Stephen Hawking was a renowned theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author known for his groundbreaking work on black holes and relativity. He authored the bestselling book "A Brief History of Time" and made significant contributions to our understanding of the universe, despite living with ALS for most of his life.
Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England, exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo Galilei. His parents, Frank and Isobel Hawking were both academically inclined; with his father being a medical researcher and his mother one of the first women who went to Oxford in the 1930s.
Growing up in a family valuing education, there was no surprise that he developed a keen interest for science from an early age. Hawking's early education was marked by curiosity mingled with fun. He attended St Albans School where he did not perform well academically but showed great potential intellectually.
His quest for knowledge involved understanding how things work, making device models even as he looked for gadgets that could perform anything eventually. This spirit of mechanical inquiry would come to characterize all his later scientific pursuits. In 1959, Hawking enrolled at University College Oxfords whose founder happened to be his father’s former university.
In the beginning, however, he found this university boring because it lacked any stimulating atmosphere; consequently, his academic performance was rather mediocre during that period of time. But later on he became more engaged especially in physics and graduated with a first-class honors degree in Natural Science.
Hawking moved on to Cambridge after completing his undergraduate studies in Oxford, where he began doing his graduate studies at Trinity Hall. At that point, cosmology was still a relatively uncharted territory and piqued his curiosity. Thus, under the tutelage of eminent physicist Dennis Sciama, he commenced investigating the behavior of the universe with special emphasis on black holes and singularities.
While at Cambridge, fate dealt Hawking a different hand. By that time he was 21 years old and had become afflicted by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is a neurodegenerative condition that results into muscle weakness and progress to paralysis. Only two years were designated for him by physicians as his life expectancy.
It was such an awful news, nevertheless, because of his strong willpower as well as undying interest in the field of physics, he managed to stand up to it all. As such, he turned towards his research with a new level of urgency.
Even though his physical state deteriorated considerably, Hawking’s intellect stayed razor sharp as usual. During the mid-1960’s, he significantly contributed to understanding the nature of black holes, predicting that they emit radiation which is currently referred to as Hawking Radiation.
This discovery was groundbreaking in that it brought together principles from quantum mechanics, general relativity and thermodynamics, thereby providing a first sight into the unification of these fundamental theories. Hawking published his work on black hole thermodynamics in 1974 and was hence established as a leading theoretical physicist.
His theory postulating that black holes eventually cease to exist contradicted the then existing belief that nothing could escape their gravitational pull. This idea prompted extensive debates and further research, which placed Hawkins firmly at the forefront. However, his contributions went beyond blackholes.
Together with Roger Penrose he developed singularity theorem which states that it must have originated from a singularity; point of infinite density and gravity, Systematizing with BBT (Big Bang Theory). It furthered our knowledge cosmologically by providing a mathematical basis for comprehending cosmic birth as well as development.
As notable as his career achievements were, Stephen Hawking’s private life was equally remarkable. He wed Jane Wilde who was a fellow student at Cambridge university in 1965. The pairing had three offspring namely Robert, Lucy and Timothy. Jane supported him during the hard times when he became bedridden.
The couple’s wedding remained unstable due to the man’s health problems and his celebrity status which finally resulted in their separation in 1991. Hawking got married to Elaine Mason; one of his nurses in 1995. However, this union ended with divorce in 2006. Even with all these personal hardships, Hawking kept a good rapport with his kids while inspiring others within his circle by virtue of forbearance and determination.
No one could compare with Hawking’s gift of communicating complex scientific ideas to the lay person. In 1988, he published a popular book called “A Brief History of Time,” which sold so much that it has been translated into many other languages and has attracted many readers across the globe, thus making the study of cosmology easy for a significant number of people.
The book explained fundamental concepts about the universe, including black holes, the Big Bang, and also time in a manner that interested different kinds of people. For an unprecedented 237 weeks, it stood at the top position on the British Sunday Times bestseller list.
With the rise of his popularity, Hawking became a metaphor of the society. He starred in numerous documentaries, TV shows and movies like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" as well as "The Simpsons" and biographical film about him called "The Theory of Everything". His unique sound produced from a speech synthesizer became well-known with his unbreakable spirit and great intelligence.
In his later years, Hawking dedicated himself to scientific investigations and interactions among the public. He served as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University from 1979 until he retired in 2009 an office previously held by Sir Isaac Newton. This period saw him investigate the enigmas of the cosmos further by publishing many journals and working together with other scientists.
In awards and honor, there were numberless acknowledgments of Hawking’s role. In 1974, he was accepted as Fellow Royal Society (FRS), got Albert Einstein Medal in 1979 and in 2009 he was given presidential medal of freedom which is the highest civilian award within USA. There are those that think that he should have received a Nobel Prize, but this was not possible since his contribution to science and popular culture is impossible to estimate.
At the age of 76, Stephen Hawking died on March 14, 2018, which also happened to be Pi Day and Albert Einstein’s birthday. We remember him today not just as a scientist but also someone who inspired us all through his work. The legacy created by Hawking’s death still echoes in the fields of cosmology and theoretical physics.
His work on black holes, singularities, and the origins of our universe has changed how we think about space forever. More importantly, it teaches us that no matter how hard life may seem, one can always overcome their troubles with positivity. The way he was able to do scientific research even when he was ill shows how strong-willed he was or more precisely his thirst for knowledge knew no bounds.
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