Previously Steven Hawking has said that physics has confirmed the existence of a god, however, in his new book he has debunked this with his new statement that "God did not create the universe".

Quote:God did not create the universe, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book.

In The Grand Design, co-authored with US physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking says a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking writes.

Hawking, 68, who won global recognition with his 1988 book A Brief History of Time, an account of the origins of the universe, is renowned for his work on black holes, cosmology and quantum gravity.

Since 1974, the scientist has worked on marrying the two cornerstones of modern physics - Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which concerns gravity and large-scale phenomena, and quantum theory, which covers subatomic particles.

The Grand Design is due to go on sale next week.

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Just finished reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, worth a read by anyone regardless of your beliefs.

Just started doing some research on this Dawkins character. Smart guy. I think ill venture out and buy this book.

Youtube videos of him are very interesting and its amazing how he puts in words what I can only think of.

Yea it's a great book, not really night time reading though. I found myself using a dictionary and I like to think I have a reasonable vocab. His interview with Bill O'Reilly on the tube is quite good.

"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." pretty much sums it up for me.

Just finished reading his book. Very interesting read.

The guy is incredible. So intelligent.

I am still waiting on your autobiography Josh called, 'The Ideal Man'.

Saw him speak when he came to Wellington a couple of months ago, would recommend if you get the chance.

Was this the free lecture in the st James theater?

Na tickets were like $50, was at town hall.

I'm going to interrupt your thorough discussion about the merits and caveats of belief to point out that there actually hasn't been a change in tune, unless Mr. Hawkings is literally singing and experienced a change in melody while his lyrics remained the same.

See: Wikipedia - Stephen Hawkings:

Wikipedia - Stephen Hawkings Wrote:Throughout his early work, Hawking used the word "God" in metaphorical meanings but also suggested the existence of God was unnecessary to explain the origin of the universe, as discussed in A Brief History of Time

Citing the journalistic work of Anthony Burgess, 'Towards a Theory of Everything', The Observer, 29 December 1991, Pg. 42

And furthermore:

Wikipedia - Stephen Hawkings Wrote:His ex-wife, Jane said during their divorce proceedings that he was an atheist

Citing her book, "... Music To Move The Stars: My Life with Stephen, in which she claimed (...) her Christian faith clashed with his steadfast atheism"

For the record, my position is one of absolute neutrality, in that both sides of this argument are correct, and in agreement.

Basically what you have here is a change from one thing into that same thing, so big deal!