The divinity of astrophysics: the 11-year-old genius William Maillis will challenge Stephen Hawking’s atheism. From the article:

He was speaking in complete sentences by 7 months old. He learned addition and subtraction before he was 2, knew the alphabet in three languages at 3, and picked up algebra (taught to him on a car ride by his older brother) at 4….

Space, though, is his biggest interest.

In August, the 5-foot-2 prodigy will start studying physics at USF, with an eye toward an astrophysics career in the — likely near — future.

“My goal is to have my Ph.D. by the time I’m 18,” he said.

And he has a plan for putting it to use.

“I want to prove that God does exist through science,” William said, his robed father looking on. “So that the world can know.”

William dove into his theory that atheism and some sects of science rely just as much on faith as religion does. And to him, it’s more probable that a higher power created the universe than a random event.

“Science and religion are no different,” he said. “Science is a tool for explaining the world. Science doesn’t disprove God.”