The world began to get acquainted with the personality of Stephen William Hawking on January 8, 1942, during a difficult wartime.
- Childhood, family
- Education
- Recognition of services to science
- Disability: detection and course of the disease
- Death
- Views: in religion and politics
- Scientific activity: areas of his research and interests
- Famous controversies involving Hawking
- Popularization of science: what did you do for this? Books, movies, series
- Awards: medals, prizes, orders
- Famous Stephen Hawking quotes
Great Britain gave the planet a person not only with a high IQ, but also with a surprisingly strong character and a desire for life.
Childhood, family
The story of Stephen Hawking began in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The family of an English cosmologist, writer and scientist moved to London during the war in search of protection from air bombardments. The craving for science went to a talented scientist from his father, Frank Hawking.
He worked at the research medical center with his wife, Isabelle, who served as secretary in the same institution. The Hawking family had four children, two boys and two girls. In childhood and adolescence, Stephen Hawking was an active child and devoted time to sports.
At 23, the young man becomes the husband of Jane Wilde. With his first wife, Stephen managed to cross the critical age limit, in which doctors predicted his death from a disease of the central nervous system. The girl gave him hope, gave him three children, without a single sign of deviations. The marriage lasted 25 years. In total, Hawking has two marriages. The second life partner was his nurse – Elaine Mason. The marriage union lasted 11 years, but then a divorce followed.
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking was on good terms with his children until the end of his days. They always supported all the undertakings of the father.
Education
At school, young Stephen showed an interest in the exact sciences and scientific discoveries, but did not excel in academic performance.
He continued to develop his interest in the best higher educational institutions of the country. The result of the training was a bachelor’s degree from Oxford and a doctorate in philosophy from Cambridge.
Recognition of services to science
Why is Stephen Hawking famous? His main specialization was cosmology and quantum gravity. Today, discoveries in the field of black holes are world famous.
In 1974, the merits were recognized, the title of the Royal Society of London was received. Five years later, he becomes the Lukasian Professor at the University of Cambridge.
Disability: detection and course of the disease
Why did Stephen Hawking become disabled? While completing his studies at Oxford, the young man faced health problems. He begins to fall frequently, becomes clumsy and clumsy. Medical examinations revealed a disease of the central nervous system in a young man. Stephen Hawking’s disease – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The disease is among the incurable to date and slowly progresses over time. According to the preliminary assessment of doctors, the young man had no more than two years to live. The scientist managed to cross the fatal line and live a long life full of scientific discoveries, but the disease chained him to a wheelchair. Where did the disease come from and why Stephen Hawking became disabled, which provoked a terrible diagnosis, remains unidentified today.
The terrible diagnosis of Stephen Hawking did not break the young man, he continued to live a full life. At the age of 43, another test fell upon him. Inflammation of the lungs led to a tracheotomy. After the operation to dissect the trachea, he completely lost the ability to speak independently. How exactly does Stephen Hawking speak?
A specialized system was developed by a fellow engineer from Cambridge. Stephen was fitted with a sensor opposite the working mimic muscle of the face. With it, he controlled the computer and maintained contact with the outside world.
Death
Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 77. According to the British media, the date of Stephen Hawking’s death is March 14, 2018.
He died at his home for an unknown cause at the moment. The information was confirmed by relatives and friends of the world famous scientist.
Views: in religion and politics
According to religious views, the physicist Stephen Hawking was an atheist. He was an adherent of scientific knowledge and did not believe in God. Religious beliefs did not turn the church away from him. According to his political views, the scientist considered himself a Labor Party.
In 1968, he took part in a rally against the war in Vietnam. At the end of the 20th century, he advocated nuclear disarmament, supported the idea of universal health care and the normalization of the weather regime on the planet.
Hawking spoke negatively about America’s actions in Iraq, spoke about the criminal activities of the government. In the same year, he launched a boycott with Israel of political action against the inhabitants of Palestine.
Scientific activity: areas of his research and interests
The main passion and field of study of Stephen Hawking was cosmology and quantum gravity. In these areas, the scientist achieved the main scientific peaks of his life, among the achievements of Stephen Hawking:
- use of thermodynamics in relation to black holes;
- the theory of black hole evaporation due to radiation.
In 1971, a researcher put forward a theory within the framework of the Big Bang, suggested the existence of microscopic black holes with a huge mass and a minimum size.
Famous controversies involving Hawking
The astrophysicist has repeatedly entered into polemics with colleagues. In 1974, he got into an argument with Kip Korn. The subject of the dispute was the origin of the space object Cygnus X-1. Winning – a subscription to an erotic magazine, went to the opponent. The object was not a black hole, as Hawking proved, despite contradicting his own theories.
The next famous discussion began in 1994. With the participation and support of Kip Thorne, he opposed the theory of John Preskill – about the impossibility of deciphering the information that black holes possess.
In the course of studying and researching the available data, it turned out that information does not disappear without a trace, but at one moment leaves the black hole along with thermal radiation.
Popularization of science: what did you do for this? Books, movies, series
The scientist and researcher paid great attention to the popularization of knowledge. Stephen Hawking published books, many of which became bestsellers. General fame came with the publication of A Brief History of Time.
The list of books by Stephen Hawking includes the following works:
- “Black holes and young universes”. The writer tried to explain the quantum theory of gravity in simple terms.
- “A world in a nutshell.” A publication with an interesting title tries to solve the mystery of the latest discoveries in the field of physics.
- “The shortest history of time.” The reader opens the mysterious world of black holes, the origin of the universe, time and space.
- George and the Mysteries of the Universe. The book was written in tandem with my daughter for a children’s audience in the genre of space adventure – science fiction.
A lot of films about Stephen Hawking appeared on the screens. In 2004, the BBC released a film of the same name “Hawking”, which tells about the formation of a scientist and his youth.
The Oscar-winning film about Stephen Hawking “Stephen Hawking’s Universe” appeared in 2013, where the famous scientist acted as an assistant writer. It is dedicated to the fortitude, science and resilience of an outstanding person.
The scientist acted not only as an actor, but also as an author.
The theoretical physicist appears in the famous TV series Family Guy, Lexx and Star Trek. He became the off-screen voice of “Chronicles of the Future”. He voiced his own characters from the animated series Futurama and The Simpsons.
Awards: medals, prizes, orders
For scientific discoveries, the astrophysicist received international recognition. Among the insignia, a large proportion falls on medals:
- Eddington and Pius XI – became the first insignia, obtained in 1975;
- Hughes and Maskwell in 1976;
- Gold of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1985;
- Bodley in 2015.
This is not a complete list of medals. The list of awards includes various awards – Denny Heinemann, Einstein, Wolf in the field of physics, Prince of Astruz, the last one was awarded in 2013 in fundamental physics.
Famous Stephen Hawking quotes
Quotes and sayings of Stephen Hawking today became known to the whole world. The most famous are dedicated to people who endure the blows of fate:
- Where there is life, there is hope.
- Life would be very tragic if it weren’t so funny.
A brilliant scientist, a strong personality and a man with a capital letter left behind a rich scientific heritage and became a symbol of fortitude.
