His early life and education:
According to his
official Web site, Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. When he was eight, his family moved to St. Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At the age of eleven, Hawking went to St. Albans School and then on to University College, Oxford. He studied physics there and received a first class honors degree in Natural Science. Hawking then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, and earned a Ph.D. Professor Hawking is married and has three children.
His career in theoretical physics:
Professor Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. He has published many articles and books on spacetime and general relativity. He holds 12 honorary degrees. He is a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.
Popular books:
In 1998 Professor Hawking wrote a best-selling book titled, "A Brief History of Time." In 2001 he wrote, "The Universe In A Nutshell," and in 2008, "A Briefer History of Time." His most recent book is "George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt," a children's book he co-wrote with his daughter, Lucy.
His life with ALS:
Professor Hawking was diagnosed shortly after his 21st birthday. He was told he had an atypical case of motor neuron disease. He says on his Web site that up until 1974 he was able to feed himself and get in and out of bed. In 1980, he started having private duty nurses care for him, and after having pneumonia in 1985, which resulted in a tracheotomy, he needed 24-hour nursing care. Professor Hawking uses a small portable computer and a speech synthesizer to communicate.
Quote about ALS:
"I am quite often asked: How do you feel about having ALS? The answer is, not a lot. I try to lead as normal a life as possible, and not think about my condition, or regret the things it prevents me from doing, which are not that many."
