A few years ago I had dinner at my old College, Gonville and Caius, at Cambridge University. After dinner about six people stayed on for dessert, which took place in the Panelled Room. The SCR at Caius is a beautiful place, especially when lit by candlelight (there's a picture of the the Fellows by Paul Gopal Choudhury here which gives an idea of what it's like in the evening). Presiding at dinner was the late W.J. (Iain) Macpherson - a wonderfully wry economist and then President of the College. Also there was John Casey and Stephen Hawking, along with one of the graduate students who assisted him when he came into dinner.
At dessert, the conversation turned to the popularity of the Flat Earth Society in the 19th century, and why this might be so given that science had long-established that the earth was a sphere. Iain turned to Stephen and asked, "So, Professor Hawking, since we have you here, perhaps you could let us know what your views on the notion of a flat earth are?" (you have to imagine this being asked in a broad Inverness accent).
Because it takes time for Stephen to enter the answer into the computerised voice machine he uses to communicate, the convention is to continue with the conversation until he indicates that he is ready to respond, at which point the question was asked again: "So what are your views on the idea of a flat earth?" There was a very short pause, and Stephen uttered a reply I shall never forget:
"It would make using a wheelchair a lot easier".
Here's to Stephen - brilliant at everything, including bringing the house down.
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