Stephen Hawking Biography

BIRTH: January 8, 1942 Oxford, England

DEATH: March 14, 2018 Cambridge, England

Stephen Hawking Biography : Theories and Inventions

Stephen Hawking was an English physicist, cosmologist and one of the greatest theoretical scientists in the world. He was best-known for his work on black holes and his research on the theory of relativity and quantum physics. He is the author of the widely read scientific book, A Brief History of Time.

Stephen Hawking was born on 8th January, 1942 in Oxford, England, to Frank and Isobel Hawking. Stephen’s parents were educated and had graduated from Oxford University. His mother was one of the first female students to have studied at such a prestigious college. His father worked as a medical researcher. Stephen had three siblings. Stephen’s father wanted him to become a doctor, but from a very young age he had an interest in astronomy.

For his education, he attended St. Albans School. He was an average student in school but always had an interest in science. At the age of seventeen, he got a scholarship to study at Oxford University. Hawking had always wanted to study mathematics, but the subject was not available in the university, so he chose physics. He found the course easy to understand. Even his physics teacher at Oxford stated that he was an exceptional student. After he graduated in 1962, Hawking attended the University of Cambridge to study cosmology and astronomy. He completed his PhD in 1965 with breakthrough research.

Hawking started his career in 1968. He was a member of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. Hawking was curious about black holes and how the universe was created. In 1973, he went to Moscow. There, he came up with his theory of black holes. After some intense studying, he had come to the conclusion that they released radiation.

With this theory, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society the same year. Soon, Hawking received back-to-back significant awards like the Eddington Medal, the Pius XI Gold Medal, the Dannie Heineman Prize and the Maxwell Prize. In 1977, he became a professor and taught gravitational physics. In 1979, Hawking was awarded the Albert Einstein Medal. He was also honored with a doctorate by the University of Oxford.

His other major achievements included his mathematical model based on Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. In 1988, he published a book called A Brief History of Time and later The Universe in a Nutshell in 2001. Both of his books became bestsellers, and Hawking was counted as one of the most renowned cosmologists. Hawking explained the creation of the universe and the Big Bang theory in his books. The book was translated into thirty languages.

It was not an easy road to success for Hawking. He went through many hardships. Hawking was only 21 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He was a first-year student at Cambridge University at the time. His motor neuron disease worsened. He began to trip, dropped items and his speech became unclear. He went through a series of tests, and doctors gave him only two and a half years to live.

Hawking was young and ambitious, and the disease didn’t stop him from pursuing his dreams. He was paralyzed for most of his life but he still completed his PhD and released most of his major works during these years. As years passed, Hawking became less mobile and began to use a wheelchair.

Hawking met Jane Wilde right before he was diagnosed with his illness. They got married in 1965 and had three children. However, the marriage ended and in 1995, Hawking married Elaine Manson.

Hawking not only wrote outstanding books but also appeared in many TV shows as a cameo character like in Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Big Bang Theory. In 2014, a movie based on Hawking’s life was released called The Theory of Everything starring Eddie Redmayne.

In his lifetime, Hawking received many awards. He won the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Wolf Prize and the Russian Fundamental Physics Prize.

Hawking died on March 14, 2018, in Cambridge, United Kingdom.