Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was born January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. Hawking is a scientist and physicist. Stephen Hawking is best known for his work on the black holes and for authoring some science books. Hawking suffers from symptoms of Lou Gehrig's disease; a progressive disease in the nervous and muscular system. He has one of the smartest brains in the world despite his disability.

Hawking’s father was a well known researcher in tropical medicine and would usually encourage Hawking to follow a medicine career. Hawking wasn't very interested in medicine but instead he was interested in math. Hawking did listen to his father about attending school in Oxford but since mathematics was not offered there he went ahead and studied physics. Hawking was not a great student in early school but he was good. When hawking started school at Oxford he would not pay much attention to his school work because he was able to grasp the information very easily. At Oxford, Hawking became extremely interested in physics ( the study of matter and energy). He then started school at Cambridge studying cosmology.

When hawking was at Cambridge in 1963, he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. The doctors told Hawking that he only had two to three years to live. He became depressed but then was motivated to make the most out of his few years of life left. Hawking married Jane Beryl Wilde in 1965. They had their first child in 1967. Hawking received his PhD in philosophy, when When hawking was at Cambridge in 1963, he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. The doctors told Hawking that he only had two to three years to live. He became depressed but then was motivated to make the most out of his few years of life left. Hawking married Jane Beryl Wilde in 1965. They had their first child in 1967. Hawking received his PhD in philosophy, when Hawking’s disease continued to worsen and was stuck using the wheelchair. Despite his trials he did not stop expanding his knowledge. At the age of forty-three he lost all his voice capabilities due to pneumonia. A computer programmer, from California, developed a speech synthesizing program that allowed Hawking to communicate. This program allowed Hawking to use his head and eye movement to type. After about fifteen years hawking could no longer move his head and was limited to only his cheek muscles