Recently, I saw Errol Morris' "A Brief History of Time." This movie has two purposes it accomplishes quite well. First, it paints a portrait of a great man of science , Stephen Hawking. Hawking has been at the forefront of many recent developments in physics. His work encompasses Black Hole theory, cosmology, and astrophysical models. The movie itself leaves out the mathematics intrinsic to his work. However, the main ideas of his discoveries are presented with accessible simplicity. The second and most important point of the movie is to describe an amazing human being. Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (a muscle-deteriorating disorder) when he was just in college. He was given only a year to live. Yet he has miraculously survived for over 30 years. He has lost his ability to communicate (he uses a special voice-activated computer) with the outside world. Hence, he lives as a phenomenal mind, trapped inside a defunct body.

Hawking is a true hero, for he has overcome physical hardships while never relinquishing his genius. The movie also has a few moments of genuine humor which break the serious, factual tone of the film. "A Brief History of Time" is an inspirational documentary about the immense power of human beings. n