One Trek Mind #57: Stephen Hawking Turns 70

We haven't figured out time travel yet, so when Star Trek: The Next Generation's producers put together Data's fantasy poker game, two of the legendary scientists at the table were represented by actors. But as Starfleet's favorite android sat down to bluff hands and joke about Mercury's perihelion, the fella with Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein wasn't pretending to be Stephen Hawking. He was... Stephen Hawking. Professor Hawking, who turns 70 this week, is a man so fascinating that if he came up in fiction one might think it were far-fetched. Here is one of the most advanced minds in the world, and yet he is trapped inside a broken body. Communicating through mechanical means (a speech system that could be updated, but is retained for idiosyncratic reasons), Professor Hawking's brilliant insights into Cosmology ring with a robotic quality. His voice is without question the most recognizable of any scientist living today – though it isn't actually his voice. (If this is turning into a “Measure of a Man”-type of semantic conversation, all the better.)

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Jordan Hoffman is a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can also be seen on Film.com, ScreenCrush and Badass Digest. On his BLOG, Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels.