Hawking Awaits Unified Theory Proof

By BURT HERMAN, AP

POTSDAM, Germany (AP) - Stephen Hawking remains confident that physicists will prove string theory, a so-called ``theory of everything'' to explain the universe, but said today it might take longer than he had expected.

The world's best-known physicist, who was attending a conference on string theory, revised his prediction in the 1980s that there was a 50-50 chance the theory would be proven in 20 years.  ``Although we have made great progress in the last 20 years, we don't seem much nearer to our goal,'' he said. Hawking's odds on proving the theory are the same, but he now says it could take another 20 years.

If proven, string theory would unite the two main theories of physics: Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum theory. Scientists hope it will unlock the mysteries of black holes and the origins of the universe.

The weeklong annual conference, this year called ``Strings '99,'' is being held in Germany for the first time. The host is the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, also known as the Albert Einstein Institute, in the city of Potsdam, on the outskirts of Berlin.

The conference site is just down the road from Einstein's summer home, where he spent his last years in Germany pondering a unifying theory for physics. The scientist never returned to his native country after an overseas trip in 1932, because friends warned him of the dangers he faced as a Jew under Hitler.

Einstein continued work on a unified theory later at Princeton University, but never found a solution. In fact, said Hawking, a unified theory may not have a solution that is applicable all the time.

``There may be no theory that can be applied in different situations, just as there is no map that covers the entire world,'' he said, speaking through a computer attached to his wheelchair.  Hawking holds the Cambridge University post once held by Sir Isaac Newton and is the author of ``A Brief History of Time.'' Now 57, he has suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, since his 20s.

Firing back at critics who say a unified theory will serve only scientists, Hawking said there will be a tangible benefit in solving humankind's deepest mysteries.

``We don't understand the origin of the universe or why we are here,'' he said. ``A complete unified theory might not bring much material benefit, but it would answer that age-old question.''

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