Stephen Hawking Interesting Facts

Stephen Hawking

History of Stephen Hawking states that Stephen Hawking or Stephen William Hawking was born during a rather tumultuous time in human history, on January 8th, 1942 in Oxford, England. Coincidentally, his birth date marked exactly 300 years after the death of the father of Astronomy, Galileo Galilei.

Both of his parents were graduates of Oxford University. His father, Frank Hawking, was a medical researcher and his mother, Isobel Eileen worked as a secretary for a medical research institute. At Oxford, both of his parents pursued different subjects, his father read medicine while his mother read Philosophy, Politics, and Economy. He pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from University College, Oxford, in 1962 and later went on to pursue a doctorate in Physics from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1966.

For his schooling, he first attended the Byron House School in Highgate, London. He failed to learn to read at school. He later blamed the “Progressive methods” of the school for the same. Later, at the war’s end, the family moved to St. Albans. Hawkin’s father wanted his son to attend the Westminster School, but 13-year-old Stephen was sick on the day of the scholarship entrance test. So instead, he attended St. Albans School.

At the age of 21, in 1963, Hawking was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), which over the decades paralysed him. Hawkings died at the age of 76, on 14 March 2018 which coincidentally was the 139th birth anniversary of Albert Einstein. In another wild coincidence, it was noted that both Einstein and Hawking died at the age of 76.

Facts about Stephen Hawking

• Stephen married twice in his lifetime.

• During his time as a student at Oxford University, he found his place on the Oxford Rowing Team.

• In 2009, Hawking received the Presidential Medal of Freedom which is the highest civilian honour in the United States.

• Stephen made appearances in “The Simpsons” and “Star Trek”.

• His best-selling book, A Brief History of Time, has sold more than 10 million copies from its publication in 1988 till now.

Stephen Hawking In Zero Gravity

Books by Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was not only an inspiring cosmetologist but an immaculate writer as well. Throughout his life, he published quite a few books, some of which became best-selling books as well.

His publication catalogue includes the following:

• The Large Scale Structure Of Space-Time(1973) which was co-authored with G.F.R. Ellis

• Superspace and Supergravity (1981)

• The Very Early Universe (1983)

• A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes (1988)

• The Universe in a Nutshell (2001)

• A briefer History of Time (2005)

• The Grand Design (2010), which was co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow.

A Brief History of Time (Book)

Theories of Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking’s greatest “inventions” were his theories, especially his theories about black holes. The majority of Stephen Hawking’s work is in the field of general relativity and specifically on the physics of black holes. In 1971, he suggested the formation of an insurmountable number of objects containing a mass of as much as one billion tons all packed in the space of a proton, following the big bang.

In 1974, Hawking proposed a theory that black holes emit subatomic particles until all of their energy is exhausted and they finally explode, in accordance with the predictions of quantum theory.

Learning by Doing

1. Stephen Hawking was born on ________.

Ans: January 8th, 1942.

2. Stephen Hawking died on ________.

Ans: March 14th, 2018.

Solved Questions

1. Name some books written by Stephen Hawking.

Ans: Superspace and Supergravity (1981), The Very Early Universe (1983), A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes (1988), The Universe in a Nutshell (2001), A briefer History of Time (2005).

2. From where did Stephen Hawking pursue his Bachelor’s degree in Physics?

Ans: Oxford University, England.

Summary

Stephen William Hawking was a theorist, physicist, cosmologist, and an inspiring author. He made remarkable leaps in the fields of cosmology and defined and shaped our understanding of the universe.