- Stephen's discovery in 1974 that black holes emit thermal radiation due to
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quantum effects was one of the most important results in 20th-centuryphysics. This is because it unified three
previously disparate areas of physics – quantum theory, general relativity and
thermodynamics. Like all such unifying ideas, it is so beautiful that it almost
has to be true, even though it has still not been experimentally confirmed. The
renowned physicist John Wheeler once told me that just talking about it was
like "rolling candy on the tongue".
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At the time of the discovery, I was working with him as a PhD student in
Cambridge
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I was one of Stephen's first PhD students and people often ask me what
it was like having him as a supervisor. He was not so famous in those days but
his brilliance was already clear to his peers and I found it rather daunting
when, on becoming his research student, I was informed by one of my tutors that
he was the brightest person in the department. Students are probably always in
awe of their supervisors but with Stephen the awe was even greater. Indeed, on
matters of physics, I always regarded him as an oracle, just a few words from
him yielding insights (increible aportación, conocimientos valiosos) that would have taken weeks to work out on my own.
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