Wisuru‘s Biography Podcast

This is the final part of Stephen Hawking's biography. In this episode, find out about his family life, how the disease progressed, and also some interesting facts about him. After this episode, I will take a break for a few months, and will meet you again next year with the biography of another famous person. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography Or send us a message in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WisuruBiography

Last week, we looked at how Stephen Hawking found out that he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and fell into depression. We also looked at how his girl friend Jane, and his PhD supervisor Dennis Sciama helped him get out of the depression and start focusing on his research. We ended the episode by looking at how Stephen Hawking publicly humiliated Fred Hoyle. This week, let's find out how Stephen Hawking finished his research and started his career. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

Last week, we looked at the theories that existed before Stephen Hawking's time, which explained the origin of the universe. We ended the episode by looking at how and why Stephen Hawking joined the university of Cambridge and how the year 1963 became a year of ups and downs in his life. It was in this year that he was diagnosed with the motor neuron disease. This week, we look at how the disease affected him, and how he found the courage to keep moving forward. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we find out if Charles Darwin or his theories were behind social Darwinism and eugenics. Read our blog post Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Darwin, social Darwinism, and eugenics. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/science/eugenics-and-social-darwinism/ Summary In today's episode, we look at social Darwinism and eugenics. Then we go on to find out if Darwin or his theories were really behind these practices. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we take a look at the childhood and early life of Charles Darwin, the man who proposed the theory of evolution (theory of natural selection).  Read our blog post Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Charles Darwin. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/charles-darwin/ Summary Ancestors Charles Darwin's great grandfather was Robert Darwin. He brought the discovery of a Jurassic era reptile to the attention of the UK's Royal Society. His son was Erasmus Darwin. Erasmus Darwin had a friend called Josiah Wedgewood. When Josiah' business partner died, Erasmus became his business partner. This brought them closer. As a result, their children - Erasmus Darwin's son Robert Darwin and Josiah Wedgewood's daughter Susannah - got married. The fifth child of this couple was Erasmus Charles Darwin. He was born on February 12th, 1809. Childhood In the 17th and 18th centuries, Enlightenment [what is Enlightenment? - Citation 1] became popular in Europe. It was a movement that put religion on the backseat by emphasizing on the importance of logic and reasoning in gaining understanding and knowledge. But by the time Charles Darwin was born, the Churches in England had already rejected Enlightenment, and started controlling the syllabus in schools, to prevent people from learning science. But Darwin's grandfathers had always emphasized that an individual should find the truth by himself. So, Darwin grew up unconstrained by the religious norms of his times. Love for nature Charles Darwin had always been interested in nature - He learned the names of plants; he collected insects; he observed the behavior of organisms around him. He inherited this interest in nature from his father. His father was a naturalist, who had studied natural history [What is natural history? - Citation 2]. As he reached his teenage, he started reading about natural history. Interest in natural history Even after his father got him admission in the Edinburgh University to study medicine, Darwin's interest in nature did not fade away. So, he continued to collect insects, observe sea birds, and animals even after he joined the university. He attended zoology and natural history courses and spent a considerable amount of time in the university's natural history museum. He joined a natural history students' group, where he made friends with the same interests as him, and listened to other students' theories about transmutation (which is how evolution was known at that time). But he did not like the subjects that were related to the medical profession. He complained that anatomy was boring. During Darwin's time, anesthetic wasn't invented. So, surgeries were too disturbing for him to watch. So, even though his friend from the natural history students' group abandoned his love for natural history and started medical practice, Darwin quit college. Until now, Charles Darwin hasn't accomplished anything significant in his life. Nor has he laid a solid foundation for a promising career. So, how did he go from here, to formulating the Theory of Natural Selection? We will find out in the next episodes of Charles Darwin's biography. Citations https://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/enlightenment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this part of our biography podcast, we look at one of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas - The Mayas. Read our blog post Would you rather read about the Maya? Read it here: Maya. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/history/the-maya/ Summary The earliest Maya settlements in North America date back to 1800BC [Citation 1]. At that time, they were just a bunch of farmers. But they expanded continuously for the next 2000 years. As a result, by the year 250AD, there were several powerful Maya cities.  The Maya were very religious people. According to them, the gods needed nourishment. So, they offered human blood and human sacrifices to them.  Each of these cities was ruled by a king. The king was at the center of the Maya culture. He was the political, religious, and military head of the country. All the people other than the king fell into one of these three classes - the upper, middle, and lower classes. While the Maya were socially divided into three classes, their empire was regionally divided into several city-states. Each of these city-states had a king. But people in these city-states were not politically united. They did not share a common identity either. But these cities thrived greatly until the ninth century. Then, in the ninth century, these cities were deserted by their own people. The reason for that could be one or a combination of more than one of the below factors: Overexploitation of resources made the soil infertile Constant wars [Citation 2] Severe drought A rigid social structure made responding to natural disasters and wars difficult But regardless of the reason, the Maya cities were abandoned. As a result, when the Spanish came to these places, all they saw were the remnants of what was once a great empire. Finally, this episode ends by discussing some fun facts/common myths about the Maya people, in the below order. 1. Where did the Maya get their name from? 2. Why did the Maya make human sacrifices? [Citation 3] 3. Did the Maya really sacrifice the losers of their ball game, Ulama? [Citation 4 & Citation 5] 4. Did the Maya really predict that the world would end on December 21st, 2012?   Citations https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/maya https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1007813518630 https://www.worldhistory.org/Maya_Civilization/ https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-wp0/wp-content/uploads/sites/99/2017/06/09204236/The-Maya-Ball-Game.pdf https://www.livescience.com/65611-how-to-play-maya-ballgame.html Resources An illustration of the Maya Social class - http://www.historyshistories.com/maya-society.html An illustration of the Maya Ball game - https://santacruzarchitect.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/the-architecture-of-the-mayan-ballgame/ Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this part of our biography podcast, find out about the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, whom Christopher Columbus met. We will first find out who the ancestors of these Indigenous Peoples were. Then, we will proceed to find out how these Indigenous People lived. Read our blog post Would you rather read about the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas? Read it here: 1. The Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/history/the-indigenous-peoples-of-the-americas/ 2. The Caribs and the Arawaks. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/history/caribs-and-arawaks/ Summary The first humans came to the Americas through the Bering bridge, which is also known as Beringia. Since the global temperature at that time was 8°C lower [Citation 1] than it is today, and a lot of water was in the form of ice, Beringia was not covered by water. So, people came to this Beringia, 24,000 years ago [Citation 2] & [Citation 3], because it offered them better chances of survival [citation 4]. They stayed there for around 10,000 years or lesser and then moved to the Americas [Citation 5]. These people were the ancestors of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Caribbean Islands Two Indigenous Peoples lived in the Caribbean during the time of Columbus' arrival. They were the Lokono and the Kalinaga. Lokono [Citation 6] Friendly people who loved peace Lived by fishing, hunting, and farming Each man had around two to three wives Cacique, the leader, had around 30 wives They lived in big houses. Around 100 people lived in each house Had weapons like poisoned arrows, spears with fish hooks on one end Kalinaga [Citation 7] Fierce people who loved war and fighting Lived by fishing, hunting, and farming Men lived together in one big house where they trained Women lived in many smaller houses Trained their children from a very early age for warfare Had weapons like poisoned arrows, burning arrows, etc. When Christopher Columbus first came to the Caribbean, he met the Lokono. Then, he sailed further south and met the Kalinaga. He called the Lokono as Arawaks and Kalinaga as Caribs. The Caribs had a custom of eating human flesh to acquire the characteristics of the person who died. It was a ritual for them. They used this ritual before going to a battle and when they trained children. But they did not eat human flesh like for the taste or pleasure of it. But Columbus used their custom to spread the rumor that they were cannibals. So, he was able to acquire Queen Isabella's permission to capture the Caribs. Christopher Columbus used the queen's permission as an excuse to capture Caribs and Arawaks and use them as slaves. In the years that followed, most of the Caribs and Arawaks died not only due to abuse and inhuman working conditions, but also due to the diseases brought by the Spanish. Citations https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ice-age-climate-was-cooler-than-expected/46613272 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237529882_Beringian_Standstill_and_Spread_of_Native_American http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169486 https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/scott-elias_da6e306a-f31c-40ad-9ea8-89aa74bba587.html https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/coopers-landing-idaho-site-americas-oldest https://carriacou.biz/arawaks-amerindians/ https://prezi.com/wxjixtonjql5/the-kalinagos/ Resources A map of Beringia - https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/sunken-bridge-size-continent/ Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this part of our biography podcast, find out about why people set sail in the 15th century. Listen to the biography of Christopher Columbus now. Read our blog post Would you rather read his biography? Read it here: History of Christopher Columbus. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/history-of-christopher-columbus/ Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact us Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this part of our biography podcast, find out how Walt Disney made a big decision that affected the entire animation industry. Also find out what he did in his last years, how he died, and some interesting facts about him. Listen to the biography of Walt Disney now. Read our blog post Would you rather read his biography? Read it here: Biography of Walt Disney. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/biography-of-walt-disney/ Resources Snow White and the seven dwarfs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJOCqDl9Dtc Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact us Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this part of our biography podcast, find out how Walt Disney became a famous cartoon maker after being betrayed by his own film distributor. Listen to the biography of Walt Disney now. Read our blog post Would you rather read his biography? Read it here: Biography of Walt Disney. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/biography-of-walt-disney/ Resources Walt Disney's 'Laugh-o-grams' - https://youtu.be/51CRL1EtMN4 Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon with a soundtrack - https://youtu.be/BBgghnQF6E4 Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact us Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this part of our biography podcast, find out about Walt Disney's ancestors, how his childhood was, and how his last name originated. Listen to the biography of Walt Disney now. Read our blog post Would you rather read his biography? Read it here: Biography of Walt Disney. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/biography-of-walt-disney/ Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact us Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography