I at StarTrek.com
Descent, Part II at StarTrek.com

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Descent_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)&oldid=935758843'

Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), a theoretical physicist, has appeared in many works of popular culture.

1Television and film
- 1.1Appeared as himself
- 1.4Referenced

Television and film[edit]

Appeared as himself[edit]

Comedy & drama[edit]

The Culture Show. (Simpsons special)
Alien Planet. (Discovery Channel special)
I Love the World. (Discovery Channel commercial)
Late Night with Conan O'Brien (Episode 1752).^[1] He was in a skit in which he made a phone call to guest Jim Carrey.
TV Offal. Hawking appeared with host Victor Lewis-Smith in the pre-titles sequences of this show.
Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- At the release party for the home video version of the A Brief History of Time, Leonard Nimoy, who had played Spock on Star Trek, learned that Hawking was interested in appearing on the show. Nimoy made the necessary contact, and as a result Hawking appears at the beginning of the Season 6 cliffhanger, 'Descent, Part 1', when Data is seen playing poker with holographic depictions of Hawking, Sir Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. Hawking portrayed his own hologram for this episode, making him the only guest in any Star Trek series to play himself. When taking a tour of the set, he paused at the Warp core, smiled, and said, 'I'm working on that.' During the tour, Hawking requested, and was allowed, to sit in the captain's chair of the Enterprise-D.
The Big Bang Theory. (Episode 108: The Hawking Excitation; Episode 117: The Extract Obliteration (voice-over); Episode 155: The Relationship Diremption (voice-over); Episode 173: The Troll Manifestation; Episode 200: The Celebration Experimentation; Episode 216: The Geology Elevation; Episode 232: The Proposal Proposal)
Red Nose Day 2015. In a sketch with David Walliams and Catherine Tate, Hawking appears, in the guise of an Andy Pipkin character, who transforms into a Transformer machine.

Factual[edit]

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Interview, 15 June 2014
Red Dwarf. Hawking appeared in a special programme about the popular British science fiction series. He praised its creators for their witty use of (pseudo) scientific theories and said he enjoyed watching the show.
The 11th Hour. In this film about the effects of human activity on the environment Hawking gave explanations of these effects.
Genius of Britain. Hawking presented the links for a five-part 2010 Channel 4 series profiling British scientists.
University Challenge 2016–17. Hawking presented the winner's trophy to the team from Balliol College, Oxford.
God, the Universe and Everything Else. Interview with Arthur C. Clarke and Carl Sagan.

Narration[edit]

Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking. A three part miniseries about aliens, time travel and the past and present of mankind
Masters of Science Fiction. A Science Fictionanthology series.^[2]

Played by an actor in television series or movies[edit]

Hawking. Portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in a drama about Hawking's time as a postgraduate student at Cambridge University.
Stargate Atlantis. In the 5th season of Stargate Atlantis, episode 16 'Brain Storm', where many world physicists were invited to a demonstration of cooling effect using a wormhole between 2 universes. Stephen Hawking, played by an actor, was shown in his chair from behind.
Superhero Movie. In a parodied take on Spider-Man, Hawking, played by the actor Robert Joy, jokes about himself within.
The Theory of Everything. Portrayed by actor Eddie Redmayne in a biopic about Hawking from the early 1960s to the 1980s. Hawking agreed to allow the filmmakers use of his speech synthesizer voice for the film.
Sausage Party. Portrayed by storyboard artist Scott Underwood in the animated movie, parodied as a piece of gum.

Appeared as himself in cartoon form[edit]

Hawking as a cartoon character in The Simpsons^[a]

Futurama:
- In 'Anthology of Interest I' (2000) Hawking appears as a member of the Vice Presidential Action Rangers (VPAR), who guard the space-time continuum. Along with Hawking at the end of the twentieth century they include Al Gore, Nichelle Nichols, Gary Gygax, and their summer intern Deep Blue. He first appears as a customer at the pizzeria where Fry believes him to have 'invented gravity', and Hawking neglects to correct him. After learning of Fry's inter-dimensional experience, he arranges for him to be kidnapped by the VPAR.
- In the film The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008) Hawking appears as his own head in a jar leading a scientific convention organized to study and discuss a tear in the universe. He says that despite writing a book about it, he has no idea what it is. After stunning Professor Farnsworth and Professor Wernstrom with beams from his eyes, he is surprised, remarking, 'I didn't know I could do that'. Hawking provided his 'own' voice for this appearance, and is characterised the same way as in The Simpsons.
- Hawking appeared in the video game segment of season 6's finale, 'Reincarnation' (2011).

The Simpsons:
- In 'They Saved Lisa's Brain' (1999) Lisa joins the power-hungry Springfield chapter of Mensa. They take over the local council, intending to transform Springfield into a Platonic Utopia. Hawking gets wind of the group's actions and arrives in Springfield to investigate. When they announce their new draconian laws, the crowd gathered quickly transforms into an angry mob. Hawking saves Lisa with his wheelchair, which comes complete with hidden gadgets including retractable helicopter blades and a spring-loaded boxing glove. He later joins Homer for a beer at Moe's, where Homer impresses him with his theory of a donut-shaped universe.
- During the British Comedy Awards 2004, Hawking was presented with a one-off toy version of himself in Simpson form by Matt Groening, complete with boxing glove. Hawking presented Groening with a lifetime achievement award.
- In the episode 'Don't Fear the Roofer' (2005) he is again at Moe's, for Lenny's birthday party. He later explains that he was tracking a miniature black hole, which drew light away from Homer's 'imaginary friend' Ray (guest voice Ray Romano), thus making him invisible to Bart. Homer is therefore able to prove his sanity after being institutionalized.
- In the episode 'Stop or My Dog Will Shoot' (2007) Santa's Little Helper encounters Hawking in a corn maze while searching for a lost Homer. Hawking says 'This maze is too hard for me,' and then flies off in the helicopter attachment.
- In the episode, 'Elementary School Musical' (2010) Hawking raps with Flight of the Conchords for Lisa.

Referenced[edit]

Computer Stew. Hawking's image was animated and used as a character in several episodes.
The Wrong Coast. A segment of the show tells about a movie called Party Time Continuum, in which Hawking is portrayed as a time-travelling party-animal played by Seth Green.
Weebl and Bob. In their clip 'Balance', Stephen Hawking flies across the screen in his buggy and the various characters play around with his speech synthesiser against his will, making it say strange things, such as 'I've wet my pants'.
User Friendly. Stephen Hawking realizes in a power blackout that all the dark matter in the universe may be grues.^[3]
Hawking. A partly fictionalised 2004 biographical drama following Hawking's life as a Cambridge student, the initial onset of his motor neuron disease, and his meeting with his first wife.
Superhero Movie. Hawking, played by actor Robert Joy, first appears as a judge in a science fair who offers weed to the students and later helps Dragonfly (Drake Bell).
Knocked Up. Jonah, while playing in a wheelchair, does an imitation of Hawking by saying (in a robot voice) 'People think I'm smart because I speak in a robot voice.'
The Vicar of Dibley. In the episode 'Winter' from the Seasonal Specials, when casting for the Christmas Nativity play, Frank Pickle decided to base his version of the Wise Man on Stephen Hawking, speaking in a voice that sounded only slightly similar to Hawking's synthesized voice.
Father Ted. In the episode 'Are You Right There Father Ted' from the Third Season, Father Dougal mentions an occasion when Father Ted had done an impression of Stephen Hawking in a variety show only for Stephen Hawking to turn up unexpectedly.
The Big Bang Theory. In the pilot episode Howard Wolowitz brings over a tape, stating that it is a Stephen Hawking lecture recorded in 1974, 'before he became a creepy computer voice.' In an episode in Season 2, Leonard impersonates a fellow physicist's impersonation of Hawking on the phone. In an episode in Season Four, it was mentioned that Sheldon had been tricked by his friends into going to the airport at 2am to meet him. In Season 6 episode 6, Sheldon Cooper and Stephen Hawking also engage in a game of 'Words with friends' over internet. The two come up with pet names of Coop and Rolling Thunder. In the end, to Sheldon's dismay, Hawking insults him.
The Colbert Report. Stephen Colbert, in character as a right-wing conservative pundit ala Bill O'Reilly, has frequently featured segments entitled 'Stephen Hawking is Such an A-Hole', citing reasons such as the 'megalomaniacal' title of his program, 'Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe'. 'There is only one master of the universe,' Colbert responded, 'and that's He-Man.'
Men in Black: International. A copy of Stephen Hawking's Book 'A Brief History of Time' is seen lying on top of a bed in an early part of the film.

Referenced in cartoons[edit]

The Critic. Jay and his new trucker friends go to see 'Ultimate Force' at a drive-in, which one of the truckers states will most definitely feature 'a tough guy on wheels.' The movie turns out to feature Hawking discussing his theories on relative force.
Dilbert. Hawking was portrayed in an episode about Dilbert's project, the Gruntmaster 6000, whose 'graviton generator' could create a black hole to wipe out all life on Earth. In 'field testing' done without consulting Dilbert, the Gruntmaster 6000 was sent to a family in Squiddler's Patch, Texas, where a family of four, living in a trailer, and rather stupid, somehow destroyed the graviton generator, and created a black hole. During the episode, it is 'revealed' that Hawking has the power to travel through both time and space via wormholes, and Dilbert learns the hard way that you should never bet money that a theoretical physicist can't do something. Hawking in this also calls Dilbert a 'cheap bastard' for only borrowing his book in a library.
The Fairly OddParents. Hawking appears in the episode 'Remy Rides Again', voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. When Crocker mocks Timmy for thinking that 2+2=5, Remy hires Hawking to prove that this result can actually obtain, and Timmy was therefore right. At the end of the episode, Hawking rockets away in his wheelchair and disappears like the DeLorean. Crocker runs after him, protesting that 2+2 actually equals 6.
Family Guy.
- Hawking's persona was first featured in the episode 'Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater'; it is a very brief cameo during the song 'This House Is Freaking Sweet'; Hawking is presented as the man who will help Chris do his homework. During this time he is tapping his foot.
- He makes a cameo appearance on 'It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One'. He is seen with his wife sitting by a fire singing 'She'll be coming around the mountain'
- Stephen Hawking talks to reporter Tricia Takanawa in the eighth-season episode, 'April in Quahog', about the first directly observable instance of a black hole. Hawking tells Takanawa, using his electronic voice, that the discovery 'validates the work of a lifetime' before getting out of his wheelchair and talking in a 'regular' voice. He is then thrown a surfboard which he catches and with which walks off, telling Takanawa, 'see ya, bitch' ('see ya, ching chong' on the DVD release).
- In the episode 'The Old Man and the Big 'C', Hawking is seen streaking at a baseball game, saying 'Haha, you are all looking at my penis, you didn't plan on it, but it's happening.'
Ugly Americans. A show on Comedy Central, Leonard and the blob visit Stephen and steal his voice-box for their own use.
Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Sherman has a lunchbox with Hawking on it, with the words 'A Brief History of Lunch'.

Music and radio[edit]

Brian May (lead guitarist of Queen and astrophysicist) used recordings of Stephen Hawking's voice in his song 'New Horizons (Ultima Thule Mix)' (written to celebrate New HorizonNASA space probe journey).^[4]
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The voice of the book in the new series, The Hexagonal Phase first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 8 March: BBC Home page for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Jon Holmes. The comedian's BBC Radio 6 Music radio show features Hawking reciting songs lyrics as suggested by listeners. These have included 'Gay Bar' by Electric Six and 'Prime Mover' by Zodiac Mindwarp.
Greydon Square. The atheist rapper makes several references to Hawking, most poignantly in 'The Dream' expressing his dream 'to be walking with Stephen Hawking along the beach talking theory'.
The Bob & Tom Show. Hawking is portrayed (and his computerised voice simulated) in a spoof of the show I'm with Busey. At the end of the spoof, he's heard cursing his roommate for being so stupid.
Juno Reactor. Hawking is quoted in the track 'Landing' from electronica/ambient band Juno Reactor's album Transmissions.
Manic Street Preachers. The band's 2009 album Journal for Plague Lovers features a track entitled 'Me and Stephen Hawking'.
MC Hawking. Using a speech synthesizer similar to Hawking's, nerdcore artist Ken Lawrence performs as the imaginary alter-ego for the 'theoretical physicist turned gangster-rapper.' Song titles include 'E=MC Hawking' ('I explode like a bomb/no one is spared/my power is my mass times the speed of light squared'), 'Fuck the Creationists' ('Fuck the damn creationists I say it with authority/because kicking their punk asses be my paramount priority') and 'Entropy' ('You down with entropy?') The success of the MC Hawking amongst internet users eventually led to a 'greatest hits' compilation CD entitled A Brief History of Rhyme (a play on Hawking's A Brief History of Time book title), featuring album artwork done by comic artist Tony Moore. Hawking himself is reported to have said that he is 'flattered, as it's a modern day equivalent to Spitting Image'.^[5] Lawrence has performed as MC Hawking for Hawking himself.^[6]
Pink Floyd. Hawking's 'voice' was sampled by Pink Floyd (from a UK British Telecom television advert) and used in their song, 'Keep Talking' from the album, The Division Bell (1994). Hawking's voice also appeared on the instrumental track 'Talkin' Hawkin' from their album, The Endless River (2014).
Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine. Richard and Hawking sing 'The Girl Is Mine' as a charming duet on the album Aperitif for Destruction. (Celebrity voices impersonated.)
Robin Williams, on his 2002 DVD Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, mentioned that 'I called Stephen Hawking's house once', and proceeded in a mechanical voice: 'Hello this is Stephen Hawking.' 'Yes, I'd like to leave a message.' 'No. This is Stephen Hawking.'. On the B-side track 'Boston' of the CD release of the 2002 comedy tour, Williams mentions that 'MIT is the only place Stephen Hawking can do comedy' followed by a René Descartes joke.
Turbonegro. Hawking's voice is featured on the song 'Intro: The Party Zone' on Turbonegro's 2005 album Party Animals, saying 'Greetings. My name is Stephen Hawking. Anyways... Please follow our denim leaders as they enter the final black hole; a new dimension in rock music. Welcome to the Party Zone.'
Yes. The song Real Love from their 1994 album Talk includes the line, 'Far away, in the depths of Hawking's mind.'
Symphony of Science. In the original production by John Boswell, portions of Hawking's Universe series were used as lyrics and included in 'A Glorious Dawn'.
Radiohead. Stephen Hawking is often mistakenly thought to have given his voice to 'Fitter Happier' on Radiohead's album OK Computer. It is actually singer Thom Yorke's computerised voice.^[7]
Epic Rap Battles of History. Stephen Hawking, portrayed by series co-founder Nice Peter, appeared in the seventh episode against Albert Einstein (portrayed by Zach Sherwin). Peter's portrayal later reappeared in the series' first-season finale and second and third seasons premieres.
The FuMP. In Volume 1, the song 'Talk Nerdy To Me' (a spoof of 'Talk Dirty To Me') includes a Stephen Hawking-like voice near the end of the song, which is an acknowledgement of Hawking's references with 'nerd' culture.
Nolwenn Leroy. The French singer-songwriter released the song 'Stephen', inspired by Hawking's theories, on her 2017 album Gemme.^[8]

Books, comics and newspapers[edit]

Ancient Shores. In this science fiction novel, he is one of several luminaries who are heroes of climax of the novel.
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. A character known as Dr. Birding is featured as a parody of Hawkings and The Incredible Hulk, having The Hulk's monstrous transformations, but still remaining paralyzed in monster form.
The Coming of the Quantum Cats. Several Hawkings from different alternate universes ('in varying states of health') make a cameo appearance in this science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl. They are all involved with their particular Earth's plans to develop technology that would allow travel between alternate universes.
How to Die: or The Good Gatsby. In this humoristic novel by Wm. Douglas Warren, Stephen Hawking is discussed in a lengthy comic prose about time travel and his voice machine.
Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire. Recently, the title character became a teacher at the famous School of Arcane Arts, where he teaches a class called 'Secrets of Divination'. At the end of his first class, he conjures up a rather large book entitled A Brief History of Everything (Unabridged Version) by Steven Hawkman, the required reading for his course. The name is a paper-thin allusion to Hawking himself, while the title is a slight alteration of A Brief History of Time. [1]
Hyperion Cantos. Hawking's name appears across the tetralogy under the terms such as the Hawking drive and the name of the Hegemony frigate HSS Stephen Hawking.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The main character, nine-year-old Oskar Schell, writes letters to Stephen Hawking frequently and once even receives a letter by Hawking that is addressed directly to him.
The Onion. Satirical newspaper ran an article claiming that Hawking had constructed himself a super-powered robotic exoskeleton, complete with a jetpack and claws that can rip through tanks.^[9] Hawking, with his typical good humour, sent them a letter cursing them for exposing his evil plans for world domination. Hawking also had a printout of the article pinned up in his Cambridge office for some time after it was published.
Ultimate X-Men. In Ultimate X-Men #25, there is a reference to Stephen Hawking having written an article on mutants, apparently stating that they were mankind's last hope against the rise of artificial intelligence. This makes him one of the rare humans who sympathize with mutants. In addition, the Earth 616 continuity has stated or hinted more than once that Hawking and Hank McCoy (the Beast) are close friends.
Bloom County. In the comic strip, Hawking was said to have had a rivalry with the strip's resident boy scientist, Oliver Wendell Jones.
JLA. Batman manages to defeat the supervillain Prometheus by replacing the martial arts skills Prometheus had downloaded into his mind with the physical skills and coordination of Hawking. Batman later commented that this was the 'first time [he] ever hit a man with motor neuron disease'.
Atomic Robo. Hawking creates a fake psychological profile of ATOMIC ROBO indicating the robot hero has a power-standby mode, thus making him an ideal candidate for an envoy for the Viking Mars lander. As ATOMIC ROBO does not have a power-standby mode, this leads ROBO to spend the entire Ten month trip without sufficient means to stave off boredom/maintain sanity.
Hyperion. In this novel by Dan Simmons space travel ships are driven by 'Hawking drive'. This drive was invented by 'race' of Artificial Intelligences (AIs), and allows to make faster-than-light flights.

Other media[edit]