Stephen Hawking to feature in new TV show

Stephen Hawking in his National Geographic TV show.

In this new series created by PBS and National Geographic, Stephen Hawking sets a team of people the task of demonstrating the physical truth of our universe, and challenges them to think like some of history's great scientific minds in order to solve some long-held questions.

"Do you need to be a genius to answer the big questions?" ponders Professor Hawking.

"I'm very pleased to be back on the air in a project that furthers my lifelong aim to bring science to the public.

"It's a fun show that tries to find out if ordinary people are smart enough to think like the greatest minds who ever lived.

"Being an optimist, I think they will."

Through the use of large-scale experiments and remarkable demonstrations, the series decodes the mysteries of evolutionary biology, astrophysics and quantum mechanics, solving questions such as: Why am I here? Are we alone? and Can we travel through time?

The show takes the participants (and viewers) back in time to ancient Greece, where Eratosthenes calculated the Earth's circumference, and to more recent history and such thinkers as Edward Hubble, who uncovered and established the distances between our planet and the galaxies throughout the universe.

Where: National Geographic
When: Wednesday, 9.30pm
What: Can we all think like a genius?