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Who Was Stephen Hawking?

Stephen Hawking was a British physicist, lecturer, and author who pioneered work in cosmology and physics, especially relating to the concepts of a black hole, and whose writings helped to make science more accessible to the general public.

He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the age of 21 while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge (ALS).

The Theory of everything, a 2014 film, featured a portion of his life narrative. It garnered massive critical appreciation for Eddie Redmayne who played the great physicist,  

Early Life

Hawking was born in Oxford, England, on January 8, 1942.

His birthday coincided with the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death, which had long been a source of pride for the renowned physicist.

Hawking was born into a family of intellectuals as the eldest of Frank and Isobel Hawking's four children.

In the 1930s, his Scottish mother obtained a place at Oxford University, during a time when few women were permitted to attend.

His father, an Oxford graduate with a focus on tropical illnesses, was a well-known medical researcher.

Hawking's birth occurred at an inconvenient moment for his poor parents.

As England dealt with World War II and the assault of German bombs in London, where the couple was residing while Frank Hawking pursued medical research, the political situation was equally strained.

Isobel returned to Oxford to give birth to the couple's first child in an attempt to find a safer environment.

Mary and Philippa Hawking would be the Hawkings' additional offspring. And in 1956, their second son, Edward, was adopted.

As one close family acquaintance put it, the Hawkings was an "eccentric" group. Dinner was frequently consumed in quiet, with each Hawking engrossed in a book.

Their family car was an ancient London cab, and their St. Albans house was a three-story fixer-upper that never quite got fixed.

In addition, the Hawkings kept bees in the basement and made pyrotechnics in the greenhouse.

Hawking's father got a job as the director of the Division of Parasitology at the National Institute of Medical Research in 1950 and spent the winter months researching in Africa.

He wanted his eldest child to pursue a career in medicine, but Hawking showed an early interest in physics and the sky.

Hawking was also always on the go. Hawking, who enjoyed climbing, created several access methods into the family house with his sister Mary.

He enjoyed dancing and rowing, eventually becoming a team coxswain in college. 

Education

Hawking was not an extraordinary student early in his academic career, despite his brilliance. He was third from the bottom of his class during his first year at St. Albans School.

Hawking, on the other hand, was more interested in activities outside of school; he enjoyed board games and, with a few close pals, devised his own.

Hawking and a group of pals built a computer out of discarded components to solve simple mathematical equations while he was in his teens.

At the age of 17, Hawking enrolled in University College at the University of Oxford.

Although he exhibited an interest in studying mathematics, Oxford did not offer such a program, thus Hawking gravitated toward physics, notably cosmology.

Hawking, according to his admission, did not devote much effort to his studies.

He received honours in natural science in 1962 and went on to Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge, to pursue a Ph.D. in cosmology.

Hawking was elected to the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge in 1968.

Hawking's research and career flourished during the next few years. In 1973, he and

G.F.R. Ellis co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, a very technical book.

Stephen Hawking also did extensive research based on the theory of relativity given by Einstein.

Along with this he put forth ideas on the black hole, its event horizon, and correlated these to concepts given in quantum theory. 

Wife and Children

Hawking met Jane Wilde, a young languages undergraduate, at a New Year's party in 1963. T

hey tied the knot in 1965.

Robert, the couple's son, was born in 1967, and Lucy, the couple's daughter, was born in 1970.

Timothy, the third child, was born in 1979.

Hawking divorced Jane in 1990 and married Elaine Mason, one of his caregivers.

In 1995, they tied the knot. Hawking's connection with his children was strained as a result of the marriage, according to his children, who claimed Elaine cut him off from them

Nurses caring for Hawking told authorities in 2003 that they suspected Elaine of violently assaulting her husband.

The police probe was halted when Hawking refuted the charges. Hawking and Elaine filed for divorce in 2006.

The scientist is said to have been closer to his family in the years after.

Jane, who had remarried, he reconciled with. In addition, he and his daughter, Lucy, co-wrote five science-themed children's books. 

Stephen Hawking: Books

Stephen Hawking wrote many best-selling books in his time charting out ideas based on laws of physics, theoretical physics,scientific theories, time travel, and modern cosmology to name a few. 
 
1. 'A Brief History of Time'

With the release of A Brief History of Time in 1988, Hawking rose to international notoriety.

The brief, straightforward book became a popular description of cosmology, providing an outline of space and time, God's presence, and the future. 

2. ‘The Universe in a Nutshell’

A Brief History of Time, on the other hand, was not as simple to comprehend as some had hoped.

Hawking followed up his book with The Universe in a Nutshell, a more graphical overview of cosmology's key ideas, published in 2001.

3. ‘A Briefer History of Time’

Hawking published A Briefer History of Time in 2005, which condensed the previous work's key themes while also touching on current advancements in the subject, such as string theory.

These three volumes together described the physicist's search for science's Holy Grail: a single unifying theory that can integrate cosmology (the study of the great) with quantum mechanics (the study of the small). 

4. ‘The Grand Design’

Hawking's first big publication in a decade was The Grand Design.

Hawking's latest book aimed to refute Isaac Newton's idea that the cosmos had to have been planned by God since it could not have arisen from chaos.

"Invoking God isn't essential to ignite the blue touch paper and start the cosmos," Hawking stated. 

Disease

a. Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease) at the age of 21.

The nerves that governed his muscles were shutting down in a very basic manner.

Doctors told him two and a half years to live at the time.

b. Hawking first noticed concerns with his physical health while at Oxford — he might trip and fall on occasion, or slur his speech — but he didn't seek medical help until 1963, during his first year at Cambridge.

Hawking had kept his symptoms to himself for the most part.

c. When his father became aware of Hawking's illness, he took him to the doctor.

The 21-year-old college student spent the following two weeks at a medical facility, where he underwent a battery of testing.

Hawking was eventually diagnosed with the early stages of ALS which is falls under Motor Neurone Diseases.

He and his family were devastated by the news, but a series of circumstances kept him from becoming fully miserable.

d. While Hawking was still in the hospital, the first of these events occurred.

He shared a room with a leukemia-stricken youngster there.

Hawking subsequently observed that his predicament appeared reasonable in comparison to what his roommate was going through.

e. In some ways, Hawking's condition aided in his development as a well-known scientist. Hawking had not always been focused on his academics before his diagnosis.

f. Hawking threw himself into his study and research after realizing he would not survive long enough to get his Ph.D.