Stephen Hawking at the Institute for Quantum Computing: The Boomerang of Time
In June 2010, Stephen Hawking visited the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo to tour the laboratories and learn more about quantum information science. The visit reunited Hawking with his former doctoral student, IQC Executive Director Raymond Laflamme.
In the 1980s, when Hawking was writing his best-seller "A Brief History of Time," Laflamme's job was to mathematically prove his mentor's theory about what happens to time in a contracting universe.
Trouble was, the math just didn't add up. Laflamme instead proved that Hawking's theory — that time reverses direction — could not be true.
Hawking conceded his student's calculations were sound, and personalized Laflamme's copy of "A Brief History of Time" by thanking Laflamme for proving that "the arrow of time is not a boomerang."
During Hawking's visit to IQC, Laflamme returned the favour by presenting Hawking with a wooden boomerang — a symbol that the "arrow of time" can sometimes bring colleagues and friends full-circle.
The boomerang, which Hawking took back to the UK, was is engraved with an optimistic message for the future: "Come back soon!"
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