he doesn't have any degrees in writing either, and yet has written several best-sellers. in fact i suspect it's more his popularity as an author than his standing as a physicist that has caused this much outcry. have you even heard of andrei geim, konstantin novoselov, charles kao, willard boyle, or george smith as physicists, let alone their views on religion? (i'll save you the google: they're the last winners of the latest nobel prizes.)