Who is Stephen Hawking? The life and work of Stephen Hawking

Who is Stephen Hawking? This question is asked by many people who first saw the scientist on television or read his articles. Professors can be found everywhere - in the news, programs about space, scientific journals and even in favorite TV shows. Many people have the question: "A scientist in a wheelchair - what's his name?" The answer is Stephen Hawking. A biography with a photo will help you to find out about this cleverest person more.

Childhood and youth

The British scientist was born in Oxford, January 8, 1942. His father, Frank, worked at Hampstead's medical research center, and his mother, Isabelle, worked there as secretary. Stephen has 2 sisters - Philip and Mary and foster brother Edward.

The future scientist grew up as an ordinary child and did not show any outstanding abilities. He liked to collect electric locomotives and collect models of various techniques.

According to the mother, Stephen was already at school like a little scientist with his awkward figure, big glasses and a love for scientific debate. The peers called him Zubril and Einstein, but despite these nicknames, the scientist was never an excellent student. He preferred physics, mathematics and chemistry, and to the rest of the sciences was indifferent. Nevertheless, the ratings allowed him to enter Oxford University.

Disease

At the university, Stephen Hawking enjoyed a fun student life, attended parties and rowed. He spent a bit of time studying only the essentials. There is a case when Hawking performed a task for one day, with which his classmates could not cope for a week.

In the third year, Hawking began to notice some awkwardness, he often fell and dropped things. After another severe fall, he turned to the doctor, but the medic did not find cause for concern and advised the student to drink less beer and have more rest.

Stephen finished his studies at Oxford with distinction. The next step in obtaining a scientific degree in physics was Cambridge. The state of health of the scientist worsened and awkwardness could no longer be attributed to fatigue or absent-mindedness. At the age of 21, Hawking called the doctor again.

This time, a more serious study was conducted. Doctors have found out that the disease is progressing and that Steven has not been left alive for more than two years. Lateral atrophic sclerosis (Lou-Goering disease) is a disease that destroys the nerve cells responsible for controlling the muscles. The ailment progresses, and gradually the motor activity fades, paralysis occurs and eventually the respiratory muscles refuse, which leads to death.

As a rule, this fatal disease occurs in the elderly over 50 years, and patients die within 2.5 years after diagnosis. The exception to both rules was Professor Stephen Hawking. Biography of the scientist could be up to an insulting short, but now he is 73 years old.

Personal life

Who is Stephen Hawking? Not only the famous scientist, who during his lifetime became almost a legend, but also a happy father and grandfather. Family and new love helped the young man to adapt to a new life after a terrible diagnosis. The disease progressed slowly, which allowed Stephen to gradually get used to his condition.

Depression and a pessimistic mood helped overcome the successes in the work and the beginning of the relationship with the young girl Jane Wilde. The future wife became a muse, assistant and best friend of the scientist. In order to financially secure their future, Hawking began to work actively. In 1965 he married Jane after a year of relationship. In 1967, he was forced to start using crutches and in the same year his first-born was born. Two other children Stephen met already in a wheelchair.

In 1985, during a trip to Geneva, Hawking fell ill with pneumonia. This disease is extremely dangerous for people with lateral sclerosis. Stephen was in a very difficult condition, and the doctors suggested that Jane allow her mortally sick husband to die. But the woman decided to fight for her husband's life to the end and transported him home, to Cambridge, where he managed to fight the infection. To facilitate breathing, doctors were forced to carry a tracheotomy. The scientist lost the ability to speak forever.

Jane had a hard time dealing with three children and her husband, so after the operation they hired nurse Elaine Mason. Due to disagreements and difficult situation in the house, Stephen broke up with his wife and moved to the home of his nurse in 1990. His wife's divorce was formalized in 1991, and in 1995 Hawking married Elaine.

Their marriage lasted 11 years and was accompanied by numerous scandals in the press. Many suspected that the woman had married out of mercenary motives and mistreated her husband. In 2004, Stephen was even summoned for questioning to the police, so he explained the origins of numerous injuries. The scientist denied the accusations against his wife, but still divorced after 2 years. Today he is not married and closely communicates with his children and grandchildren.

Armchair

In 1970, Hawking could no longer move independently and began using a wheelchair, first ordinary, later with an air motor. Who is Stephen Hawking without his chair, which allows the professor to continue working despite his grave state of health? It is the image of the scientist in the huge, crammed with electronic devices armchair so memorable to the townsfolk. Because of the interest in his person, one of the areas of his activity, Hawking chose to popularize science.

After prenesennoy tracheotomy, the scientific activity of the professor was threatened, because he practically could not communicate. He had to use cards with letters, indicating the necessary movement of the eyebrows. Compilation of one word took a whole minute. A real breakthrough in the communication system was the use of a computer. The screen crawls letters and words, which you can specify by clicking your finger on the clicker.
Engineer David Mason helped create a portable computer that could be installed on a wheelchair, and provided Hawking with his famous electronic voice with an American accent. By the way, Stephen considers this voice as his calling card and does not refuse it when upgrading hardware and software.

Now the fingers of the scientist are paralyzed and he, together with his assistant, invented a new system of communication. Now the computer can be controlled using an infrared sensor that catches the jaw of the right cheek.

Scientific work

The nature of black holes is one of the areas that Stephen Hawking is interested in. A well-known scientist is one of the founders of quantum cosmology. His findings have made a furor in the scientific community. The professor believes that the black hole does not absorb information without a trace, and distorts and releases as evaporation proceeds. This radiation is named after Hawking.

The professor actively works not only on writing books and articles, but also gives public lectures, attends scientific conferences around the world, starred in television programs and gives interviews. He discusses the development of artificial intelligence and the colonization of other planets, helps in medical research and is interested in creating exoskeletons that will enable people with disabilities to live a full life.

Popularization of science

Thanks to his recognizability, Professor Stephen Hawking does a lot to popularize science. His first book , entitled "A Brief History of Time" was published in 1988, became a bestseller and is still popular. It is written in simple language for ordinary people, far from the world of science.

Other well-known books of Hawking are "Black Holes and Young Universes", "The World in a Nutshell". They describe the contents of black holes, the device of space-time and the Big Bang. The scientist also wrote a children's book in co-authorship with his daughter. She tells the children about the cosmos and is called "George and the secrets of the universe."

Stephen Hawking is the author of popular scientific programs on space "The Universe of Stephen Hawking", "To the Universe with Siven Hawking", "The Great Plan for Stephen Hawking".

Mass media

The name of the professor is often mentioned in various shows and TV shows, in which Steven Hawking takes part. The life and work of the scientist is shown in two feature films "Theory of Everything" and "Hawking." He has a cameo in the popular series about young physicists "The Big Bang Theory", and the series "Star Trek: The Next Generation", and his voices in the "Simpsons" and "Futurama" Stephen himself voiced.

In addition, the image of the scientist in the stroller and his name is used in a huge number of fantastic films, serials, books.

After watching movies and reading his books, you can fully answer for yourself the question: "Who is Stephen Hawking?".