Difference between revisions of "Stephen Hawking" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
 
(32 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Images OK}}
+
{{Images OK}}{{Copyedited}}{{Approved}}{{Submitted}}
 
{{Infobox scientist
 
{{Infobox scientist
 
|name              = Stephen Hawking
 
|name              = Stephen Hawking
Line 5: Line 5:
 
|caption          = Hawking at [[NASA]]'s StarChild Learning Center, 1980s
 
|caption          = Hawking at [[NASA]]'s StarChild Learning Center, 1980s
 
|birth_name        = Stephen William Hawking
 
|birth_name        = Stephen William Hawking
|birth_date        = {{birth date|mf=y|1942|01|08}}
+
|birth_date        = {{birth date|mf=y|1942|01|8}}
 
|birth_place      = [[Oxford]], England
 
|birth_place      = [[Oxford]], England
 
|death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=y|2018|03|14|1942|01|08}}
 
|death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=y|2018|03|14|1942|01|08}}
Line 30: Line 30:
 
|signature        = Hawkingsig.png
 
|signature        = Hawkingsig.png
 
}}
 
}}
'''Stephen William Hawking''' CH CBE FRS FRSA (January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018) was an English [[theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]], [[cosmology|cosmologist]], author, and Director of Research at the [[Centre for Theoretical Cosmology]] within the [[University of Cambridge]]. His scientific works included a collaboration with [[Roger Penrose]] on [[Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems|gravitational singularity theorems]] in the framework of [[general relativity]] and the theoretical prediction that [[black hole]]s emit radiation, often called [[Hawking radiation]]. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of [[cosmology]] explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and [[quantum mechanics]].  
+
'''Stephen William Hawking''' CH CBE FRS FRSA (January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018) was an English [[theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]], [[cosmology|cosmologist]], author, and Director of Research at the [[Centre for Theoretical Cosmology]] within the [[University of Cambridge]]. His scientific works included a collaboration with [[Roger Penrose]] on [[Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems|gravitational singularity theorems]] in the framework of [[general relativity]] and the theoretical prediction that [[black hole]]s emit [[radiation]], often called [[Hawking radiation]]. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of [[cosmology]] explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and [[quantum mechanics]].  
  
Despite being diagnosed as an undergraduate student with a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of [[motor neuron disease|motor neurone disease]] (also known as [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] "ALS" or [[Lou Gehrig]]'s disease) that gradually paralyzed him over the decades, Hawking pursued his research vigorously and unceasingly for over half a century.  
+
Despite being diagnosed with a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of [[motor neuron disease|motor neurone disease]] (also known as [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] "ALS" or [[Lou Gehrig]]'s disease) that gradually paralyzed him, Hawking pursued his research vigorously and unceasingly for over half a century. He changed the way people look at the world.
 
+
{{toc}}
Among his many accomplishments, Hawking was a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS), a lifetime member of the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]], and a recipient of the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the highest civilian award in the United States. He was the [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009 and achieved commercial success with works of [[popular science]] in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general. His book ''[[A Brief History of Time]]'' appeared on the British ''[[The Sunday Times|Sunday Times]]'' best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Translated into many languages, ten million copies have been sold.
+
Among his many accomplishments, Hawking was a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS), a lifetime member of the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]], and a recipient of the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the highest civilian award in the United States. He was the [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009 and achieved commercial success with works of [[popular science]]. His book ''[[A Brief History of Time]]'' appeared on the British ''[[The Sunday Times|Sunday Times]]'' best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Translated into many languages, ten million copies have been sold.  
  
 
== Early life and education ==
 
== Early life and education ==
Line 42: Line 42:
 
As a young child they lived in Highgate, in north London. Stephen had two younger sisters: Mary was born when Stephen was 18 months old, and Philippa when he was nearly five.<ref name=HawkingHappy> [http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-12-07/stephen-hawking-im-happy-if-i-have-added-something-to-our-understanding-of-the-universe/ Stephen Hawking: “I’m happy if I have added something to our understanding of the universe”] ''Radio Times'', December 7, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2018.</ref> He also had an adopted brother, Edward Frank David (1955–2003).<ref name=Larsen/>
 
As a young child they lived in Highgate, in north London. Stephen had two younger sisters: Mary was born when Stephen was 18 months old, and Philippa when he was nearly five.<ref name=HawkingHappy> [http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-12-07/stephen-hawking-im-happy-if-i-have-added-something-to-our-understanding-of-the-universe/ Stephen Hawking: “I’m happy if I have added something to our understanding of the universe”] ''Radio Times'', December 7, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2018.</ref> He also had an adopted brother, Edward Frank David (1955–2003).<ref name=Larsen/>
  
In 1950, when Hawking's father became head of the division of [[parasitology]] at the [[National Institute for Medical Research]], the family moved to [[St Albans]], [[Hertfordshire]].<ref name=Larsen>Kristine Larsen, ''Stephen Hawking: A Biography'' (Prometheus Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1591025740).</ref> In St Albans the family were considered highly intelligent and somewhat eccentric; meals were often spent with each person silently reading a book.<ref name=Ferguson1/> They lived a frugal existence in a large, cluttered, and poorly maintained house, traveled in a converted London taxicab and spent their summers in a painted gypsy caravan on the Dorset Coast.<ref name=Ferguson2>Kitty Ferguson, ''Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind'' (St. Martin's Griffin, 2017, ISBN 978-1250139368).</ref>
+
In 1950, when Hawking's father became head of the division of [[parasitology]] at the [[National Institute for Medical Research]], the family moved to [[St Albans]], [[Hertfordshire]].<ref name=Larsen>Kristine Larsen, ''Stephen Hawking: A Biography'' (Prometheus Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1591025740).</ref> As a family, they were considered highly intelligent and somewhat eccentric; meals were often spent with each person silently reading a book.<ref name=Ferguson1/> They lived a frugal existence in a large, cluttered, and poorly maintained house, traveled in a converted London taxicab and spent their summers in a painted gypsy caravan on the Dorset Coast.<ref name=Ferguson2>Kitty Ferguson, ''Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind'' (St. Martin's Griffin, 2017, ISBN 978-1250139368).</ref>
  
 
=== Primary and secondary school years ===
 
=== Primary and secondary school years ===
Line 52: Line 52:
  
 
=== Undergraduate years ===
 
=== Undergraduate years ===
Hawking began his university education at University College, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], in October 1959 at the age of 17. For the first 18 months, he was bored and lonely, finding the academic work "ridiculously easy."<ref name=White/> A change occurred during his second and third year when, he developed into a popular, lively, and witty college member, interested in classical music and science fiction. Part of the transformation resulted from his decision to join the college boat club, the [[University College Boat Club (Oxford)|University College Boat Club]], where he [[coxswain (rowing)|coxed]] a rowing crew.<ref>Stephen W. Hawking (ed.), ''Stephen Hawking's A brief history of time: A reader's companion'' (Bantam Books, 1992, ISBN 978-0553077728).</ref> The rowing coach at the time noted that Hawking cultivated a daredevil image, steering his crew on risky courses that led to damaged boats.<ref name=White/>
+
Hawking began his university education at University College, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], in October 1959 at the age of 17. For the first 18 months, he was bored and lonely, finding the academic work "ridiculously easy."<ref name=White/> A change occurred during his second and third year when he developed into a popular, lively, and witty college member, interested in classical music and science fiction. Part of the transformation resulted from his decision to join the college boat club, the [[University College Boat Club (Oxford)|University College Boat Club]], where he [[coxswain (rowing)|coxed]] a rowing crew.<ref>Stephen W. Hawking (ed.), ''Stephen Hawking's A brief history of time: A reader's companion'' (Bantam Books, 1992, ISBN 978-0553077728).</ref> The rowing coach at the time noted that Hawking cultivated a daredevil image, steering his crew on risky courses that led to damaged boats.<ref name=White/>
  
Hawking estimated that he studied about 1,000 hours during his three years at Oxford. These unimpressive study habits made sitting his [[final examination|finals]] a challenge, and he decided to answer only [[theoretical physics]] questions rather than those requiring factual knowledge. A first-class honours degree was a condition of acceptance for his planned graduate study in [[cosmology]] at the [[University of Cambridge]]. Anxious, he slept poorly the night before the examinations, and the final result was on the borderline between first- and second-class honours, making an oral examination, a personal interview with the examiners, necessary. Hawking was concerned that he was viewed as a lazy and difficult student. So, when asked to describe his plans, he said, "If you award me a First, I will go to Cambridge. If I receive a Second, I shall stay in Oxford, so I expect you will give me a First."<ref name=White/> After receiving his first-class BA (Hons.) degree in natural science, and completing a trip to [[Iran]] with a friend, he began his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in October 1962.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
Hawking estimated that he studied about 1,000 hours during his three years at Oxford. These unimpressive study habits made sitting his [[final examination|finals]] a challenge, and he decided to answer only [[theoretical physics]] questions rather than those requiring factual knowledge. A first-class honours degree was a condition of acceptance for his planned graduate study in [[cosmology]] at the [[University of Cambridge]]. Anxious, he slept poorly the night before the examinations, and the final result was on the borderline between first- and second-class honours, making an oral examination in the form of a personal interview with the examiners necessary. Hawking was concerned that he was viewed as a lazy and difficult student, so, when asked to describe his plans, he said, "If you award me a First, I will go to Cambridge. If I receive a Second, I shall stay in Oxford, so I expect you will give me a First."<ref name=White/> After receiving his first-class BA (Hons.) degree in natural science, and completing a trip to [[Iran]] with a friend, he began his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in October 1962.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
  
 
=== Graduate years ===
 
=== Graduate years ===
Hawking's first year as a doctoral student was difficult. He was initially disappointed to find that he had been assigned [[Dennis William Sciama]], one of the founders of modern [[cosmology]], as a supervisor rather than noted Yorkshire astronomer [[Fred Hoyle]], and he found his training in mathematics inadequate.<ref name=Ferguson1/>  
+
Hawking's first year as a doctoral student was difficult. He was initially disappointed to find that he had been assigned [[Dennis William Sciama]], one of the founders of modern [[cosmology]], as a supervisor rather than noted Yorkshire astronomer [[Fred Hoyle]]. He also found his training in mathematics inadequate.<ref name=Ferguson1/>  
  
After being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, Hawking fell into a depression and, though his doctors advised that he continue with his studies, he felt there was little point. However, his disease progressed more slowly than predicted. Although he had difficulty walking unsupported, and his speech was almost unintelligible, the initial diagnosis that Hawking had only two years to live proved unfounded. With Sciama's encouragement, he returned to his work. Hawking started developing a reputation for brilliance and brashness when he publicly challenged the work of Fred Hoyle and his student [[Jayant Narlikar]] at a lecture in June 1964.<ref name=White/>
+
After being diagnosed with [[motor neurone disease]] (also known as [[Lou Gehrig]]'s disease) in 1963 when he was 21, Hawking fell into a depression. Although his doctors advised that he continue with his studies, he felt there was little point. However, his disease progressed more slowly than predicted. Although he had difficulty walking unsupported, and his speech was almost unintelligible, the initial diagnosis that Hawking had only two years to live proved unfounded. With Sciama's encouragement, he returned to his work. Hawking started developing a reputation for brilliance and brashness when he publicly challenged the work of Fred Hoyle and his student [[Jayant Narlikar]] at a lecture in June 1964.<ref name=White/>
  
When Hawking began his graduate studies, there was much debate in the physics community about the prevailing theories of the creation of the universe: the [[Big Bang]] and [[Steady State theory|Steady State]] theories. Inspired by [[Roger Penrose]]'s theorem of a [[spacetime]] singularity in the center of [[black hole]]s, Hawking applied the same thinking to the entire universe; and, during 1965, he wrote his thesis on this topic.<ref>James Geach, [https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/stephen-hawkings-phd-thesis-explained-simply Stephen Hawking's PhD thesis, explained simply] World Economic Forum, October 30, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref>  
+
At the time Hawking began his graduate studies, there was much debate in the physics community about the prevailing theories of the creation of the universe: the [[Big Bang]] and [[Steady State theory|Steady State]] theories. Inspired by [[Roger Penrose]]'s theorem of a [[spacetime]] singularity in the center of [[black hole]]s, Hawking applied the same thinking to the entire universe, and, during 1965, he wrote his thesis on this topic.<ref>James Geach, [https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/stephen-hawkings-phd-thesis-explained-simply Stephen Hawking's PhD thesis, explained simply] World Economic Forum, October 30, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref>  
  
Hawking obtained his PhD degree in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, specializing in general relativity and cosmology, in March 1966; and his essay "Singularities and the Geometry of Space-Time" shared top honors with one by Penrose to win that year's prestigious [[Adams Prize]].<ref>George F.R. Ellis,  [https://www.epj.org/images/stories/news/2014/10.1140—epjh—e2014-50014-x.pdf Stephen Hawking’s 1966 Adams Prize Essay]. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref> Having completed his doctorate, Hawking received a research fellowship at [[Gonville and Caius College]] at [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]].
+
Hawking obtained his PhD degree in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, specializing in [[general relativity]] and [[cosmology]], in March 1966; and his essay "Singularities and the Geometry of Space-Time" shared top honors with one by Penrose to win that year's prestigious [[Adams Prize]].<ref>George F.R. Ellis,  [https://www.epj.org/images/stories/news/2014/10.1140—epjh—e2014-50014-x.pdf Stephen Hawking’s 1966 Adams Prize Essay]. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref> Having completed his doctorate, Hawking received a research fellowship at [[Gonville and Caius College]] at [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]].
  
 
== Career ==
 
== Career ==
Hawking's scientific works included a collaboration with [[Roger Penrose]] on [[Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems|gravitational singularity theorems]] in the framework of [[general relativity]] and the theoretical prediction that [[black hole]]s emit radiation, often called [[Hawking radiation]]. He was the first to set out a theory of [[cosmology]] explained by a union of the [[general theory of relativity]] and [[quantum mechanics]].  
+
[[File:Stephen Hawking in Stockholm, 2015.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Hawking holding a public lecture at the [[Stockholm Waterfront]] Congress Centre, August 24, 2015]]
 +
Hawking's scientific works included collaboration with [[Roger Penrose]] on [[Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems|gravitational singularity theorems]] in the framework of [[general relativity]] and the theoretical prediction that [[black hole]]s emit radiation, often called [[Hawking radiation]]. He was the first to set out a theory of [[cosmology]] explained by a union of the [[general theory of relativity]] and [[quantum mechanics]].  
  
Hawking achieved commercial success with several works of [[popular science]] in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general. His book ''[[A Brief History of Time]]'' appeared on the British ''[[The Sunday Times|Sunday Times]]'' best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.  
+
Hawking also wrote with several works of [[popular science]] in which he discussed his own theories and cosmology in general. These include the bestseller, ''[[A Brief History of Time]]''.  
  
 
=== 1966–1975 ===
 
=== 1966–1975 ===
In his work, and in collaboration with [[Roger Penrose]], Hawking extended the [[Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems|singularity theorem]] concepts first explored in his doctoral thesis. This included not only the existence of singularities but also the theory that the universe might have started as a singularity. Their joint essay was the runner-up in the 1968 [[Gravity Research Foundation]] competition. In 1970 they published a proof that if the universe obeys [[general relativity|the general theory of relativity]] and fits any of the [[Friedmann equations|models]] of [[physical cosmology]] developed by [[Alexander Friedmann]], then it must have begun as a singularity.
+
In collaboration with [[Roger Penrose]], Hawking extended the [[Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems|singularity theorem]] concepts first explored in his doctoral thesis. They included not only the existence of singularities but also the theory that the universe might have started as a singularity. Their joint essay was the runner-up in the 1968 [[Gravity Research Foundation]] competition. In 1970 they published a proof that if the universe obeys [[general relativity|the general theory of relativity]] and fits any of the [[Friedmann equations|models]] of [[physical cosmology]] developed by [[Alexander Friedmann]], then it must have begun as a singularity.
  
 
Hawking postulated what became known as [[Second law of black hole mechanics|the second law of black hole dynamics]], that the event horizon of a black hole can never get smaller. With [[James M. Bardeen]] and [[Brandon Carter]], he proposed the four [[laws of black hole mechanics]], drawing an analogy with [[thermodynamics]]. To Hawking's irritation, [[Jacob Bekenstein]], a graduate student of [[John Archibald Wheeler|John Wheeler]], went further—and ultimately correctly—to apply thermodynamic concepts literally.
 
Hawking postulated what became known as [[Second law of black hole mechanics|the second law of black hole dynamics]], that the event horizon of a black hole can never get smaller. With [[James M. Bardeen]] and [[Brandon Carter]], he proposed the four [[laws of black hole mechanics]], drawing an analogy with [[thermodynamics]]. To Hawking's irritation, [[Jacob Bekenstein]], a graduate student of [[John Archibald Wheeler|John Wheeler]], went further—and ultimately correctly—to apply thermodynamic concepts literally.
  
Hawking was appointed to the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished visiting professorship at the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) in 1970. He worked with a friend on the faculty, [[Kip Thorne]], and engaged him in a [[scientific wager]] about whether the [[Astrophysical X-ray source|X-ray source]] [[Cygnus X-1]] was a black hole. The wager was an "insurance policy" against the proposition that black holes did not exist. Hawking acknowledged that he had lost the bet in 1990, a bet that was the first of several he was to make with Thorne and others. Hawking maintained ties to Caltech, spending a month there almost every year since this first visit.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
Hawking was appointed to the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished visiting professorship at the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) in 1970. He worked with a friend on the faculty, [[Kip Thorne]], and engaged him in a [[scientific wager]] about whether the [[Astrophysical X-ray source|X-ray source]] [[Cygnus X-1]] was a black hole. Hawking acknowledged that he had lost the bet in 1990. Hawking maintained ties to Caltech, spending a month there almost every year since this first visit.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
  
In the early 1970s, Hawking's work with Brandon Carter, Werner Israel, and David C. Robinson strongly supported Wheeler's [[no-hair theorem]] that states that no matter what the original material from which a black hole is created, it can be completely described by the properties of [[mass]], [[electrical charge]] and rotation.<ref>S.W. Hawking and W. Israel (eds.), ''Three Hundred Years of Gravitation'' (Cambridge University Press, 1989 ISBN 978-0521379762).</ref> His essay titled "Black Holes" won the [[Gravity Research Foundation]] Award in January 1971.<ref>[https://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/year/#1971 Award Essays by Year - 1971]. Gravity Research Foundation. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref> Hawking's first book, ''The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time,'' written with [[George Francis Rayner Ellis|George Ellis]], was published in 1973.
+
In the early 1970s, Hawking's work with Brandon Carter, Werner Israel, and David C. Robinson strongly supported Wheeler's [[no-hair theorem]], which states that no matter what the original material from which a black hole is created it can be completely described by the properties of [[mass]], [[electrical charge]] and rotation.<ref>S.W. Hawking and W. Israel (eds.), ''Three Hundred Years of Gravitation'' (Cambridge University Press, 1989 ISBN 978-0521379762).</ref> His essay titled "Black Holes" won the [[Gravity Research Foundation]] Award in January 1971.<ref>[https://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/year/#1971 Award Essays by Year - 1971]. Gravity Research Foundation. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref> Hawking's first book, ''The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time'', written with [[George Francis Rayner Ellis|George Ellis]], was published in 1973.
  
Beginning in 1973, Hawking moved into the study of [[quantum gravity]] and [[quantum mechanics]]. His work in this area was spurred by a visit to Moscow and discussions with [[Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich]] and [[Alexei Starobinsky]], whose work showed that according to the [[uncertainty principle]], rotating black holes emit particles. To Hawking's annoyance, his much-checked calculations produced findings that contradicted his second law, which claimed black holes could never get smaller, and supported Bekenstein's reasoning about their [[Black hole entropy|entropy]]. His results, which Hawking presented from 1974, showed that black holes emit radiation, known today as [[Hawking radiation]], which may continue until they exhaust their energy and [[Black hole#Evaporation|evaporate]]. Initially, Hawking radiation was controversial. By the late 1970s and following the publication of further research, the discovery was widely accepted as a significant breakthrough in theoretical physics.<ref name=Larsen/> A few weeks after the announcement of Hawking radiation, in 1974 Hawking was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).<ref> [https://royalsociety.org/people/stephen-hawking-11594/ Stephen Hawking] The Royal Society. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref>
+
Beginning in 1973, Hawking moved into the study of [[quantum gravity]] and [[quantum mechanics]]. His work in this area was spurred by a visit to [[Moscow]] and discussions with [[Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich]] and [[Alexei Starobinsky]], whose work showed that according to the [[uncertainty principle]], rotating black holes emit particles. To Hawking's annoyance, his much-checked calculations produced findings that contradicted his second law, which claimed black holes could never get smaller, and supported Bekenstein's reasoning about their [[Black hole entropy|entropy]]. The results showed that black holes emit radiation, known today as [[Hawking radiation]], which may continue until they exhaust their energy and [[Black hole#Evaporation|evaporate]]. In 1974, a few weeks after the announcement of Hawking radiation, Hawking was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).<ref> Stephen Hawking The Royal Society. </ref> Initially, Hawking radiation was controversial. By the late 1970s and following the publication of further research, the discovery was widely accepted as a significant breakthrough in theoretical physics.<ref name=Larsen/>  
  
 
=== 1975–1990 ===
 
=== 1975–1990 ===
Hawking returned to Cambridge in 1975 to a more academically senior post, as [[Reader (academic rank)|reader]] in gravitational physics. The mid to late 1970s were a period of growing public interest in black holes and the physicists who were studying them. Hawking was regularly interviewed for print and television. He also received increasing academic recognition of his work.  
+
Hawking returned to [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] in 1975 to a more academically senior post, as [[Reader (academic rank)|reader]] in gravitational physics. The mid to late 1970s were a period of growing public interest in black holes and the physicists who were studying them. Hawking was regularly interviewed for print and television.  
  
In 1979, Hawking was elected [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] at the University of Cambridge, an illustrious position, once held by Sir [[Isaac Newton]].<ref name=lucasian>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3248858/Stephen-Hawking-to-retire-as-Cambridges-Professor-of-Mathematics.html Stephen Hawking to retire as Cambridge's Professor of Mathematics] ''The Daily Telegraph'', October 23, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref> His inaugural lecture in this role was titled: "Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics?" and proposed [[N=8 Supergravity]] as the leading theory to solve many of the outstanding problems physicists were studying.  
+
In 1979, Hawking was elected [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] at the University of Cambridge, an illustrious position, once held by Sir [[Isaac Newton]].<ref name=lucasian>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3248858/Stephen-Hawking-to-retire-as-Cambridges-Professor-of-Mathematics.html Stephen Hawking to retire as Cambridge's Professor of Mathematics] ''The Daily Telegraph'', October 23, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref> His inaugural lecture in this role was titled: "Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics?" and proposed [[N=8 Supergravity]] as the leading theory to solve many of the outstanding problems in physics.  
  
At the same time, he was also making a transition in his approach to physics, becoming more intuitive and speculative rather than insisting on mathematical proofs. "I would rather be right than rigorous," he told Kip Thorne.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
At the same time, he was making a transition in his approach to physics, becoming more intuitive and speculative rather than insisting on mathematical proofs. "I would rather be right than rigorous," he told Kip Thorne.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
  
 
In 1981, he proposed that information in a black hole is irretrievably lost when a black hole evaporates. This [[Black hole information paradox|information paradox]] violates the fundamental tenet of quantum mechanics, and led to years of debate, including "[[the Black Hole War]]" with [[Leonard Susskind]] and [[Gerard 't Hooft]].<ref>Leonard Susskind, ''The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics'' (Little, Brown and Company, 2008, ISBN 978-0316016407).</ref>
 
In 1981, he proposed that information in a black hole is irretrievably lost when a black hole evaporates. This [[Black hole information paradox|information paradox]] violates the fundamental tenet of quantum mechanics, and led to years of debate, including "[[the Black Hole War]]" with [[Leonard Susskind]] and [[Gerard 't Hooft]].<ref>Leonard Susskind, ''The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics'' (Little, Brown and Company, 2008, ISBN 978-0316016407).</ref>
  
Hawking also began a new line of quantum theory research into the origin of the universe. In 1981 at a Vatican conference, he presented work suggesting that there might be no boundary, or beginning or ending, to the universe. He subsequently developed the research in collaboration with [[James Hartle|Jim Hartle]], and in 1983 they published a model, known as the [[Hartle–Hawking state]]. It proposed that prior to the [[Planck epoch]], the [[universe]] had no boundary in space-time; before the [[Big Bang]], [[time]] did not exist and the concept of the beginning of the universe is meaningless. The initial singularity of the classical Big Bang models was replaced with a region akin to the [[North Pole]]. One cannot travel north of the North Pole, but there is no boundary there – it is simply the point where all north-running lines meet and end.<ref>Eric Baird, ''Relativity in Curved Spacetime: Life Without Special Relativity'' (Chocolate Tree Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0955706806).</ref>  
+
Hawking also began a new line of quantum theory research into the origin of the universe. In 1981 at a Vatican conference, he presented work suggesting that there might be no boundary, or beginning or ending, to the universe. He subsequently developed this research in collaboration with [[James Hartle|Jim Hartle]], and in 1983 they published a model, known as the [[Hartle–Hawking state]]. It proposed that prior to the [[Planck epoch]], the [[universe]] had no boundary in [[space-time]]; before the [[Big Bang]], [[time]] did not exist and the concept of the beginning of the universe is meaningless. The initial singularity of the classical Big Bang models was replaced with a region akin to the [[North Pole]]. One cannot travel north of the North Pole, but there is no boundary there – it is simply the point where all north-running lines meet and end.<ref>Eric Baird, ''Relativity in Curved Spacetime: Life Without Special Relativity'' (Chocolate Tree Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0955706806).</ref>  
  
Honors continued to be awarded, but these awards did not significantly change Hawking's financial status, and motivated by the need to finance his children's education and home expenses, he decided in 1982 to write a popular book about the universe that would be accessible to the general public. Instead of publishing with an academic press, he signed a contract with [[Bantam Books]], a mass market publisher. A first draft of the book, called ''A Brief History of Time'', was completed in 1984. Peter Guzzardi, his editor at Bantam, pushed him to explain his ideas clearly in non-technical language. The book was published in April 1988 in the US and in June in the UK, and it proved to be an extraordinary success, rising quickly to the top of best-seller lists in both countries and remaining there for months.<ref name="g2009">Tim Radford, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jul/30/stephen-hawking-brief-history-time How God propelled Stephen Hawking into the bestsellers lists] ''The Guardian'', July 31, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref>
+
Honors continued to be awarded, but these awards did not significantly change Hawking's financial status and, motivated by the need to finance his children's education and home expenses, he decided in 1982 to write a popular book about the universe that would be accessible to the general public. Instead of publishing with an academic press, he signed a contract with [[Bantam Books]], a mass market publisher. A first draft of the book, called ''A Brief History of Time'', was completed in 1984. Peter Guzzardi, his editor at Bantam, pushed him to explain his ideas clearly in non-technical language. The book was published in April 1988 in the US and in June in the UK, and it proved to be an extraordinary success, rising quickly to the top of best-seller lists in both countries and remaining there for months.<ref name="g2009">Tim Radford, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jul/30/stephen-hawking-brief-history-time How God propelled Stephen Hawking into the bestsellers lists] ''The Guardian'', July 31, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref>
  
 
=== 1990–2000 ===
 
=== 1990–2000 ===
 
[[File:Gross Witten Hawking TIFR 2001.jpg|thumb|250px|Hawking with [[string theory|string theorists]] [[David Gross]] and [[Edward Witten]] at the 2001 Strings Conference, [[TIFR]], India]]
 
[[File:Gross Witten Hawking TIFR 2001.jpg|thumb|250px|Hawking with [[string theory|string theorists]] [[David Gross]] and [[Edward Witten]] at the 2001 Strings Conference, [[TIFR]], India]]
  
Hawking pursued his work in physics: in 1993 he co-edited a book on [[Euclidean quantum gravity]] with Gary Gibbons and published a collected edition of his own articles on black holes and the Big Bang. In 1994, at Cambridge's [[Newton Institute]], Hawking and Penrose delivered a series of six lectures that were published in 1996 as "The Nature of Space and Time".  
+
Hawking pursued his work in physics: in 1993 he co-edited a book on [[Euclidean quantum gravity]] with Gary Gibbons and published a collected edition of his own articles on black holes and the Big Bang. In 1994, at Cambridge's [[Newton Institute]], Hawking and Penrose delivered a series of six lectures that were published in 1996 as ''The Nature of Space and Time''.  
  
In 1997, he conceded a 1991 public [[scientific wager]] made with Kip Thorne and [[John Preskill]] of [[California Institute of Technology|Caltech]]. Hawking had bet that Penrose's proposal of a "cosmic censorship conjecture" – that there could be no "naked singularities" unclothed within a horizon – was correct. After discovering his concession might have been premature, a new and more refined wager was made. This one specified that such singularities would occur without extra conditions. The same year, Thorne, Hawking and Preskill made another bet, this time concerning the [[black hole information paradox]]. Thorne and Hawking argued that since general relativity made it impossible for black holes to radiate and lose information, the mass-energy and information carried by Hawking radiation must be "new," and not from inside the black hole [[event horizon]].<ref name=preskill>Stephen W. Hawking, Kip S. Thorne, John P. Preskill, [http://www.theory.caltech.edu/%7Epreskill/info_bet.html Black Hole Information Bet]. Pasadena, California, February 6, 1997. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref> Since this contradicted the quantum mechanics of microcausality, quantum mechanics theory would need to be rewritten. Preskill argued the opposite, that since quantum mechanics suggests that the information emitted by a black hole relates to information that fell in at an earlier time, the concept of black holes given by general relativity must be modified in some way.<ref>John Preskill, [http://www.theory.caltech.edu/~preskill/jp_24jul04.html On Hawking’s Concession] July 24, 2004. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref>
+
In 1997, he conceded a 1991 public [[scientific wager]] made with Kip Thorne and [[John Preskill]] of [[California Institute of Technology|Caltech]]. Hawking had bet that Penrose's proposal of a "cosmic censorship conjecture" – that there could be no "naked singularities" unclothed within a horizon – was correct. After discovering his concession might have been premature, a new and more refined wager was made. This one specified that such singularities would occur without extra conditions. The same year, Thorne, Hawking, and Preskill made another bet, this time concerning the [[black hole information paradox]]. Thorne and Hawking argued that since general relativity made it impossible for black holes to radiate and lose information, the mass-energy and information carried by Hawking radiation must be "new," and not from inside the black hole [[event horizon]].<ref name=preskill>Stephen W. Hawking, Kip S. Thorne, John P. Preskill, [http://www.theory.caltech.edu/%7Epreskill/info_bet.html Black Hole Information Bet]. Pasadena, California, February 6, 1997. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref> Since this contradicted the quantum mechanics of microcausality, quantum mechanics theory would need to be rewritten. Preskill argued the opposite, that since quantum mechanics suggests that the information emitted by a black hole relates to information that fell in at an earlier time, the concept of black holes given by general relativity must be modified in some way.<ref>John Preskill, [http://www.theory.caltech.edu/~preskill/jp_24jul04.html On Hawking’s Concession] July 24, 2004. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref>
  
 
Hawking also maintained his public profile, including bringing science to a wider audience. A film version of ''A Brief History of Time'', directed by [[Errol Morris]] and produced by [[Steven Spielberg]], premiered in 1992.  A popular-level collection of essays, interviews, and talks titled ''[[Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays]]'' was published in 1993, and a six-part television series ''[[Stephen Hawking's Universe]]'' and a companion book appeared in 1997.
 
Hawking also maintained his public profile, including bringing science to a wider audience. A film version of ''A Brief History of Time'', directed by [[Errol Morris]] and produced by [[Steven Spielberg]], premiered in 1992.  A popular-level collection of essays, interviews, and talks titled ''[[Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays]]'' was published in 1993, and a six-part television series ''[[Stephen Hawking's Universe]]'' and a companion book appeared in 1997.
  
 
=== 2000–2018 ===
 
=== 2000–2018 ===
[[File:Stephen Hawking 050506.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Hawking at the {{Lang|fr|[[Bibliothèque nationale de France]]}} to inaugurate the Laboratory of Astronomy and Particles in Paris, and the French release of his work ''[[God Created the Integers]]'', May 5, 2006]]
+
[[File:Stephen Hawking 050506.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Hawking at the {{Lang|fr|[[Bibliothèque nationale de France]]}} to inaugurate the Laboratory of Astronomy and Particles in Paris, and the French release of his work ''[[God Created the Integers]]'', May 5, 2006]]
  
Hawking continued his writings for a popular audience, publishing ''The Universe in a Nutshell'' in 2001, and ''A Briefer History of Time'', which he wrote in 2005 with [[Leonard Mlodinow]] to update his earlier works with the aim of making them accessible to a wider audience. ''God Created the Integers'' which appeared in 2006.  
+
Hawking continued his writings for a popular audience, publishing ''The Universe in a Nutshell'' in 2001, and ''A Briefer History of Time'', which he wrote in 2005 with [[Leonard Mlodinow]] to update his earlier works with the aim of making them accessible to a wider audience. ''God Created the Integers'' appeared in 2006.  
 
In 2007, Hawking and his daughter [[Lucy Hawking|Lucy]] published ''[[George's Secret Key to the Universe]]'', a children's book designed to explain theoretical physics in an accessible fashion and featuring characters similar to those in the Hawking family. The book was followed by [[George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt|sequels]] in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016.  
 
In 2007, Hawking and his daughter [[Lucy Hawking|Lucy]] published ''[[George's Secret Key to the Universe]]'', a children's book designed to explain theoretical physics in an accessible fashion and featuring characters similar to those in the Hawking family. The book was followed by [[George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt|sequels]] in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016.  
  
[[File:Weston Library Opening by John Cairns 20.3.15-139.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Hawking with University of Oxford librarian [[Richard Ovenden]] (left) and naturalist [[David Attenborough]] (right) at the opening of the [[Weston Library]], Oxford, in March 2015. Ovenden awarded the [[Bodley Medal]] to Hawking and Attenborough at the ceremony.]]
+
By 2003, consensus among physicists was growing that Hawking was wrong about the loss of information in a black hole. In a 2004 lecture in Dublin, he conceded his 1997 bet with Preskill, but described his own, somewhat controversial solution to the information paradox problem, involving the possibility that black holes have more than one [[topology]].<ref name=preskill /> In January 2014, he called the alleged loss of information in black holes his "biggest blunder."<ref>Matt Kwong, [http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/stephen-hawking-s-black-holes-blunder-stirs-debate-1.2514299 Stephen Hawking's black holes 'blunder' stirs debate] ''CBC News'', January 29, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2018. </ref> Hawking said that not all information is lost when something enters a black hole and there might be a possibility to retrieve information from a black hole according to his theory.<ref>Jacob Aron, [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28090-stephen-hawking-says-he-has-a-way-to-escape-from-a-black-hole/ Stephen Hawking says he has a way to escape from a black hole] ''New Scientist'', August 25, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2018. </ref>  
 
 
By 2003, consensus among physicists was growing that Hawking was wrong about the loss of information in a black hole. In a 2004 lecture in Dublin, he conceded his 1997 bet with Preskill, but described his own, somewhat controversial solution to the information paradox problem, involving the possibility that black holes have more than one [[topology]].<ref name=preskill /> In January 2014, he called the alleged loss of information in black holes his "biggest blunder".<ref>Matt Kwong, [http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/stephen-hawking-s-black-holes-blunder-stirs-debate-1.2514299 Stephen Hawking's black holes 'blunder' stirs debate |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/stephen-hawking-s-black-holes-blunder-stirs-debate-1.2514299] ''CBC News'', January 29, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2018. </ref> Hawking said that not all information is lost when something enters a black hole and there might be a possibility to retrieve information from a black hole according to his theory.<ref>Jacob Aron, [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28090-stephen-hawking-says-he-has-a-way-to-escape-from-a-black-hole/ Stephen Hawking says he has a way to escape from a black hole] ''New Scientist'', August 25, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2018. </ref>  
 
  
 
Along with [[Thomas Hertog]] at [[CERN]] and Jim Hartle, from 2006 on Hawking developed a theory of "top-down cosmology," which says that the universe had not one unique initial state but many different ones, and therefore that it is inappropriate to formulate a theory that predicts the universe's current configuration from one particular initial state. Top-down cosmology posits that the present "selects" the past from a superposition of many possible histories. In doing so, the theory suggests a possible resolution of the [[Fine-tuned universe|fine-tuning question]].<ref>Roger Highfield, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking/8989060/Stephen-Hawking-driven-by-a-cosmic-force-of-will.html Stephen Hawking: driven by a cosmic force of will] ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 3, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref>
 
Along with [[Thomas Hertog]] at [[CERN]] and Jim Hartle, from 2006 on Hawking developed a theory of "top-down cosmology," which says that the universe had not one unique initial state but many different ones, and therefore that it is inappropriate to formulate a theory that predicts the universe's current configuration from one particular initial state. Top-down cosmology posits that the present "selects" the past from a superposition of many possible histories. In doing so, the theory suggests a possible resolution of the [[Fine-tuned universe|fine-tuning question]].<ref>Roger Highfield, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking/8989060/Stephen-Hawking-driven-by-a-cosmic-force-of-will.html Stephen Hawking: driven by a cosmic force of will] ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 3, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</ref>
  
As part of another longstanding scientific dispute, Hawking had emphatically argued, and bet, that the [[Higgs boson]] would never be found. The particle was proposed to exist as part of the [[Higgs field]] theory by [[Peter Higgs]] in 1964. Hawking and Higgs engaged in a heated and public debate over the matter in 2002 and again in 2008, with Higgs criticizing Hawking's work and complaining that Hawking's "celebrity status gives him instant credibility that others do not have."<ref name=Ferguson1/> The particle was discovered in July 2012 at [[CERN]] following construction of the [[Large Hadron Collider]]. Hawking quickly conceded that he had lost his bet and said that Higgs should win the [[Nobel Prize]] for Physics, which he did in 2013.<ref>Jonathan Amos, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24445325 Higgs: Five decades of noble endeavour] ''BBC News'', October 8, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
+
As part of another longstanding scientific dispute, Hawking had emphatically argued, and bet, that the [[Higgs boson]] would never be found. The particle was proposed to exist as part of the [[Higgs field]] theory by [[Peter Higgs]] in 1964. Hawking and Higgs engaged in a heated and public debate over the matter in 2002 and again in 2008, with Higgs criticizing Hawking's work and complaining that Hawking's "celebrity status gives him instant credibility that others do not have."<ref name=Ferguson1/> The particle was discovered in July 2012 at [[CERN]], following construction of the [[Large Hadron Collider]]. Hawking quickly conceded that he had lost his bet and said that Higgs should win the [[Nobel Prize]] for Physics, which he did in 2013.<ref>Jonathan Amos, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24445325 Higgs: Five decades of noble endeavour] ''BBC News'', October 8, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
[[File:Stephen Hawking in Stockholm, 2015.jpg|thumb|left|Hawking holding a public lecture at the [[Stockholm Waterfront]] congress centre, August 24, 2015]]
 
 
 
In July 2015, Hawking helped launch [[Breakthrough Initiatives]], an effort to search for [[extraterrestrial life]].<ref>Gregory Katz, [http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150720/eu—britain-extraterrestrials-e52c157915.html Searching for ET: Hawking to look for extraterrestrial life] ''Associated Presss'', July 20, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref> Hawking created ''Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth'', a documentary on space colonization, as a 2017 episode of ''[[Tomorrow's World]]''.<ref>Sarah Knapton, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/02/tomorrows-world-returns-bbc-startling-warning-stephen-hawking/ Tomorrow's World returns to BBC with startling warning from Stephen Hawking – we must leave Earth] ''The Telegraph'', May 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
 
  
Hawking's final broadcast interview, about the detection of [[gravitational waves]] resulting from the [[GW170817|collision of two neutron stars]], occurred in October 2017.<ref>Pallab Ghosh, [http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43499024 Stephen Hawking's final interview: A beautiful Universe] |''BBC news'', March 26, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref> His final words to the world appeared posthumously, in April 2018, in the form of a [[Smithsonian Channel|Smithsonian TV Channel]] documentary entitled, ''Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet''.<ref>Dan Taylor, [https://www.morningticker.com/2018/03/stephen-hawkings-astonishing-last-words-will-stun-you/ Stephen Hawking’s incredible last words will stun you] ''Morning Ticker'', March 24, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
+
Hawking retired as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 2009. However, he continued his work as usual at Cambridge University as Emeritus Lucasian Professor at the university, an honorary title, saying that he planned to continue working as long as he was able.<ref name=lucasian/>  
  
 
== Personal life ==
 
== Personal life ==
Line 126: Line 122:
 
While Hawking was a graduate student at [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]], he developed a relationship with [[Jane Hawking|Jane Wilde]], a friend of his sister. They had met shortly before his late 1963 diagnosis of motor neurone disease. The couple became engaged in October 1964 and Hawking later said that the engagement gave him "something to live for."<ref name=HawkingHappy/> They were married on July 14, 1965.
 
While Hawking was a graduate student at [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]], he developed a relationship with [[Jane Hawking|Jane Wilde]], a friend of his sister. They had met shortly before his late 1963 diagnosis of motor neurone disease. The couple became engaged in October 1964 and Hawking later said that the engagement gave him "something to live for."<ref name=HawkingHappy/> They were married on July 14, 1965.
  
During their first years of marriage, Jane lived in London during the week as she completed her degree. Their first son, Robert, was born in May 1967. Their daughter, [[Lucy Hawking|Lucy]], was born in 1970. A third child, Timothy, was born in April 1979.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
During their first years of marriage, Jane lived in London during the week while she completed her degree. Their first son, Robert, was born in May 1967. Their daughter, [[Lucy Hawking|Lucy]], was born in 1970. A third child, Timothy, was born in April 1979.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
  
Hawking's disabilities meant that the responsibilities of home and family rested firmly on his wife's increasingly overwhelmed shoulders. Upon his appointment in 1974 to a year-long position at the [[California Institute of Technology]] in [[Pasadena, California]], Jane proposed that a graduate or post-doctoral student live with them and help with his care. Hawking accepted, and [[Bernard Carr]] traveled with them as the first of many students who fulfilled this role. The family spent a generally happy and stimulating year in Pasadena.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
Hawking's disability meant that the responsibilities of home and family rested firmly on his wife's increasingly overwhelmed shoulders. Upon his appointment in 1974 to a year-long position at the [[California Institute of Technology]] in [[Pasadena, California]], Jane proposed that a graduate or post-doctoral student live with them and help with his care. Hawking accepted, and [[Bernard Carr]] traveled with them as the first of many students who fulfilled this role. The family spent a generally happy and stimulating year in Pasadena.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
  
 
Hawking returned to Cambridge in 1975 to a new home and a new job, as [[Reader (academic rank)|reader]]. [[Don Page (physicist)|Don Page]], with whom Hawking had begun a close friendship at Caltech, arrived to work as the live-in graduate student assistant. With Page's help and that of a secretary, Jane's responsibilities were reduced so she could return to her thesis and her new interest in singing.
 
Hawking returned to Cambridge in 1975 to a new home and a new job, as [[Reader (academic rank)|reader]]. [[Don Page (physicist)|Don Page]], with whom Hawking had begun a close friendship at Caltech, arrived to work as the live-in graduate student assistant. With Page's help and that of a secretary, Jane's responsibilities were reduced so she could return to her thesis and her new interest in singing.
  
By the 1980s, Hawking's marriage had been strained for many years. Jane felt overwhelmed by the intrusion into their family life of the required nurses and assistants. Hawking's views of religion also contrasted with her strong Christian faith and resulted in tension. The impact of his celebrity status was also challenging.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
By the 1980s, Hawking's marriage had been strained for many years. Jane felt overwhelmed by the intrusion into their family life of the required nurses and assistants. Hawking's view of religion also contrasted with her strong Christian faith and resulted in tension. The impact of his celebrity status was also challenging.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
  
By December 1977, Jane had met organist Jonathan Hellyer Jones when singing in a church choir. Hellyer Jones became close to the Hawking family, and by the mid-1980s, he and Jane had developed romantic feelings for each other. According to Jane, her husband was accepting of the situation, stating "he would not object so long as I continued to love him".<ref name=HawkingJane> Jane Hawking, ''Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen'' (Alma Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1846881152).</ref>  
+
In 1977, Jane had met organist Jonathan Hellyer Jones when singing in a church choir. Hellyer Jones became close to the Hawking family, and by the mid-1980s, he and Jane had developed romantic feelings for each other. According to Jane, her husband was accepting of the situation, stating "he would not object so long as I continued to love him."<ref name=HawkingJane> Jane Hawking, ''Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen'' (Alma Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1846881152).</ref>  
  
 
Hawking had grown close to one of his nurses, Elaine Mason, to the dismay of some colleagues, caregivers, and family members, who were disturbed by her strength of personality and protectiveness.<ref name=Ferguson1/> After his divorce from Jane in 1995, Hawking married Mason in September, 1995.  
 
Hawking had grown close to one of his nurses, Elaine Mason, to the dismay of some colleagues, caregivers, and family members, who were disturbed by her strength of personality and protectiveness.<ref name=Ferguson1/> After his divorce from Jane in 1995, Hawking married Mason in September, 1995.  
  
Jane and Jones married in 1996. In 1999, Jane published a memoir, describing her marriage to Hawking and its breakdown.<ref> Jane Hawking, ''Music to Move the Stars: A Life with Stephen'' (Macmillan, 1999, ISBN 978-0333746868).</ref> Its revelations caused a sensation in the media but, as was his usual practice regarding his personal life, Hawking made no public comment except to say that he did not read biographies about himself. For a period of about five years in the early 2000s, his family and staff became increasingly worried that he was being physically abused.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
Jane and Hellyer Jones married in 1996. In 1999, Jane published a memoir, describing her marriage to Hawking and its breakdown.<ref> Jane Hawking, ''Music to Move the Stars: A Life with Stephen'' (Macmillan, 1999, ISBN 978-0333746868).</ref> Its revelations caused a sensation in the media but, as was his usual practice regarding his personal life, Hawking made no public comment except to say that he did not read biographies about himself.
  
In 2006, Hawking and Mason quietly divorced, and Hawking resumed closer relationships with Jane, his children, and his grandchildren.<ref name=Ferguson1/> Reflecting this happier period, a revised version of Jane's book, called ''Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen'', appeared in 2007. It was made into the film, ''[[The Theory of Everything (2014 film)|The Theory of Everything]]'', starring Eddie Redmayne as Hawking.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscars-actor/eddie-redmayne-wins-first-oscar-for-theory-of-everything-idUSKBN0LR0AF20150223 Eddie Redmayne wins first Oscar for 'Theory of Everything'] ''Reuters'', February 22, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2018.</ref>
+
In 2006, Hawking and Mason quietly divorced, and Hawking resumed closer relationships with Jane, his children, and his grandchildren. Reflecting this happier period, a revised version of Jane's book, called ''Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen'', appeared in 2007. It was made into the film, ''[[The Theory of Everything (2014 film)|The Theory of Everything]]'', starring Eddie Redmayne as Hawking.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscars-actor/eddie-redmayne-wins-first-oscar-for-theory-of-everything-idUSKBN0LR0AF20150223 Eddie Redmayne wins first Oscar for 'Theory of Everything'] ''Reuters'', February 22, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2018.</ref>
  
 
=== Disability ===
 
=== Disability ===
In general, Hawking had ambivalent feelings about his role as a [[disability rights]] champion: while wanting to help others, he also sought to detach himself from his illness and its challenges.<ref name=White/> However, starting in the 1990s, Hawking accepted the mantle of role model for disabled people, lecturing and participating in fundraising activities. At the turn of the century, he and eleven other luminaries signed the ''Charter for the Third Millennium on Disability'', which called on governments to prevent disability and protect the rights of the disabled.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
 
 
 
Hawking had a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of [[motor neurone disease]] (also known as [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]], "[[ALS]]", or [[Lou Gehrig]]'s disease). Hawking had experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at [[Oxford University|Oxford]], including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing. The problems worsened, and his speech became slightly [[dysarthria|slurred]]. His family noticed the changes when he returned home for Christmas, and medical investigations were begun.<ref name=Ferguson1/> The diagnosis of motor neurone disease came when Hawking was 21, in 1963. At the time, doctors gave him a life expectancy of two years.<ref name=White/>
 
Hawking had a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of [[motor neurone disease]] (also known as [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]], "[[ALS]]", or [[Lou Gehrig]]'s disease). Hawking had experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at [[Oxford University|Oxford]], including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing. The problems worsened, and his speech became slightly [[dysarthria|slurred]]. His family noticed the changes when he returned home for Christmas, and medical investigations were begun.<ref name=Ferguson1/> The diagnosis of motor neurone disease came when Hawking was 21, in 1963. At the time, doctors gave him a life expectancy of two years.<ref name=White/>
  
 
In the late 1960s, Hawking's physical abilities declined: he began to use crutches and ceased lecturing regularly. As he slowly lost the ability to write, he developed compensatory visual methods, including seeing equations in terms of geometry. The physicist [[Werner Israel]] later compared the achievements to [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] composing an entire symphony in his head.<ref name=White/>
 
In the late 1960s, Hawking's physical abilities declined: he began to use crutches and ceased lecturing regularly. As he slowly lost the ability to write, he developed compensatory visual methods, including seeing equations in terms of geometry. The physicist [[Werner Israel]] later compared the achievements to [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] composing an entire symphony in his head.<ref name=White/>
  
Hawking was fiercely independent and unwilling to accept help or make concessions for his disabilities. He preferred to be regarded as "a scientist first, popular science writer second, and, in all the ways that matter, a normal human being with the same desires, drives, dreams, and ambitions as the next person."<ref name=White/> His wife, [[Jane Hawking]], later noted: "Some people would call it determination, some obstinacy. I've called it both at one time or another."<ref name=Ferguson1/> He required much persuasion to accept the use of a wheelchair at the end of the 1960s, but ultimately became notorious for the wildness of his wheelchair driving.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
Hawking was fiercely independent and unwilling to accept help or make concessions for his disabilities. He preferred to be regarded as "a scientist first, popular science writer second, and, in all the ways that matter, a normal human being with the same desires, drives, dreams, and ambitions as the next person."<ref name=White/> His wife, [[Jane Hawking]], later noted: "Some people would call it determination, some obstinacy. I've called it both at one time or another."<ref name=Ferguson1/> He required much persuasion to accept the use of a wheelchair at the end of the 1960s, but ultimately became notorious for the wildness of his wheelchair driving.
  
 
Hawking's speech deteriorated, and by the late 1970s he could be understood by only his family and closest friends. To communicate with others, someone who knew him well would interpret his speech into intelligible speech. Spurred by a dispute with the university over who would pay for the ramp needed for him to enter his workplace, Hawking and his wife campaigned for improved access and support for those with disabilities in Cambridge, including adapted student housing at the university.<ref name=White/>  
 
Hawking's speech deteriorated, and by the late 1970s he could be understood by only his family and closest friends. To communicate with others, someone who knew him well would interpret his speech into intelligible speech. Spurred by a dispute with the university over who would pay for the ramp needed for him to enter his workplace, Hawking and his wife campaigned for improved access and support for those with disabilities in Cambridge, including adapted student housing at the university.<ref name=White/>  
  
During a visit to [[CERN]] on the border of [[France]] and [[Switzerland]] in mid-1985, Hawking contracted [[pneumonia]], which in his condition was life-threatening; he was so ill that Jane was asked if life support should be terminated. She refused, but the consequence was a [[tracheotomy]], which required round-the-clock nursing care and the removal of what remained of his speech. Nurses were hired for the three shifts required to provide the support he required. One of those employed was Elaine Mason, who was to become Hawking's second wife.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
During a visit to [[CERN]] in mid-1985, Hawking contracted [[pneumonia]], which in his condition was life-threatening; he was so ill that Jane was asked if life support should be terminated. She refused, but the consequence was a [[tracheotomy]], which required round-the-clock nursing care and the removal of what remained of his speech. Nurses were hired for the three shifts required to provide the support he required. One of those employed was Elaine Mason, who was to become Hawking's second wife.
  
 
For communication, initially Hawking raised his eyebrows to choose [[Partner-assisted scanning|letters on a spelling card]], but in 1986 he received a computer program called the "Equalizer" from Walter Woltosz, CEO of Words Plus. Woltosz had developed an earlier version of the software to help his mother-in-law, who also suffered from ALS and had lost her ability to speak and write.<ref name="Medeiros">Joao Medeiros, [https://www.wired.com/2015/01/intel-gave-stephen-hawking-voice/ How Intel Gave Stephen Hawking a Voice] ''Wired'', January 13, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref> In a method he used for the rest of his life, Hawking could now simply press a switch to select phrases, words, or letters from a bank of about 2,500–3,000 that were [[Switch access scanning|scanned]]. Lectures were prepared in advance and were sent to the [[speech synthesiser]] in short sections to be delivered. Released from the need to use somebody to interpret his speech, Hawking commented that "I can communicate better now than before I lost my voice."<ref name=Ferguson1/> The voice he used, called "Perfect Paul," had an American accent and is no longer produced. Despite the later availability of other voices, Hawking retained this original voice, saying that he preferred it and identified with it.  
 
For communication, initially Hawking raised his eyebrows to choose [[Partner-assisted scanning|letters on a spelling card]], but in 1986 he received a computer program called the "Equalizer" from Walter Woltosz, CEO of Words Plus. Woltosz had developed an earlier version of the software to help his mother-in-law, who also suffered from ALS and had lost her ability to speak and write.<ref name="Medeiros">Joao Medeiros, [https://www.wired.com/2015/01/intel-gave-stephen-hawking-voice/ How Intel Gave Stephen Hawking a Voice] ''Wired'', January 13, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref> In a method he used for the rest of his life, Hawking could now simply press a switch to select phrases, words, or letters from a bank of about 2,500–3,000 that were [[Switch access scanning|scanned]]. Lectures were prepared in advance and were sent to the [[speech synthesiser]] in short sections to be delivered. Released from the need to use somebody to interpret his speech, Hawking commented that "I can communicate better now than before I lost my voice."<ref name=Ferguson1/> The voice he used, called "Perfect Paul," had an American accent and is no longer produced. Despite the later availability of other voices, Hawking retained this original voice, saying that he preferred it and identified with it.  
  
Originally, Hawking activated a switch using his hand and could produce up to [[Typing#Alphanumeric entry|15 words a minute]]. Hawking gradually lost the use of his hand, and in 2008 he began to control his communication device with movements of his cheek muscles. His ability to communicate continued to decline and by 2011 he could create only one word per minute. Hawking collaborated with [[Intel]] researchers on systems that could translate his brain patterns or facial expressions into switch activations. After several prototypes that did not perform as planned, they settled on an adaptive word predictor made by the London-based startup [[SwiftKey]], which used a system similar to his original technology. Hawking had an easier time adapting to the new system, which was further developed after inputting large amounts of Hawking's papers and other written materials and uses predictive software similar to other smartphone keyboards.<ref name="Medeiros"/>  
+
Originally, Hawking activated a switch using his hand and could produce up to [[Typing#Alphanumeric entry|15 words a minute]]. Hawking gradually lost the use of his hand, and in 2008 he began to control his communication device with movements of his cheek muscles. His ability to communicate continued to decline and by 2011 he could create only one word per minute. Hawking collaborated with [[Intel]] researchers on systems that could translate his brain patterns or facial expressions into switch activations. After several prototypes that did not perform as planned, they settled on an adaptive word predictor made by the London-based startup [[SwiftKey]], which used a system similar to his original technology. Hawking had an easier time adapting to the new system, which was further developed after inputting large amounts of Hawking's papers and other written materials and uses predictive software similar to smartphone keyboards.<ref name="Medeiros"/>  
  
 
By 2009 he could no longer drive his wheelchair independently. The same people who created his new typing mechanics worked on a method to drive his chair using movements made by his chin. This proved difficult, since Hawking could not move his neck, and trials showed that while he could indeed drive the chair, the movement was sporadic and jumpy.<ref name="Medeiros" />
 
By 2009 he could no longer drive his wheelchair independently. The same people who created his new typing mechanics worked on a method to drive his chair using movements made by his chin. This proved difficult, since Hawking could not move his neck, and trials showed that while he could indeed drive the chair, the movement was sporadic and jumpy.<ref name="Medeiros" />
 +
 +
In general, Hawking had ambivalent feelings about his role as a [[disability rights]] champion: while wanting to help others, he also sought to detach himself from his illness and its challenges.<ref name=White/> However, starting in the 1990s, Hawking accepted the mantle of role model for disabled people, lecturing and participating in fundraising activities. At the turn of the century, he and eleven other luminaries signed the ''Charter for the Third Millennium on Disability'', which called on governments to prevent disability and protect the rights of the disabled.
  
 
=== Plans for a trip to space ===
 
=== Plans for a trip to space ===
 
[[File:Physicist Stephen Hawking in Zero Gravity NASA.jpg|thumb|250px|Hawking taking a zero-gravity flight in a [[reduced-gravity aircraft]], 2007]]
 
[[File:Physicist Stephen Hawking in Zero Gravity NASA.jpg|thumb|250px|Hawking taking a zero-gravity flight in a [[reduced-gravity aircraft]], 2007]]
In late 2006, Hawking revealed in a BBC interview that one of his greatest unfulfilled desires was to travel to space; on hearing this, [[Richard Branson]] offered a free flight into space with [[Virgin Galactic]], which Hawking immediately accepted. Besides personal ambition, he was motivated by the desire to increase public interest in spaceflight and to show the potential of people with disabilities.  
+
In late 2006, Hawking revealed in a [[BBC]] interview that one of his greatest unfulfilled desires was to travel to space; on hearing this, [[Richard Branson]] offered a free flight into space with [[Virgin Galactic]], which Hawking immediately accepted. Besides personal ambition, he was motivated by the desire to increase public interest in spaceflight and to show the potential of people with disabilities.  
  
In April 2007, Hawking flew aboard a [[reduced-gravity aircraft|specially-modified]] Boeing 727–200 jet operated by [[Zero Gravity Corporation|Zero-G Corp]] off the coast of Florida to experience weightlessness. Fears the maneuvers would cause him undue discomfort proved groundless, and the flight was extended to eight parabolic arcs. It was described as a successful test to see if he could withstand the g-forces involved in space flight.<ref>Tom Leonard and Alistair Osborne, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549898/Branson-to-help-Hawking-live-space-dream.html Branson to help Hawking live space dream] ''The Telegraph'', April 27, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref> At the time, the date of Hawking's trip to space was projected to be as early as 2009, but commercial flights to space did not commence before his death.
+
In April 2007, Hawking flew aboard a [[reduced-gravity aircraft|specially-modified]] Boeing 727–200 jet operated by [[Zero Gravity Corporation|Zero-G Corp]] off the coast of Florida to experience weightlessness. Fears that the maneuvers would cause him undue discomfort proved groundless, and the flight was extended to eight parabolic arcs. It was described as a successful test to see if he could withstand the g-forces involved in space flight.<ref>Tom Leonard and Alistair Osborne, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549898/Branson-to-help-Hawking-live-space-dream.html Branson to help Hawking live space dream] ''The Telegraph'', April 27, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2018.</ref> At the time, the date of Hawking's trip to space was projected to be as early as 2009, but commercial flights to space did not commence before his death.
  
 
== Death ==
 
== Death ==
 
Stephen Hawking died peacefully in his home in [[Cambridge]], England, early in the morning of March 14, 2018, at the age of 76.<ref>Martin Rees, [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02839-9 Stephen Hawking (1942–2018)] ''Nature'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref><ref>Roger Penrose, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/14/stephen-hawking-obituary  'Mind over matter': Stephen Hawking] ''The Guardian'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018. </ref> He was eulogized by figures in science, entertainment, politics, and other areas.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43398187 Stephen Hawking: Tributes pour in for 'inspirational' physicist] ''BBC News'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref> The flag at Cambridge's [[Cambridge University|Gonville and Caius College]] flew at [[half-mast]] and a [[book of condolence]]s was signed by students and visitors.<ref>Sarah Marsh, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/14/cambridge-students-pay-tribute-to-inspirational-hawking Cambridge colleagues pay tribute to 'inspirational' Hawking] ''The Guardian'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref> A tribute was made to Hawking in the closing speech by [[International Paralympic Committee|IPC]] President [[Andrew Parsons (sports administrator)|Andrew Parsons]] at the [[2018 Winter Paralympics closing ceremony|closing ceremony]] of the [[2018 Winter Paralympics|2018 Paralympic Winter Games]] in [[Pyeongchang County|Pyeongchang]], [[South Korea]].<ref>[https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/paralympics/news/ipc-to-pay-tribute-to-stephen-hawking-during-pyeongchang-paralympics-closing-ceremony IPC to Pay Tribute to Stephen Hawking During PyeongChang Paralympics Closing Ceremony] ''Yonhap News Agency'', March 15, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>
 
Stephen Hawking died peacefully in his home in [[Cambridge]], England, early in the morning of March 14, 2018, at the age of 76.<ref>Martin Rees, [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02839-9 Stephen Hawking (1942–2018)] ''Nature'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref><ref>Roger Penrose, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/14/stephen-hawking-obituary  'Mind over matter': Stephen Hawking] ''The Guardian'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018. </ref> He was eulogized by figures in science, entertainment, politics, and other areas.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43398187 Stephen Hawking: Tributes pour in for 'inspirational' physicist] ''BBC News'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref> The flag at Cambridge's [[Cambridge University|Gonville and Caius College]] flew at [[half-mast]] and a [[book of condolence]]s was signed by students and visitors.<ref>Sarah Marsh, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/14/cambridge-students-pay-tribute-to-inspirational-hawking Cambridge colleagues pay tribute to 'inspirational' Hawking] ''The Guardian'', March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref> A tribute was made to Hawking in the closing speech by [[International Paralympic Committee|IPC]] President [[Andrew Parsons (sports administrator)|Andrew Parsons]] at the [[2018 Winter Paralympics closing ceremony|closing ceremony]] of the [[2018 Winter Paralympics|2018 Paralympic Winter Games]] in [[Pyeongchang County|Pyeongchang]], [[South Korea]].<ref>[https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/paralympics/news/ipc-to-pay-tribute-to-stephen-hawking-during-pyeongchang-paralympics-closing-ceremony IPC to Pay Tribute to Stephen Hawking During PyeongChang Paralympics Closing Ceremony] ''Yonhap News Agency'', March 15, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>
  
Hawking's private funeral took place at 2&nbsp;pm on the afternoon of March 31, 2018, at [[Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge|Great St Mary's Church]], Cambridge. A Thanksgiving service is to be held in [[Westminster Abbey]] on June 15, 2018, during which his ashes will be interred in the Abbey's nave, next to the grave of Sir [[Isaac Newton]] and near that of [[Charles Darwin]].<ref name="BBC-20180331">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-43582950 Prof Stephen Hawking funeral: Legacy 'will live forever']. ''BBC News, March 31, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>  
+
Hawking's private funeral took place at 2&nbsp;pm on the afternoon of March 31, 2018, at [[Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge|Great St Mary's Church]], Cambridge. A Thanksgiving service was scheduled to be held in [[Westminster Abbey]] on June 15, 2018, during which his ashes would be interred in the Abbey's nave, next to the grave of Sir [[Isaac Newton]] and near that of [[Charles Darwin]].<ref name="BBC-20180331">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-43582950 Prof Stephen Hawking funeral: Legacy 'will live forever']. ''BBC News, March 31, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>  
  
 
Hawking directed at least fifteen years before his death that the [[Bekenstein–Hawking entropy equation]] be written on his tombstone as his [[epitaph]].<ref>Stuart Clark, ''The Unknown Universe: A New Exploration of Time, Space, and Modern Cosmology'' (Pegasus Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1681771533).</ref>
 
Hawking directed at least fifteen years before his death that the [[Bekenstein–Hawking entropy equation]] be written on his tombstone as his [[epitaph]].<ref>Stuart Clark, ''The Unknown Universe: A New Exploration of Time, Space, and Modern Cosmology'' (Pegasus Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1681771533).</ref>
Line 182: Line 178:
 
== Personal views ==
 
== Personal views ==
 
=== God ===
 
=== God ===
Hawking stated that the greatest mystery he would like solved was "to know why the universe exists, why there is something greater than nothing."<ref name=ScienceWillWin/>  
+
Hawking stated that the greatest mystery he would like solved was "to know why the universe exists, why there is something greater than nothing."<ref name=ScienceWillWin/> In his bestselling 1988 book, ''A Brief History of Time'', Hawking wrote that developing a complete theory (the "theory of everything") "would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God."<ref> Stephen Hawking, ''A Brief History of Time'' (Bantam, 1998, ISBN 978-0553380163).</ref>
 
 
In his bestselling 1988 book, ''A Brief History of Time'', Hawking wrote that developing a complete theory (the "theory of everything") "would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God."<ref> Stephen Hawking, ''A Brief History of Time'' (Bantam, 1998, ISBN 978-0553380163).</ref>
 
  
He often discussed the concept of [[God]]. In 2007, Hawking had told [[Reuters]], "The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.<ref name=Patheos>Michael Stone, [http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2014/09/stephen-hawking-makes-it-official-hes-an-atheist/ Stephen Hawking makes it official: He’s an atheist] ''Patheos'', September 25, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>  
+
He often discussed the concept of [[God]]. In 2007, Hawking had told [[Reuters]], "The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.<ref name=Patheos>Michael Stone, [http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2014/09/stephen-hawking-makes-it-official-hes-an-atheist/ Stephen Hawking makes it official: He’s an atheist] ''Patheos'', September 25, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref> Further describing the nature of God in 2010, Hawking commented:
Further describing the nature of God in 2010, Hawking commented:
+
<blockquote>What could define God [is thinking of God] as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of as God. They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible.<ref name=ScienceWillWin/></blockquote>
<blockquote>What could define God [is thinking of God] as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of that God. They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible.<ref name=ScienceWillWin/></blockquote>
 
  
In September 2014, he joined the [[Starmus Festival]] as keynote speaker and declared himself an atheist. In an interview with ''[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]'', he said:  
+
In September 2014, he joined the [[Starmus Festival]] as keynote speaker and declared himself an [[atheist]]. In an interview with ''[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]'', he said:  
 
<blockquote>Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn't. I'm an atheist.<ref name="atheist">Alan Boyle, [https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/i-m-atheist-stephen-hawking-god-space-travel-n210076 'I'm an Atheist': Stephen Hawking on God and Space Travel] ''NBC News'', September 23, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn't. I'm an atheist.<ref name="atheist">Alan Boyle, [https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/i-m-atheist-stephen-hawking-god-space-travel-n210076 'I'm an Atheist': Stephen Hawking on God and Space Travel] ''NBC News'', September 23, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref></blockquote>
  
 
He believed that "the universe is governed by the laws of science" and that:  
 
He believed that "the universe is governed by the laws of science" and that:  
<blockquote>There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.<ref name=ScienceWillWin>Ki Mae Heussner, [https://abcnews.go.com/WN/Technology/stephen-hawking-religion-science-win/story?id=10830164 Stephen Hawking on Religion: 'Science Will Win'] ''ABC News'', June 7, 2010. Retrieved May 29 2018.</ref></blockquote>
+
<blockquote>There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.<ref name=ScienceWillWin>Ki Mae Heussner, [https://abcnews.go.com/WN/Technology/stephen-hawking-religion-science-win/story?id=10830164 Stephen Hawking on Religion: 'Science Will Win'] ''ABC News'', June 7, 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref></blockquote>
  
Later, in an interview published in ''[[The Guardian]]'', Hawking stated that he regarded "the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail," and the concept of an afterlife as a "fairy story for people afraid of the dark."<ref> Ian Sample, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story'] ''The Guardian'', May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref> In 2011, narrating the first episode of the American television series ''[[Curiosity (TV series)|Curiosity]]'' on the [[Discovery Channel]], Hawking declared:
+
Later, in an interview published in ''[[The Guardian]]'', Hawking stated that he regarded "the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail," and the concept of an [[afterlife]] as a "fairy story for people afraid of the dark."<ref> Ian Sample, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story'] ''The Guardian'', May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref> In 2011, narrating the first episode of the American television series ''[[Curiosity (TV series)|Curiosity]]'' on the [[Discovery Channel]], Hawking declared:
 
<blockquote>We are each free to believe what we want and it is my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful.<ref name=Patheos/></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>We are each free to believe what we want and it is my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful.<ref name=Patheos/></blockquote>
  
Line 203: Line 196:
 
[[File:Stephen hawking and lucy hawking nasa 2008.jpg|thumb|250px|Stephen Hawking being presented by his daughter [[Lucy Hawking]] at the lecture he gave for [[NASA]]'s 50th anniversary]]
 
[[File:Stephen hawking and lucy hawking nasa 2008.jpg|thumb|250px|Stephen Hawking being presented by his daughter [[Lucy Hawking]] at the lecture he gave for [[NASA]]'s 50th anniversary]]
 
Hawking expressed concern that life on Earth is at risk from a sudden [[Nuclear bomb|nuclear war]], a [[genetic engineering|genetically engineered]] [[virus]], [[global warming]], or other dangers humans have not yet thought of. Such a planet-wide disaster need not result in human extinction if the human race were to be able to colonize additional planets before the disaster.<ref name="telegraph planet Earth"> Sarah Knapton, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12107623/Prof-Stephen-Hawking-disaster-on-planet-Earth-is-a-near-certainty.html Prof Stephen Hawking: disaster on planet Earth is a near certainty] ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 19, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>
 
Hawking expressed concern that life on Earth is at risk from a sudden [[Nuclear bomb|nuclear war]], a [[genetic engineering|genetically engineered]] [[virus]], [[global warming]], or other dangers humans have not yet thought of. Such a planet-wide disaster need not result in human extinction if the human race were to be able to colonize additional planets before the disaster.<ref name="telegraph planet Earth"> Sarah Knapton, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12107623/Prof-Stephen-Hawking-disaster-on-planet-Earth-is-a-near-certainty.html Prof Stephen Hawking: disaster on planet Earth is a near certainty] ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 19, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>
 +
 +
Hawking created ''Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth'', a documentary on space colonization, as a 2017 episode of ''[[Tomorrow's World]]''.<ref>Sarah Knapton, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/02/tomorrows-world-returns-bbc-startling-warning-stephen-hawking/ Tomorrow's World returns to BBC with startling warning from Stephen Hawking – we must leave Earth] ''The Telegraph'', May 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref> His final words to the world appeared posthumously, in April 2018, in the form of a [[Smithsonian Channel|Smithsonian TV Channel]] documentary entitled, ''Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet''.<ref>Dan Taylor, [https://www.morningticker.com/2018/03/stephen-hawkings-astonishing-last-words-will-stun-you/ Stephen Hawking’s incredible last words will stun you] ''Morning Ticker'', March 24, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
  
 
Hawking stated that, given the vastness of the universe, [[Extraterrestrial life|aliens]] likely exist, but that contact with them should be avoided. He warned that aliens might pillage Earth for resources. In 2010 he said, "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans."
 
Hawking stated that, given the vastness of the universe, [[Extraterrestrial life|aliens]] likely exist, but that contact with them should be avoided. He warned that aliens might pillage Earth for resources. In 2010 he said, "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans."
<ref name="alien">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens] ''BBC News'', April 25, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>
+
<ref name="alien">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens] ''BBC News'', April 25, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref> In July 2015, Hawking helped launch [[Breakthrough Initiatives]], an effort to search for [[extraterrestrial life]].<ref>Gregory Katz, [http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150720/eu—britain-extraterrestrials-e52c157915.html Searching for ET: Hawking to look for extraterrestrial life] ''Associated Presss'', July 20, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>  
  
He was an enthusiastic early adopter of all kinds of communication technologies, which include the device that allowed him to communicate after his disease removed his ability to speak. He also appreciated the forms of [[artificial intelligence]] that had been had already proved very useful. However he warned the consequences of creating something superintelligent that could spell the end of the human race:  
+
Hawking appreciated the forms of [[artificial intelligence]] that had already proved very useful. However he warned the consequences of creating something superintelligent that could spell the end of the human race:  
<blockquote>It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate ... Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded.<ref> Rory Cellan-Jones, [http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540 Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind] ''BBC News'', December 2, 2014. Retrieved May 30 2018.</ref></blockquote>
+
<blockquote>It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate ... Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded.<ref> Rory Cellan-Jones, [http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540 Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind] ''BBC News'', December 2, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref></blockquote>
  
 
Hawking argued that [[computer virus]]es should be considered a new form of life. He quipped, "maybe it says something about human nature, that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. Talk about creating life in our own image."<ref name=Ferguson1/>
 
Hawking argued that [[computer virus]]es should be considered a new form of life. He quipped, "maybe it says something about human nature, that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. Talk about creating life in our own image."<ref name=Ferguson1/>
Line 215: Line 210:
 
In 1988, Stephen Hawking, [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and [[Carl Sagan]] were interviewed in ''[[God, the Universe and Everything Else]]''. They discussed the [[Big Bang theory]], [[God]], and the possibility of [[extraterrestrial life]].<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020960/ God, the Universe and Everything Else (1988)] ''IMDb''. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>
 
In 1988, Stephen Hawking, [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and [[Carl Sagan]] were interviewed in ''[[God, the Universe and Everything Else]]''. They discussed the [[Big Bang theory]], [[God]], and the possibility of [[extraterrestrial life]].<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020960/ God, the Universe and Everything Else (1988)] ''IMDb''. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>
  
At the release party for the home video version of the ''A Brief History of Time'', [[Leonard Nimoy]], who had played [[Spock]] on ''[[Star Trek]]'', learned that Hawking was interested in appearing on the show. Nimoy made the necessary contact, and Hawking played a holographic simulation of himself in an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' in 1993.<ref>Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, ''The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future'' (Pocket Books, 1999, ISBN 978-0671536091).</ref> The same year, his synthesizer voice was recorded for the [[Pink Floyd]] song "[[Keep Talking]]", and in 1999 for an appearance on ''[[The Simpsons]]''.<ref name=Ferguson1/>
+
At the release party for the home video version of the ''A Brief History of Time'', [[Leonard Nimoy]], who had played [[Spock]] on ''[[Star Trek]]'', learned that Hawking was interested in appearing on the show. Nimoy made the necessary contact, and Hawking played a holographic simulation of himself in an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' in 1993.<ref>Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, ''The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future'' (Pocket Books, 1999, ISBN 978-0671536091).</ref> The same year, his synthesizer voice was recorded for the [[Pink Floyd]] song "[[Keep Talking]]", and in 1999 for an appearance on ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
  
 
Hawking appeared in documentaries titled ''The Real Stephen Hawking'' (2001), ''Stephen Hawking: Profile'' (2002),and ''[[Hawking (2013 film)|Hawking]]'' (2013), and the documentary series ''Stephen Hawking, Master of the Universe'' (2008).  
 
Hawking appeared in documentaries titled ''The Real Stephen Hawking'' (2001), ''Stephen Hawking: Profile'' (2002),and ''[[Hawking (2013 film)|Hawking]]'' (2013), and the documentary series ''Stephen Hawking, Master of the Universe'' (2008).  
  
Hawking allowed the use of his copyrighted voice<ref name="Mialet_2012">Hélène Mialet, ''Hawking Incorporated: Stephen Hawking and the Anthropology of the Knowing Subject'' (University of Chicago Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0226522265).</ref><ref name="Edgar_2014">James Edgar,[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10866057/Have-you-still-got-that-American-voice-Queen-asks-Stephen-Hawking.html 'Have you still got that American voice?' Queen asks Stephen Hawking] ''The Telegraph'', May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref> in the biographical 2014 film ''[[The Theory of Everything (2014 film)|The Theory of Everything]]'', in which he was portrayed by [[Eddie Redmayne]] in an [[Academy Award]]-winning role.<ref>Ramin Setoodeh, [https://variety.com/2014/film/news/eddie-redmayne-theory-of-everything-stephen-hawking-1201340498/ How Eddie Redmayne Became Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything'] ''Variety'', October 28, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018. </ref>  
+
Hawking allowed the use of his copyrighted voice<ref name="Mialet_2012">Hélène Mialet, ''Hawking Incorporated: Stephen Hawking and the Anthropology of the Knowing Subject'' (University of Chicago Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0226522265).</ref><ref name="Edgar_2014">James Edgar, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10866057/Have-you-still-got-that-American-voice-Queen-asks-Stephen-Hawking.html 'Have you still got that American voice?' Queen asks Stephen Hawking] ''The Telegraph'', May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref> in the biographical 2014 film ''[[The Theory of Everything (2014 film)|The Theory of Everything]]'', in which he was portrayed by [[Eddie Redmayne]] in an [[Academy Award]]-winning role.<ref>Ramin Setoodeh, [https://variety.com/2014/film/news/eddie-redmayne-theory-of-everything-stephen-hawking-1201340498/ How Eddie Redmayne Became Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything'] ''Variety'', October 28, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018. </ref>  
  
In March 2018 just days before his death, Hawking was the guest of [[Neil deGrasse Tyson]] on ''[[StarTalk (2015 TV series)|StarTalk]]''. Also Broadcast in March 2018, Hawking was the voice of The Book Mark II on ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' radio series.<ref>Nicholas Tufnell, [https://www.cnet.com/news/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-is-back-with-the-original-cast/ 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' is back with the original cast] ''CNET'', March 9, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>
+
In March 2018, just days before his death, Hawking was the guest of [[Neil deGrasse Tyson]] on ''[[StarTalk (2015 TV series)|StarTalk]]''. Also Broadcast in March 2018, Hawking was the voice of The Book Mark II on ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' radio series.<ref>Nicholas Tufnell, [https://www.cnet.com/news/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-is-back-with-the-original-cast/ 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' is back with the original cast] ''CNET'', March 9, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>
  
 
==Awards and honors==
 
==Awards and honors==
 
 
During his long career, Hawking received numerous awards and honors. In 1974 he was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS). His nomination read:
 
During his long career, Hawking received numerous awards and honors. In 1974 he was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS). His nomination read:
 
<blockquote>Hawking has made major contributions to the field of general relativity. These derive from a deep understanding of what is relevant to physics and astronomy, and especially from a mastery of wholly new mathematical techniques. Following the pioneering work of Penrose he established, partly alone and partly in collaboration with Penrose, a series of successively stronger theorems establishing the fundamental result that all realistic cosmological models must possess singularities. Using similar techniques, Hawking has proved the basic theorems on the laws governing black holes: that stationary solutions of Einstein's equations with smooth event horizons must necessarily be axisymmetric; and that in the evolution and interaction of black holes, the total surface area of the event horizons must increase. In collaboration with G. Ellis, Hawking is the author of an impressive and original treatise on "Space-time in the Large."
 
<blockquote>Hawking has made major contributions to the field of general relativity. These derive from a deep understanding of what is relevant to physics and astronomy, and especially from a mastery of wholly new mathematical techniques. Following the pioneering work of Penrose he established, partly alone and partly in collaboration with Penrose, a series of successively stronger theorems establishing the fundamental result that all realistic cosmological models must possess singularities. Using similar techniques, Hawking has proved the basic theorems on the laws governing black holes: that stationary solutions of Einstein's equations with smooth event horizons must necessarily be axisymmetric; and that in the evolution and interaction of black holes, the total surface area of the event horizons must increase. In collaboration with G. Ellis, Hawking is the author of an impressive and original treatise on "Space-time in the Large."
  
 
Other important work by Hawking relates to the interpretation of cosmological observations and to the design of gravitational wave detectors." <ref name="royal">[https://www.webcitation.org/6N82r0VCh?url=http://royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%3D%27EC%2F1974%2F12%27%29 Stephen Hawking] The Royal Society, December 1974. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref></blockquote>
 
Other important work by Hawking relates to the interpretation of cosmological observations and to the design of gravitational wave detectors." <ref name="royal">[https://www.webcitation.org/6N82r0VCh?url=http://royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%3D%27EC%2F1974%2F12%27%29 Stephen Hawking] The Royal Society, December 1974. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref></blockquote>
 +
[[File:Weston Library Opening by John Cairns 20.3.15-139.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Hawking with University of Oxford librarian [[Richard Ovenden]] (left) and naturalist [[David Attenborough]] (right) at the opening of the [[Weston Library]], Oxford, in March 2015. Ovenden awarded the [[Bodley Medal]] to Hawking and Attenborough at the ceremony.]]
 +
In 1975, he was awarded both the [[Eddington Medal]] and the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences|Pius XI Gold Medal]], and in 1976 the [[Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics|Dannie Heineman Prize]], the [[Maxwell Prize]] and the [[Hughes Medal]]. He was appointed a professor with a chair in [[gravitational physics]] in 1977. The following year he received the [[Albert Einstein Medal]] and an honorary doctorate from the [[University of Oxford]].
  
In 1975, he was awarded both the [[Eddington Medal]] and the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences|Pius XI Gold Medal]], and in 1976 the [[Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics|Dannie Heineman Prize]], the [[Maxwell Prize]] and the [[Hughes Medal]]. He was appointed a professor with a chair in [[gravitational physics]] in 1977. The following year he received the [[Albert Einstein Medal]] and an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford.
+
In 1981 he was awarded the American [[Franklin Medal]], and in the [[1982 New Year Honours]] appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE). He also received the [[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] (1985), the [[Dirac Prize|Paul Dirac Medal]] (1987) and, jointly with [[Roger Penrose]], the prestigious [[Wolf Prize]] (1988). In the [[1989 Birthday Honours]], he was appointed a [[Order of the Companions of Honour|Companion of Honour]] (CH).
 
 
In 1981 he was awarded the American [[Franklin Medal]], and in the [[1982 New Year Honours]] appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48837 |date=30 December 1981 |page=8 |supp=y}}</ref>
 
He received the [[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] (1985),{{sfn|Larsen|2005|p=xvi}} the [[Dirac Prize|Paul Dirac Medal]] (1987){{sfn|Ferguson|2011|p=146}} and, jointly with Penrose, the prestigious [[Wolf Prize]] (1988).{{sfn|White|Gribbin|2002|p=279}} In the [[1989 Birthday Honours]], he was appointed a [[Order of the Companions of Honour|Companion of Honour]] (CH).{{sfn|Ferguson|2011|p=149}}<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48837 |date=16 June 1989 |page=18 |supp=y}}</ref>
 
  
 
[[File:Barack Obama speaks to Stephen Hawking (cropped).jpg|thumb|200px|President [[Barack Obama]] talks with Hawking in the [[White House]] before a ceremony presenting him with the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] on 12 August 2009.]]
 
[[File:Barack Obama speaks to Stephen Hawking (cropped).jpg|thumb|200px|President [[Barack Obama]] talks with Hawking in the [[White House]] before a ceremony presenting him with the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] on 12 August 2009.]]
Hawking was also a lifetime member of the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]], and a recipient of the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the highest civilian award in the United States.  
+
Hawking was also a lifetime member of the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]]<ref> [http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/academicians/ordinary.html Ordinary Academicians] Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
  
In 2002, following a UK-wide vote, the [[BBC]] included Hawking in their list of the [[100 Greatest Britons]].<ref>{{cite web |date=21 August 2002 |title=100 great British heroes |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2208671.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref> He was awarded the [[Copley Medal]] from the [[Royal Society]] (2006), the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], which is America's highest civilian honour (2009),<ref name="presidential" /> and the Russian [[Fundamental Physics Prize|Special Fundamental Physics Prize]] (2013).<ref name="FPP-Dec2012" />
+
In 2002, following a UK-wide vote, the [[BBC]] included Hawking in their list of the [[100 Greatest Britons]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2208671.stm 100 great British heroes] ''BBC News'',  August 21, 2002. Retrieved June 2, 2018. </ref> He was awarded the [[Copley Medal]] from the [[Royal Society]] (2006),<ref>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dsunM9ukGLgaW3HdG9cvJ_QKd7pWjGI0qi_fCb1ROD4/pubhtml?gid=1336391689&single=true Award winners : Copley Medal] The Royal Society. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref> the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], which the highest civilian award in the United States (2009),<ref>Ewen MacAskill, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/13/obama-hawking-medal-freedom Obama presents presidential medal of freedom to 16 recipients] ''The Guardian'', August 13, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref> and the Russian [[Fundamental Physics Prize|Special Fundamental Physics Prize]] (2013).
 +
<ref>[http://breakthroughprize.org/News/11 2013 Fundamental Physics Prize Awarded to Alexander Polyakov] Fundamental Physics Prize, March 21, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
  
 
Hawking received the 2015 [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in Basic Sciences shared with [[Viatcheslav Mukhanov]] for discovering that the galaxies were formed from quantum fluctuations in the early Universe. At the 2016 [[Pride of Britain Awards]], Hawking received the lifetime achievement award "for his contribution to science and British culture." After receiving the award from Prime Minister [[Theresa May]], Hawking humorously requested that she not seek his help with [[Brexit]].<ref name=Britain/> In July 2017, Hawking was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from [[Imperial College London]].<ref>Deborah Evanson, [http://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/180588/stephen-hawking-awarded-imperial-college-londons/ Stephen Hawking awarded Imperial College London's highest honour] Imperial College London, July 17, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>
 
Hawking received the 2015 [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in Basic Sciences shared with [[Viatcheslav Mukhanov]] for discovering that the galaxies were formed from quantum fluctuations in the early Universe. At the 2016 [[Pride of Britain Awards]], Hawking received the lifetime achievement award "for his contribution to science and British culture." After receiving the award from Prime Minister [[Theresa May]], Hawking humorously requested that she not seek his help with [[Brexit]].<ref name=Britain/> In July 2017, Hawking was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from [[Imperial College London]].<ref>Deborah Evanson, [http://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/180588/stephen-hawking-awarded-imperial-college-londons/ Stephen Hawking awarded Imperial College London's highest honour] Imperial College London, July 17, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2018.</ref>
Line 244: Line 238:
 
== Legacy ==
 
== Legacy ==
 
Stephen Hawking has been described as "a man who has quite simply changed the way we look at the world."<ref name=Britain>Claire Corkery, [https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/727766/Pride-of-Britain-awards-2016-Stephen-Hawking-Brexit-Theresa-May-Carol-Vorderman Pride of Britain 2016: Stephen Hawking makes Brexit joke at PM Theresa May's expense] ''Express'',  November 1, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>  
 
Stephen Hawking has been described as "a man who has quite simply changed the way we look at the world."<ref name=Britain>Claire Corkery, [https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/727766/Pride-of-Britain-awards-2016-Stephen-Hawking-Brexit-Theresa-May-Carol-Vorderman Pride of Britain 2016: Stephen Hawking makes Brexit joke at PM Theresa May's expense] ''Express'',  November 1, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>  
 
+
{{readout|Text in the article|right|250px|Stephen Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of [[Galileo]]'s death and died on the 139th anniversary of [[Einstein]]'s birth
 +
}}
 
He was born on the 300th anniversary of [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]]'s death and died on the 139th anniversary of [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]'s birth.  
 
He was born on the 300th anniversary of [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]]'s death and died on the 139th anniversary of [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]'s birth.  
  
 
Hawking was a member of the Advisory Board of the [[Starmus Festival]], and had a major role in acknowledging and promoting science communication. The [[Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication]] is an annual award initiated in 2016 to honour members of the arts community for contributions that help build awareness of science.<ref>[https://www.starmus.com/stephen-hawking-medals-for-science-communication/ Stephen Hawking Medals For Science Communication] ''STARMUS'', December 16, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>  
 
Hawking was a member of the Advisory Board of the [[Starmus Festival]], and had a major role in acknowledging and promoting science communication. The [[Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication]] is an annual award initiated in 2016 to honour members of the arts community for contributions that help build awareness of science.<ref>[https://www.starmus.com/stephen-hawking-medals-for-science-communication/ Stephen Hawking Medals For Science Communication] ''STARMUS'', December 16, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>  
  
Several buildings have been named after him, including the Stephen W. Hawking Science Museum in [[San Salvador]], El{{nbsp}}Salvador, the Stephen Hawking Building in Cambridge, and the [[Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics#Stephen Hawking Centre at Perimeter Institute|Stephen Hawking Centre]] at the [[Perimeter Institute]] in Canada. Appropriately, given Hawking's association with time, he unveiled the mechanical "Chronophage" (or time-eating) [[Corpus Clock]] at [[Corpus Christi College Cambridge|Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]] in September 2008.{{sfn|Ferguson|2011|pp=237–38}}
+
Several buildings have been named after him, including the Stephen W. Hawking Science Museum in [[San Salvador]], [[El Salvador]], the Stephen Hawking Building in Cambridge, and the Stephen Hawking Centre at the [[Perimeter Institute]] in Canada. Appropriately, given Hawking's association with time, he unveiled the mechanical "Chronophage" (or time-eating) [[Corpus Clock]] at Corpus Christi College, [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] in September 2008.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7625815.stm Hawking unveils 'strangest clock'] ''BBC News'', September 19, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>
  
During his career, Hawking supervised 39 successful PhD students.<ref name="mathgene"/> Hawking retired as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 2009, but continued his work as usual at Cambridge University as Emeritus Lucasian Professor at the university, an honorary title.<ref name=lucasian/>  Hawking worked as director of research at the Cambridge University Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.<ref name="tel2012" />
+
During his career, Hawking supervised 39 successful PhD students, and one who did not complete the program.<ref> [https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=78459 Stephen William Hawking] Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved June 2, 2018.</ref>  
  
 
In March 2018, it was announced that two Russian astronomers who discovered GRB180316A, a newborn black hole in the [[Ophiuchus]] constellation had dedicated their find to Stephen Hawking, having discovered it two days after his death.<ref>[https://www.rt.com/news/421874-astronomers-devote-black-hole-hawking/ Russian astronomers devote newly-discovered black hole to Stephen Hawking] ''Russia Today'', March 21, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>
 
In March 2018, it was announced that two Russian astronomers who discovered GRB180316A, a newborn black hole in the [[Ophiuchus]] constellation had dedicated their find to Stephen Hawking, having discovered it two days after his death.<ref>[https://www.rt.com/news/421874-astronomers-devote-black-hole-hawking/ Russian astronomers devote newly-discovered black hole to Stephen Hawking] ''Russia Today'', March 21, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.</ref>
Line 309: Line 304:
 
* Hawking, S.W., and T. Herzog. [https://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-th/0602091v2.pdf "Populating the Landscape: A Top Down Approach] ''Phys. Rev. D73'' (12) (2006): 123527. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
 
* Hawking, S.W., and T. Herzog. [https://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-th/0602091v2.pdf "Populating the Landscape: A Top Down Approach] ''Phys. Rev. D73'' (12) (2006): 123527. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  
== Notes ==
+
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
+
<references/>
 
 
 
 
{{reflist|refs=
 
 
 
<ref name="whoswho">{{Who's Who | surname = HAWKING | othernames = Prof. Stephen William | id = U19510 | year = 2015 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.19510|author=Anon}} {{subscription required}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="mathgene">{{MathGenealogy|id=78459}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=hawkingphd>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Stephen William |last=Hawking |title=Properties of Expanding Universes |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1966 |url=https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.11283 |authorlink=Stephen Hawking |OCLC=62793673|doi=10.17863/CAM.11283}} {{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.601153}} {{free access}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="allenphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Bruce |last=Allen |title=Vacuum energy and general relativity |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1983 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=5544 |authorlink=Bruce Allen (physicist)}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="boussophd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Raphael |last=Bousso |title=Pair creation of black holes in cosmology |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1997 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=18697 |authorlink=Raphael Bousso}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="carrphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Bernard John |last=Carr |title=Primordial black holes |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1976 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=6798 |authorlink=Bernard Carr}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="dowkerphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Helen Fay |last=Dowker |title=Space-time wormholes |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1991 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=7858 |authorlink=Fay Dowker}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="galfardphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Christophe Georges Gunnar Sven |last=Galfard |title=Black hole information & branes |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=2006 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=28782|authorlink=:fr:Christophe Galfard}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="gibbonsphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Gary William |last=Gibbons |title=Some aspects of gravitational radiation and gravitational collapse |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1973 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=8671 |authorlink=Gary Gibbons}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="hertogphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Thomas |last=Hertog |title=The origin of inflation |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=2002 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=23554|authorlink=:nl:Thomas Hertog}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="laflammephd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Raymond |last=Laflamme |title=Time and quantum cosmology |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1988 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=10575 |authorlink=Raymond Laflamme}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="pagephd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Don Nelson |last=Page |title=Accretion into and emission from black holes |publisher=California Institute of Technology |year=1976 |url=http://thesis.library.caltech.edu/7179/ |authorlink=Don Page (physicist)}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="perryphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Malcolm John |last=Perry |title=Black holes and quantum mechanics |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1978 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=12538|authorlink=Malcolm Perry (physicist)}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="wuphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Zhongchao |last=Wu |title=Cosmological models and the inflationary universe |publisher=University of Cambridge |year=1984 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=15549|authorlink=Wu Zhongchao}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-2">{{cite web |url=http://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/outreach/stephen_hawking.php |title=Centre for Theoretical Cosmology: Outreach Stephen Hawking |publisher=University of Cambridge |access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-3">{{cite web |url=http://www.hawking.org.uk/about-stephen.html |title=About Stephen |publisher=Stephen Hawking Official Website |access-date=23 June 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830050622/http://www.hawking.org.uk/about-stephen.html |archivedate=30 August 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-5">{{cite news |access-date=5 March 2012 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jan/05/guardianobituaries.obituaries |title=Dick Tahta |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=5 January 2007 |last1=Hoare |first1=Geoffrey |last2=Love |first2=Eric}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-6">{{cite news |last=Donaldson |first=Gregg J. |title=The Man Behind the Scientist |url=http://www.mdtap.org/TT/1999.05/1-art.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050511104943/http://www.mdtap.org/TT/1999.05/1-art.html |archivedate=11 May 2005 |publisher=Tapping Technology |date=May 1999 |access-date=23 December 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-7">{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rspa.1970.0021 |first=Stephen |last=Hawking |last2=Penrose |first2=Roger |year=1970 |title=The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences|Proceedings of the Royal Society A]] |volume=314 |issue=1519 |pages=529–548 |bibcode=1970RSPSA.314..529H}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-8">{{cite web |last=Ridpath |first=Ian |title=Black hole explorer |work=New Scientist |date=4 May 1978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmxb4_WjDUYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA307 |access-date=9 January 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="HawkingIsrael1989">{{cite book |editor-first1=S.W. |editor-last1=Hawking |editor-first2=W. |editor-last2=Israel |title=Three Hundred Years of Gravitation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vq787qC5PWQC |date=30 March 1989 |page=278 |chapter=Astrophysical Black Holes |author=R.D. Blandford |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-37976-2}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-9">{{cite journal |last=Hawking |first=Stephen W. |year=1974 |title=Black hole explosions? |journal=Nature |volume=248 |issue=5443 |pages=30–31 |doi=10.1038/248030a0 |bibcode=1974Natur.248...30H}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-10">{{cite journal |last=Hawking |first=Stephen W. |year=1975 |title=Particle creation by black holes |journal=[[Communications in Mathematical Physics]] |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=199–220 |doi=10.1007/BF02345020 |bibcode=1975CMaPh..43..199H |url= https://www.brainmaster.com/software/pubs/physics/Hawking%20Particle%20Creation.pdf}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=black>{{cite book |first=Stephen|last=Hawking |title=Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NU9SoEwgdskC&pg=PT20 |year=1994 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-553-37411-7 |page=20}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-11">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/8282358.stm |title=Hawking gives up academic title |work=BBC News |date=30 September 2009 |access-date=1 October 2009}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Susskind2008">{{cite book |first=Leonard|last=Susskind |title=The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f3_rnRVxGIsC&pg=PT9 |date=7 July 2008 |publisher=Hachette Digital, Inc. |isbn=978-0-316-01640-7 |pages=9, 18}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-12">See Guth (1997) for a popular description of the workshop, or ''The Very Early Universe'', {{isbn|0-521-31677-4}} eds Gibbons, Hawking & Siklos for a detailed report.</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-13">{{cite journal |title=The development of irregularities in a single bubble inflationary universe |first=S.W. |last=Hawking |journal=Phys. Lett. B |volume=115 |page=295 |year=1982 |bibcode=1982PhLB..115..295H |doi=10.1016/0370-2693(82)90373-2 |issue=4}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-14">{{Cite journal | volume = 28 | page = 2960 | year = 1983 | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevD.28.2960 | last1 = Hartle | journal = Physical Review D | first1 = J. | title = Wave function of the Universe | last2 = Hawking | first2 = S. | issue = 12|bibcode = 1983PhRvD..28.2960H}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="sample">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven |title=Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story' |last=Sample |first=Ian |date=15 May 2011 |work=The Guardian |access-date=17 May 2011}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-15">{{cite news |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/assistive-communication/ |title=Getting Back the Gift of Gab: Next-Gen Handheld Computers Allow the Mute to Converse |work=[[Scientific American]] |date=10 August 2009 |first=Larry |last=Greenemeier |access-date=11 September 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-16">{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-06-15-hawking_x.htm |title=Stephen Hawking says pope told him not to study beginning of universe |date=15 June 2006 |work=USA Today |access-date=12 December 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="g2009">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jul/30/stephen-hawking-brief-history-time |title=How God propelled Stephen Hawking into the bestsellers lists |work=The Guardian |date=31 July 2009 |access-date=5 March 2012 |last=Radford |first=Tim}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-17">{{cite web |url=http://www.toptenz.net/top-ten-people-who-declined-knighthood.php |title=Top 10 People Who Declined Knighthood |publisher=Toptenz.net |date=15 February 2012 |access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="dt70">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking/8989060/Stephen-Hawking-driven-by-a-cosmic-force-of-will.html |title=Stephen Hawking: driven by a cosmic force of will |first=Roger |last=Highfield |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 January 2012 |location=London |access-date=7 December 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=obs2004>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2004/apr/04/features.review17 |title=Brief History of a first wife |first=Tim |last=Adams |work=[[The Observer]] |date=4 April 2004 |location=London |access-date=12 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-18">{{cite web |url=http://www.theory.caltech.edu/%7Epreskill/info_bet.html |title=Black hole information bet |last1=Hawking |first1=S.W. |last2=Thorne |first2=K.S. |last3=Preskill |location=Pasadena, California |date=6 February 1997 |access-date=20 April 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="concedbet">{{cite journal |last1=Hawking |first1=S.W. |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.72.084013 |title=Information loss in black holes |journal=Physical Review D |volume=72 |issue=8 |pages=084013 |year=2005 |arxiv=hep-th/0507171 |bibcode=2005PhRvD..72h4013H}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=presskill>{{cite web |title=John Preskill's comments about Stephen Hawking's concession |url=http://www.theory.caltech.edu/~preskill/jp_24jul04.html |access-date=29 February 2012 |first=John |last=Preskill}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-19">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/441912.stm |title=Call for global disability campaign |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] |date=8 September 1999 |location=London |access-date=12 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-20">{{cite web |url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/lilienfeld.cfm |title=Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize |publisher=American Physical Society |access-date=29 August 2008}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name= sundaytimes>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1751518.ece |title=Welcome back to the family, Stephen |work=The Times |date=6 May 2007 |access-date=6 May 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203111754/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1751518.ece |archivedate=3 December 2008}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-21">{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1452516/Police-plan-to-ask-Stephen-Hawking-about-abuse-claims.html |title=Police plan to ask Stephen Hawking about abuse claims |first=David |last=Harrison |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=25 January 2004 |location=London |access-date=3 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-22">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2004/apr/04/features.review17 |title=Tim Adams talks to Jane Hawking about her ex husband Stephen |first=Tim |last=Adams |work=[[The Observer]] |date=4 April 2004 |location=London}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-23">{{cite news |last=Highfield |first=Roger |title=Stephen Hawking's explosive new theory |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=26 June 2008 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3345641/Stephen-Hawkings-explosive-new-theory.html |access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-24">{{cite journal |last1=Hawking |first1=S.W. |last2=Hertog |first2=T. |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.73.123527 |title=Populating the landscape: A top-down approach |journal=Physical Review D |volume=73 |issue=12 |pages=123527 |year=2006 |arxiv=hep-th/0602091 |bibcode=2006PhRvD..73l3527H}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-25">{{cite news |title=Hawking and second wife agree to divorce |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=20 October 2006 |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1531891/Hawking-and-second-wife-agree-to-divorce.html |access-date=18 March 2007 |last=Sapsted |first=David}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="books">{{cite web |title=Books |url=http://www.hawking.org.uk/books.html |work=Stephen Hawking Official Website |access-date=28 February 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-26">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/mar/04/lastnightstvstephenhawking |title=Last night's TV: Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe |first=Sam |last=Wollaston |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=4 March 2008 |location=London |access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=bbc-bbt>{{cite news |title=Professor Stephen Hawking films Big Bang Theory cameo |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17337778 |access-date=12 March 2012 |work=BBC News |date=12 March 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-29">{{cite web |url=http://www.usc.es/en/cursos/conciencia/premio_fonseca2008.html |title=Fonseca Prize 2008 |publisher=University of Santiago de Compostela |access-date=7 August 2009}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-30">{{cite news |title=Stephen Hawking takes a hard line on aliens |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/26/stephen-hawking-issues-warning-on-aliens |access-date=24 February 2012 |first=Leo |last=Hickman |date=25 April 2010 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="alien">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm |work=BBC News |title=Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens |date=25 April 2010 |access-date=24 May 2010}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=nyt2007>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/science/01hawking.html?ref=stephenwhawking |title=Stephen Hawking Plans Prelude to the Ride of His Life |first=Dennis |last=Overbye |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 March 2007 |publisher=[[New York Times Company|NYTC]] |location=New York |access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-31">{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1359562/Colonies-in-space-may-be-only-hope-says-Hawking.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=Colonies in space may be only hope, says Hawking |date=16 October 2001 |access-date=5 August 2007 |last=Highfield |first=Roger}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-32">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6594821.stm |title=Hawking takes zero-gravity flight |date=27 April 2007 |access-date=17 June 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-34">{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-11-03-hawking-iraq_x.htm |title=Scientist Stephen Hawking decries Iraq war |work=[[USA Today]] |date=3 November 2004 |access-date=18 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-35">{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Stephen-Hawking-reaffirms-support-of-Israel-boycott-312505 |title=Diplomacy and politics: Stephen Hawking reaffirms support of Israel boycott |access-date=26 October 2014}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="NYT-20130508">{{cite news |last=Kershner |first=Isabel |title=Stephen Hawking Joins Boycott Against Israel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/world/middleeast/stephen-hawking-joins-boycott-against-israel.html |date=8 May 2013 |work=The New York Times |access-date=8 May 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=ind2007>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/prophet-of-doomsday-stephen-hawking-ecowarrior-433064.html |title=Prophet of Doomsday: Stephen Hawking, eco-warrior – Climate Change – Environment |first=Geoffrey |last=Lean |work=The Independent |date=21 January 2007 |location=London |access-date=18 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-37">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2006/jul/24/genetics.europeanunion |title=Hawking urges EU not to stop stem cell funding |first=Debbie |last=Andalo |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=24 July 2006 |location=London |access-date=18 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-38">{{cite news |last=Haurant |first=Sandra |title=Savings: Heavyweight celebrities endorse National Savings |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2008/jun/03/savings |access-date=25 February 2013 |date=3 June 2008}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-39">{{cite news |title=Could Hawking's parody be sincerest form of flattery? |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/comment/4454268/Could-Hawkings-parody-be-sincerest-form-of-flattery.html |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited |access-date=19 February 2013 |date=13 June 2000}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-40">{{cite news |last=Usborne |first=Simon |title=Stephen Hawking, Go Compare and a brief history of selling out |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/advertising/stephen-hawking-go-compare-and-a-brief-history-of-selling-out-8434612.html |work=The Independent |access-date=19 February 2013 |date=1 January 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-42">{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/why-some-physicists-bet-against-the-higgs-boson/259977/ |title=Why Some Physicists Bet Against the Higgs Boson |first=Robert |last=Wright |work=The Atlantic |date=17 July 2012 |access-date=1 April 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-43">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2012/jul/05/stephen-hawking-higgs-boson-bet-video |title=Stephen Hawking loses Higgs boson particle bet – Video |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=5 July 2012 |location=London |access-date=1 April 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-44">{{cite news |url=http://nationalpost.com/news/higgs-boson-stephen-hawking |title=Higgs boson breakthrough should earn physicist behind search Nobel Prize: Stephen Hawking |work=[[National Post]] |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=4 July 2012 |access-date=1 April 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="tech">{{cite news |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21323-the-man-who-saves-stephen-hawkings-voice|title=The man who saves Stephen Hawking's voice |date=30 December 2011 |first=Catherine |last=de Lange |work=New Scientist |access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=hacked>{{cite web |url=http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/25/12401493-how-researchers-hacked-into-stephen-hawkings-brain?lite |title=How researchers hacked into Stephen Hawking's brain |date=25 June 2012 |first=Alan |last=Boyle |publisher=NBC News |access-date=29 September 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830052332/http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/25/12401493-how-researchers-hacked-into-stephen-hawkings-brain?lite |archivedate=30 August 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=start>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18749963 |title=Start-up attempts to convert Prof Hawking's brainwaves into speech |date=7 July 2012 |publisher=BBC |access-date=29 September 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-45">{{cite web |url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/news/oldest-space-travelled-science-prize-awarded-to-hawking |title=Oldest, space-travelled, science prize awarded to Hawking |date=24 August 2006 |publisher=The Royal Society |access-date=29 August 2008}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="presidential">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/13/obama-hawking-medal-freedom |title=Obama presents presidential medal of freedom to 16 recipients |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=13 August 2009 |access-date=5 March 2012 |first=Ewen |last=MacAskill}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=FPP-Dec2012>{{cite web |title=2013 Fundamental Physics Prize Awarded to Alexander Polyakov |url=http://breakthroughprize.org/News/11 |publisher=Fundamental Physics Prize |access-date=11 December 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-46">{{cite journal |last=Komar |first=Oliver |last2=Buechner |first2=Linda |title=The Stephen W. Hawking Science Museum in San Salvador Central America Honours the Fortitude of a Great Living Scientist |journal=Journal of College Science Teaching |volume=XXX |issue=2 |date=October 2000 |url=http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/5046/article.html |access-date=28 September 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730162105/http://geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/5046/article.html |archivedate=30 July 2009}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-47">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2007/04/18/hawking_building_feature.shtml |title=The Stephen Hawking Building |date=18 April 2007 |access-date=24 February 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-48">{{cite press release |title=Grand Opening of the Stephen Hawking Centre at Perimeter Institute |url=http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/outreach/general-public/special-events/grand-opening-2011 |access-date=6 June 2012 |publisher=Perimeter Institute}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-49">{{cite web |url=http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/time-to-unveil-corpus-clock/ |title=Time to unveil Corpus Clock |publisher=Cambridgenetwork.co.uk |date=22 September 2008 |access-date=10 September 2015}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=tel2012>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7528596/Professor-Stephen-Hawking-to-stay-at-Cambridge-University-beyond-2012.html |title=Professor Stephen Hawking to stay at Cambridge University beyond 2012 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=26 March 2010 |location=London |access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="sciencenews1">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-hawking/pope-sees-physicist-hawking-at-evolution-gathering-idUSTRE49U6E220081031 |title=Pope sees physicist Hawking at evolution gathering |last=Stewart |first=Phil |agency=Reuters |date=31 October 2008 |access-date=22 May 2009}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-50">{{cite web |title=Stephen Hawking – There is no God. There is no Fate. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L7VTdzuY7Y |access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-51">{{cite news |last=Lowry |first=Brian |date=4 August 2011 |title=Curiosity: Did God Create the Universe? |url=http://variety.com/2011/tv/reviews/curiosity-did-god-create-the-universe-1117945762/ |work=Variety |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-52">{{cite web |author1=David Edwards |title=Stephen Hawking comes out: 'I'm an atheist' because science is 'more convincing' than God |url=https://www.rawstory.com/2014/09/stephen-hawking-comes-out-im-an-atheist-because-science-is-more-convincing-than-god/ |publisher=Raw Story |access-date=25 September 2014 |date=24 September 2014}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-53">{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8520033/Stephen-Hawking-tells-Google-philosophy-is-dead.html |title=Stephen Hawking tells Google 'philosophy is dead' |first=Matt |last=Warman |date=17 May 2011 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-54">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19411225 |title=Paralympics: Games opening promises 'journey of discovery' |publisher=BBC |date=29 August 2012 |access-date=29 August 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="NYT-20130913">{{cite news |last=DeWitt |first=David |title=The Brilliance of His Universe |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/hawking-a-documentary-on-stephen-hawking.html |date=13 September 2013 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=13 September 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-55">{{cite news |last=Duffin |first=Claire |title=We don't let animals suffer, says Prof Stephen Hawking, as he backs assisted suicide |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10315476/We-dont-let-animals-suffer-says-Prof-Stephen-Hawking-as-he-backs-assisted-suicide.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |date=17 September 2013}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-56">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-57">{{cite news |last=Culzac |first=Natasha |date=29 August 2014 |title=Stephen Hawking, MND sufferer, does ice bucket challenge with a twist |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/stephen-hawking-mnd-sufferer-does-ice-bucket-challenge-with-a-twist-9698539.html |work=The Independent |access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name=KirkusBaby>{{cite web |title=Black Holes and Baby Universes |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephen-hawking/black-holes-and-baby-universes/ |date=20 March 2010 |work=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-58">{{cite web |url=http://www.errolmorris.com/film/bhot.html |title=A Brief History of Time: Synopsis |publisher=Errol Morris |access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-59">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/program/stephen-hawkings-universe/ |title=Stephen Hawking's Universe |publisher=PBS |access-date=26 June 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-60">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/hawking_prog_summary.shtml |title=The Hawking Paradox |publisher=BBC |access-date=9 February 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="art">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/review-television-masters-dc/masters-of-science-fiction-too-artistic-for-abc-idUSN0242298520070803?rpc=92 |title="Masters of Science Fiction" too artistic for ABC |access-date=7 December 2012 |last=Richmond |first=Ray |agency=Reuters |date=3 August 2007}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-61">{{cite news |last=Walton |first=James |date=4 March 2008 |title=Last night on television: Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe (Channel 4) – The Palace (ITV1) |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3671613/Last-night-on-television-Stephen-Hawking-Master-of-the-Universe-Channel-4-The-Palace-ITV1.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-62">{{cite web |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/about/about.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325010542/http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/about/about.html |archivedate=25 March 2011 |title=Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking |publisher=Discovery Channel |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-63">{{cite news |last=Moulds |first=Josephine |date=17 October 2011 |title=Brave New World with Stephen Hawking, episode one, Channel 4, review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8824454/Brave-New-World-with-Stephen-Hawking-episode-one-Channel-4-review.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-64">{{cite web |url=https://press.discovery.com/uk/dsc/programs/hawking-grand-design/ |title=Stephen Hawking's Grand Design |publisher=Discovery Channel UK |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-65">{{cite news |last=Wollaston |first=Sam |date=9 December 2013 |title=Stephen Hawking: A Brief History of Mine – TV review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/dec/09/stephen-hawking-brief-history-mine-tv-review |work=The Guardian |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>
 
 
 
<ref name="Auto2J-66">{{cite news |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2014/08/06/stephen-hawking-theory-of-everything-trailer |title=Eddie Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking in 'Theory of Everything' trailer |first=Jeff |last=Labrecque |work=Entertainment Weekly |date=6 August 2014 |access-date=6 August 2014}}</ref>
 
}}
 
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
Line 535: Line 328:
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
All links retrieved
+
All links retrieved February 9, 2023.
 
* [http://hawking.org.uk/ Stephen Hawking official website]
 
* [http://hawking.org.uk/ Stephen Hawking official website]
 
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0370071/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Stephen Hawking] at IMDb
 
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0370071/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Stephen Hawking] at IMDb
 
* {{isfdb name|37485}}
 
* {{isfdb name|37485}}
* [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp05386Stephen William Hawking Portraits of Stephen Hawking] at National Portrait Gallery
 
 
* [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F39538 Archival material related to Stephen Hawking] at UK National Archives
 
* [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F39538 Archival material related to Stephen Hawking] at UK National Archives
* [https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/stephen-w-hawking Stephen W. Hawking News and Commentary]] ''The New York Times''
+
* [https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/stephen-w-hawking Stephen W. Hawking News and Commentary] ''The New York Times''
 
* [https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6701475619 Stephen Hawking's publications] indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database
 
* [https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6701475619 Stephen Hawking's publications] indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database
* [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Stephen-Hawking Stephen Hawking] at Encyclopaedia Britannica
 
 
* [https://www.c-span.org/person/?stephenhawking Stephen Hawking appearances on C-SPAN]
 
* [https://www.c-span.org/person/?stephenhawking Stephen Hawking appearances on C-SPAN]
 
* [https://www.theguardian.com/science/hawking Stephen Hawking news and commentary] ''The Guardian''
 
* [https://www.theguardian.com/science/hawking Stephen Hawking news and commentary] ''The Guardian''
Line 549: Line 340:
 
* [https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328460-500-stephen-hawking-at-70-exclusive-interview/ Stephen Hawking at 70: Exclusive interview] ''New Scientist'', January 4, 2012
 
* [https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328460-500-stephen-hawking-at-70-exclusive-interview/ Stephen Hawking at 70: Exclusive interview] ''New Scientist'', January 4, 2012
 
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdjAJeUy0zM The Universe and Beyond, with Stephen Hawking] StarTalk video
 
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdjAJeUy0zM The Universe and Beyond, with Stephen Hawking] StarTalk video
 +
* [http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43499024 Stephen Hawking's final interview: A beautiful Universe] ''BBC news'', March 26, 2018
  
 
[[Category:Biographies of Scientists and Mathematicians]]
 
[[Category:Biographies of Scientists and Mathematicians]]
  
 
{{Credits|Stephen_Hawking|831713118|}}
 
{{Credits|Stephen_Hawking|831713118|}}

Latest revision as of 04:41, 28 April 2023

Stephen Hawking

Hawking at NASA's StarChild Learning Center, 1980s
BornStephen William Hawking
January 8 1942(1942-01-08)
Oxford, England
DiedMarch 14 2018 (aged 76)
Cambridge, England
FieldsGeneral relativity
Quantum gravity
InstitutionsGonville and Caius College, Cambridge

California Institute of Technology

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (BA)
University of Cambridge (MA, PhD)
Known forHawking radiation
A Brief History of Time
Penrose–Hawking theorems
Bekenstein–Hawking formula
Hawking energy
Gibbons–Hawking ansatz
Gibbons–Hawking effect
Gibbons–Hawking space
Gibbons–Hawking–York boundary term
Thorne–Hawking–Preskill bet
SpouseJane Wilde (m. 1965; div. 1995)
Elaine Mason (m. 1995; div. 2006)
Signature

Stephen William Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA (January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

Despite being diagnosed with a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis "ALS" or Lou Gehrig's disease) that gradually paralyzed him, Hawking pursued his research vigorously and unceasingly for over half a century. He changed the way people look at the world.

Among his many accomplishments, Hawking was a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009 and achieved commercial success with works of popular science. His book A Brief History of Time appeared on the British Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Translated into many languages, ten million copies have been sold.

Early life and education

Family

Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford to Frank (1905–1986) and Isobel Eileen Hawking (née Walker; 1915–2013).[1] Isobel worked as a secretary for a medical research institute, and Frank was a medical researcher.

As a young child they lived in Highgate, in north London. Stephen had two younger sisters: Mary was born when Stephen was 18 months old, and Philippa when he was nearly five.[2] He also had an adopted brother, Edward Frank David (1955–2003).[3]

In 1950, when Hawking's father became head of the division of parasitology at the National Institute for Medical Research, the family moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire.[3] As a family, they were considered highly intelligent and somewhat eccentric; meals were often spent with each person silently reading a book.[1] They lived a frugal existence in a large, cluttered, and poorly maintained house, traveled in a converted London taxicab and spent their summers in a painted gypsy caravan on the Dorset Coast.[4]

Primary and secondary school years

Hawking began his schooling at the Byron House School in Highgate, London. In St Albans, the eight-year-old Hawking first attended St Albans High School for Girls. At that time, younger boys could attend one of the houses.

Hawking attended two independent (i.e. fee-paying) schools, first Radlett School, and from September 1952, St Albans School,[5] after passing the eleven-plus a year early.[6] The family placed a high value on education and Hawking's father wanted his son to attend the well-regarded Westminster School. However the 13-year-old Stephen was ill on the day of the scholarship examination. His family could not afford the school fees without the financial aid of a scholarship, so he remained at St Albans.[3] A positive consequence was that Hawking remained with a close group of friends with whom he enjoyed board games, the manufacture of fireworks, model airplanes and boats, and long discussions about Christianity and extrasensory perception.[5]

Although known at school as "Einstein," Hawking was not initially successful academically. With time, he began to show considerable aptitude for scientific subjects and, inspired by mathematics teacher Dikran Tahta, decided to read mathematics at university. Hawking's father advised him to study medicine, concerned that there were few jobs for mathematics graduates. He also wanted his son to attend University College, Oxford, his own alma mater. As it was not possible to read mathematics there at the time, Hawking decided to study physics and chemistry. Despite his headmaster's advice to wait until the next year, Hawking was awarded a scholarship after taking the examinations in March 1959.[5]

Undergraduate years

Hawking began his university education at University College, Oxford, in October 1959 at the age of 17. For the first 18 months, he was bored and lonely, finding the academic work "ridiculously easy."[5] A change occurred during his second and third year when he developed into a popular, lively, and witty college member, interested in classical music and science fiction. Part of the transformation resulted from his decision to join the college boat club, the University College Boat Club, where he coxed a rowing crew.[7] The rowing coach at the time noted that Hawking cultivated a daredevil image, steering his crew on risky courses that led to damaged boats.[5]

Hawking estimated that he studied about 1,000 hours during his three years at Oxford. These unimpressive study habits made sitting his finals a challenge, and he decided to answer only theoretical physics questions rather than those requiring factual knowledge. A first-class honours degree was a condition of acceptance for his planned graduate study in cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Anxious, he slept poorly the night before the examinations, and the final result was on the borderline between first- and second-class honours, making an oral examination in the form of a personal interview with the examiners necessary. Hawking was concerned that he was viewed as a lazy and difficult student, so, when asked to describe his plans, he said, "If you award me a First, I will go to Cambridge. If I receive a Second, I shall stay in Oxford, so I expect you will give me a First."[5] After receiving his first-class BA (Hons.) degree in natural science, and completing a trip to Iran with a friend, he began his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in October 1962.[1]

Graduate years

Hawking's first year as a doctoral student was difficult. He was initially disappointed to find that he had been assigned Dennis William Sciama, one of the founders of modern cosmology, as a supervisor rather than noted Yorkshire astronomer Fred Hoyle. He also found his training in mathematics inadequate.[1]

After being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1963 when he was 21, Hawking fell into a depression. Although his doctors advised that he continue with his studies, he felt there was little point. However, his disease progressed more slowly than predicted. Although he had difficulty walking unsupported, and his speech was almost unintelligible, the initial diagnosis that Hawking had only two years to live proved unfounded. With Sciama's encouragement, he returned to his work. Hawking started developing a reputation for brilliance and brashness when he publicly challenged the work of Fred Hoyle and his student Jayant Narlikar at a lecture in June 1964.[5]

At the time Hawking began his graduate studies, there was much debate in the physics community about the prevailing theories of the creation of the universe: the Big Bang and Steady State theories. Inspired by Roger Penrose's theorem of a spacetime singularity in the center of black holes, Hawking applied the same thinking to the entire universe, and, during 1965, he wrote his thesis on this topic.[8]

Hawking obtained his PhD degree in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, specializing in general relativity and cosmology, in March 1966; and his essay "Singularities and the Geometry of Space-Time" shared top honors with one by Penrose to win that year's prestigious Adams Prize.[9] Having completed his doctorate, Hawking received a research fellowship at Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge.

Career

Hawking holding a public lecture at the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, August 24, 2015

Hawking's scientific works included collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. He was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

Hawking also wrote with several works of popular science in which he discussed his own theories and cosmology in general. These include the bestseller, A Brief History of Time.

1966–1975

In collaboration with Roger Penrose, Hawking extended the singularity theorem concepts first explored in his doctoral thesis. They included not only the existence of singularities but also the theory that the universe might have started as a singularity. Their joint essay was the runner-up in the 1968 Gravity Research Foundation competition. In 1970 they published a proof that if the universe obeys the general theory of relativity and fits any of the models of physical cosmology developed by Alexander Friedmann, then it must have begun as a singularity.

Hawking postulated what became known as the second law of black hole dynamics, that the event horizon of a black hole can never get smaller. With James M. Bardeen and Brandon Carter, he proposed the four laws of black hole mechanics, drawing an analogy with thermodynamics. To Hawking's irritation, Jacob Bekenstein, a graduate student of John Wheeler, went further—and ultimately correctly—to apply thermodynamic concepts literally.

Hawking was appointed to the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished visiting professorship at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1970. He worked with a friend on the faculty, Kip Thorne, and engaged him in a scientific wager about whether the X-ray source Cygnus X-1 was a black hole. Hawking acknowledged that he had lost the bet in 1990. Hawking maintained ties to Caltech, spending a month there almost every year since this first visit.[1]

In the early 1970s, Hawking's work with Brandon Carter, Werner Israel, and David C. Robinson strongly supported Wheeler's no-hair theorem, which states that no matter what the original material from which a black hole is created it can be completely described by the properties of mass, electrical charge and rotation.[10] His essay titled "Black Holes" won the Gravity Research Foundation Award in January 1971.[11] Hawking's first book, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, written with George Ellis, was published in 1973.

Beginning in 1973, Hawking moved into the study of quantum gravity and quantum mechanics. His work in this area was spurred by a visit to Moscow and discussions with Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich and Alexei Starobinsky, whose work showed that according to the uncertainty principle, rotating black holes emit particles. To Hawking's annoyance, his much-checked calculations produced findings that contradicted his second law, which claimed black holes could never get smaller, and supported Bekenstein's reasoning about their entropy. The results showed that black holes emit radiation, known today as Hawking radiation, which may continue until they exhaust their energy and evaporate. In 1974, a few weeks after the announcement of Hawking radiation, Hawking was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).[12] Initially, Hawking radiation was controversial. By the late 1970s and following the publication of further research, the discovery was widely accepted as a significant breakthrough in theoretical physics.[3]

1975–1990

Hawking returned to Cambridge in 1975 to a more academically senior post, as reader in gravitational physics. The mid to late 1970s were a period of growing public interest in black holes and the physicists who were studying them. Hawking was regularly interviewed for print and television.

In 1979, Hawking was elected Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, an illustrious position, once held by Sir Isaac Newton.[13] His inaugural lecture in this role was titled: "Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics?" and proposed N=8 Supergravity as the leading theory to solve many of the outstanding problems in physics.

At the same time, he was making a transition in his approach to physics, becoming more intuitive and speculative rather than insisting on mathematical proofs. "I would rather be right than rigorous," he told Kip Thorne.[1]

In 1981, he proposed that information in a black hole is irretrievably lost when a black hole evaporates. This information paradox violates the fundamental tenet of quantum mechanics, and led to years of debate, including "the Black Hole War" with Leonard Susskind and Gerard 't Hooft.[14]

Hawking also began a new line of quantum theory research into the origin of the universe. In 1981 at a Vatican conference, he presented work suggesting that there might be no boundary, or beginning or ending, to the universe. He subsequently developed this research in collaboration with Jim Hartle, and in 1983 they published a model, known as the Hartle–Hawking state. It proposed that prior to the Planck epoch, the universe had no boundary in space-time; before the Big Bang, time did not exist and the concept of the beginning of the universe is meaningless. The initial singularity of the classical Big Bang models was replaced with a region akin to the North Pole. One cannot travel north of the North Pole, but there is no boundary there – it is simply the point where all north-running lines meet and end.[15]

Honors continued to be awarded, but these awards did not significantly change Hawking's financial status and, motivated by the need to finance his children's education and home expenses, he decided in 1982 to write a popular book about the universe that would be accessible to the general public. Instead of publishing with an academic press, he signed a contract with Bantam Books, a mass market publisher. A first draft of the book, called A Brief History of Time, was completed in 1984. Peter Guzzardi, his editor at Bantam, pushed him to explain his ideas clearly in non-technical language. The book was published in April 1988 in the US and in June in the UK, and it proved to be an extraordinary success, rising quickly to the top of best-seller lists in both countries and remaining there for months.[16]

1990–2000

Hawking with string theorists David Gross and Edward Witten at the 2001 Strings Conference, TIFR, India

Hawking pursued his work in physics: in 1993 he co-edited a book on Euclidean quantum gravity with Gary Gibbons and published a collected edition of his own articles on black holes and the Big Bang. In 1994, at Cambridge's Newton Institute, Hawking and Penrose delivered a series of six lectures that were published in 1996 as The Nature of Space and Time.

In 1997, he conceded a 1991 public scientific wager made with Kip Thorne and John Preskill of Caltech. Hawking had bet that Penrose's proposal of a "cosmic censorship conjecture" – that there could be no "naked singularities" unclothed within a horizon – was correct. After discovering his concession might have been premature, a new and more refined wager was made. This one specified that such singularities would occur without extra conditions. The same year, Thorne, Hawking, and Preskill made another bet, this time concerning the black hole information paradox. Thorne and Hawking argued that since general relativity made it impossible for black holes to radiate and lose information, the mass-energy and information carried by Hawking radiation must be "new," and not from inside the black hole event horizon.[17] Since this contradicted the quantum mechanics of microcausality, quantum mechanics theory would need to be rewritten. Preskill argued the opposite, that since quantum mechanics suggests that the information emitted by a black hole relates to information that fell in at an earlier time, the concept of black holes given by general relativity must be modified in some way.[18]

Hawking also maintained his public profile, including bringing science to a wider audience. A film version of A Brief History of Time, directed by Errol Morris and produced by Steven Spielberg, premiered in 1992. A popular-level collection of essays, interviews, and talks titled Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays was published in 1993, and a six-part television series Stephen Hawking's Universe and a companion book appeared in 1997.

2000–2018

Hawking at the Bibliothèque nationale de France to inaugurate the Laboratory of Astronomy and Particles in Paris, and the French release of his work God Created the Integers, May 5, 2006

Hawking continued his writings for a popular audience, publishing The Universe in a Nutshell in 2001, and A Briefer History of Time, which he wrote in 2005 with Leonard Mlodinow to update his earlier works with the aim of making them accessible to a wider audience. God Created the Integers appeared in 2006. In 2007, Hawking and his daughter Lucy published George's Secret Key to the Universe, a children's book designed to explain theoretical physics in an accessible fashion and featuring characters similar to those in the Hawking family. The book was followed by sequels in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016.

By 2003, consensus among physicists was growing that Hawking was wrong about the loss of information in a black hole. In a 2004 lecture in Dublin, he conceded his 1997 bet with Preskill, but described his own, somewhat controversial solution to the information paradox problem, involving the possibility that black holes have more than one topology.[17] In January 2014, he called the alleged loss of information in black holes his "biggest blunder."[19] Hawking said that not all information is lost when something enters a black hole and there might be a possibility to retrieve information from a black hole according to his theory.[20]

Along with Thomas Hertog at CERN and Jim Hartle, from 2006 on Hawking developed a theory of "top-down cosmology," which says that the universe had not one unique initial state but many different ones, and therefore that it is inappropriate to formulate a theory that predicts the universe's current configuration from one particular initial state. Top-down cosmology posits that the present "selects" the past from a superposition of many possible histories. In doing so, the theory suggests a possible resolution of the fine-tuning question.[21]

As part of another longstanding scientific dispute, Hawking had emphatically argued, and bet, that the Higgs boson would never be found. The particle was proposed to exist as part of the Higgs field theory by Peter Higgs in 1964. Hawking and Higgs engaged in a heated and public debate over the matter in 2002 and again in 2008, with Higgs criticizing Hawking's work and complaining that Hawking's "celebrity status gives him instant credibility that others do not have."[1] The particle was discovered in July 2012 at CERN, following construction of the Large Hadron Collider. Hawking quickly conceded that he had lost his bet and said that Higgs should win the Nobel Prize for Physics, which he did in 2013.[22]

Hawking retired as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 2009. However, he continued his work as usual at Cambridge University as Emeritus Lucasian Professor at the university, an honorary title, saying that he planned to continue working as long as he was able.[13]

Personal life

Marriages

While Hawking was a graduate student at Cambridge, he developed a relationship with Jane Wilde, a friend of his sister. They had met shortly before his late 1963 diagnosis of motor neurone disease. The couple became engaged in October 1964 and Hawking later said that the engagement gave him "something to live for."[2] They were married on July 14, 1965.

During their first years of marriage, Jane lived in London during the week while she completed her degree. Their first son, Robert, was born in May 1967. Their daughter, Lucy, was born in 1970. A third child, Timothy, was born in April 1979.[1]

Hawking's disability meant that the responsibilities of home and family rested firmly on his wife's increasingly overwhelmed shoulders. Upon his appointment in 1974 to a year-long position at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, Jane proposed that a graduate or post-doctoral student live with them and help with his care. Hawking accepted, and Bernard Carr traveled with them as the first of many students who fulfilled this role. The family spent a generally happy and stimulating year in Pasadena.[1]

Hawking returned to Cambridge in 1975 to a new home and a new job, as reader. Don Page, with whom Hawking had begun a close friendship at Caltech, arrived to work as the live-in graduate student assistant. With Page's help and that of a secretary, Jane's responsibilities were reduced so she could return to her thesis and her new interest in singing.

By the 1980s, Hawking's marriage had been strained for many years. Jane felt overwhelmed by the intrusion into their family life of the required nurses and assistants. Hawking's view of religion also contrasted with her strong Christian faith and resulted in tension. The impact of his celebrity status was also challenging.[1]

In 1977, Jane had met organist Jonathan Hellyer Jones when singing in a church choir. Hellyer Jones became close to the Hawking family, and by the mid-1980s, he and Jane had developed romantic feelings for each other. According to Jane, her husband was accepting of the situation, stating "he would not object so long as I continued to love him."[23]

Hawking had grown close to one of his nurses, Elaine Mason, to the dismay of some colleagues, caregivers, and family members, who were disturbed by her strength of personality and protectiveness.[1] After his divorce from Jane in 1995, Hawking married Mason in September, 1995.

Jane and Hellyer Jones married in 1996. In 1999, Jane published a memoir, describing her marriage to Hawking and its breakdown.[24] Its revelations caused a sensation in the media but, as was his usual practice regarding his personal life, Hawking made no public comment except to say that he did not read biographies about himself.

In 2006, Hawking and Mason quietly divorced, and Hawking resumed closer relationships with Jane, his children, and his grandchildren. Reflecting this happier period, a revised version of Jane's book, called Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, appeared in 2007. It was made into the film, The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne as Hawking.[25]

Disability

Hawking had a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, "ALS", or Lou Gehrig's disease). Hawking had experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at Oxford, including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing. The problems worsened, and his speech became slightly slurred. His family noticed the changes when he returned home for Christmas, and medical investigations were begun.[1] The diagnosis of motor neurone disease came when Hawking was 21, in 1963. At the time, doctors gave him a life expectancy of two years.[5]

In the late 1960s, Hawking's physical abilities declined: he began to use crutches and ceased lecturing regularly. As he slowly lost the ability to write, he developed compensatory visual methods, including seeing equations in terms of geometry. The physicist Werner Israel later compared the achievements to Mozart composing an entire symphony in his head.[5]

Hawking was fiercely independent and unwilling to accept help or make concessions for his disabilities. He preferred to be regarded as "a scientist first, popular science writer second, and, in all the ways that matter, a normal human being with the same desires, drives, dreams, and ambitions as the next person."[5] His wife, Jane Hawking, later noted: "Some people would call it determination, some obstinacy. I've called it both at one time or another."[1] He required much persuasion to accept the use of a wheelchair at the end of the 1960s, but ultimately became notorious for the wildness of his wheelchair driving.

Hawking's speech deteriorated, and by the late 1970s he could be understood by only his family and closest friends. To communicate with others, someone who knew him well would interpret his speech into intelligible speech. Spurred by a dispute with the university over who would pay for the ramp needed for him to enter his workplace, Hawking and his wife campaigned for improved access and support for those with disabilities in Cambridge, including adapted student housing at the university.[5]

During a visit to CERN in mid-1985, Hawking contracted pneumonia, which in his condition was life-threatening; he was so ill that Jane was asked if life support should be terminated. She refused, but the consequence was a tracheotomy, which required round-the-clock nursing care and the removal of what remained of his speech. Nurses were hired for the three shifts required to provide the support he required. One of those employed was Elaine Mason, who was to become Hawking's second wife.

For communication, initially Hawking raised his eyebrows to choose letters on a spelling card, but in 1986 he received a computer program called the "Equalizer" from Walter Woltosz, CEO of Words Plus. Woltosz had developed an earlier version of the software to help his mother-in-law, who also suffered from ALS and had lost her ability to speak and write.[26] In a method he used for the rest of his life, Hawking could now simply press a switch to select phrases, words, or letters from a bank of about 2,500–3,000 that were scanned. Lectures were prepared in advance and were sent to the speech synthesiser in short sections to be delivered. Released from the need to use somebody to interpret his speech, Hawking commented that "I can communicate better now than before I lost my voice."[1] The voice he used, called "Perfect Paul," had an American accent and is no longer produced. Despite the later availability of other voices, Hawking retained this original voice, saying that he preferred it and identified with it.

Originally, Hawking activated a switch using his hand and could produce up to 15 words a minute. Hawking gradually lost the use of his hand, and in 2008 he began to control his communication device with movements of his cheek muscles. His ability to communicate continued to decline and by 2011 he could create only one word per minute. Hawking collaborated with Intel researchers on systems that could translate his brain patterns or facial expressions into switch activations. After several prototypes that did not perform as planned, they settled on an adaptive word predictor made by the London-based startup SwiftKey, which used a system similar to his original technology. Hawking had an easier time adapting to the new system, which was further developed after inputting large amounts of Hawking's papers and other written materials and uses predictive software similar to smartphone keyboards.[26]

By 2009 he could no longer drive his wheelchair independently. The same people who created his new typing mechanics worked on a method to drive his chair using movements made by his chin. This proved difficult, since Hawking could not move his neck, and trials showed that while he could indeed drive the chair, the movement was sporadic and jumpy.[26]

In general, Hawking had ambivalent feelings about his role as a disability rights champion: while wanting to help others, he also sought to detach himself from his illness and its challenges.[5] However, starting in the 1990s, Hawking accepted the mantle of role model for disabled people, lecturing and participating in fundraising activities. At the turn of the century, he and eleven other luminaries signed the Charter for the Third Millennium on Disability, which called on governments to prevent disability and protect the rights of the disabled.

Plans for a trip to space

Hawking taking a zero-gravity flight in a reduced-gravity aircraft, 2007

In late 2006, Hawking revealed in a BBC interview that one of his greatest unfulfilled desires was to travel to space; on hearing this, Richard Branson offered a free flight into space with Virgin Galactic, which Hawking immediately accepted. Besides personal ambition, he was motivated by the desire to increase public interest in spaceflight and to show the potential of people with disabilities.

In April 2007, Hawking flew aboard a specially-modified Boeing 727–200 jet operated by Zero-G Corp off the coast of Florida to experience weightlessness. Fears that the maneuvers would cause him undue discomfort proved groundless, and the flight was extended to eight parabolic arcs. It was described as a successful test to see if he could withstand the g-forces involved in space flight.[27] At the time, the date of Hawking's trip to space was projected to be as early as 2009, but commercial flights to space did not commence before his death.

Death

Stephen Hawking died peacefully in his home in Cambridge, England, early in the morning of March 14, 2018, at the age of 76.[28][29] He was eulogized by figures in science, entertainment, politics, and other areas.[30] The flag at Cambridge's Gonville and Caius College flew at half-mast and a book of condolences was signed by students and visitors.[31] A tribute was made to Hawking in the closing speech by IPC President Andrew Parsons at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.[32]

Hawking's private funeral took place at 2 pm on the afternoon of March 31, 2018, at Great St Mary's Church, Cambridge. A Thanksgiving service was scheduled to be held in Westminster Abbey on June 15, 2018, during which his ashes would be interred in the Abbey's nave, next to the grave of Sir Isaac Newton and near that of Charles Darwin.[33]

Hawking directed at least fifteen years before his death that the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy equation be written on his tombstone as his epitaph.[34]

This equation establishes the relationship between a black hole's entropy and its size as:

where is the black hole entropy, is the surface area of the black hole event horizon, is Boltzmann's constant, is Einstein's speed of light, is Planck's constant and is Newton's gravitational constant. The subscript BH stands for either "black hole" or "Bekenstein–Hawking."[35]

Personal views

God

Hawking stated that the greatest mystery he would like solved was "to know why the universe exists, why there is something greater than nothing."[36] In his bestselling 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking wrote that developing a complete theory (the "theory of everything") "would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God."[37]

He often discussed the concept of God. In 2007, Hawking had told Reuters, "The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.[38] Further describing the nature of God in 2010, Hawking commented:

What could define God [is thinking of God] as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of as God. They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible.[36]

In September 2014, he joined the Starmus Festival as keynote speaker and declared himself an atheist. In an interview with El Mundo, he said:

Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn't. I'm an atheist.[39]

He believed that "the universe is governed by the laws of science" and that:

There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.[36]

Later, in an interview published in The Guardian, Hawking stated that he regarded "the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail," and the concept of an afterlife as a "fairy story for people afraid of the dark."[40] In 2011, narrating the first episode of the American television series Curiosity on the Discovery Channel, Hawking declared:

We are each free to believe what we want and it is my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful.[38]

Future of humanity

In 2006, Hawking posed an open question on the Internet: "In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?" He later clarified: "I don't know the answer. That is why I asked the question, to get people to think about it, and to be aware of the dangers we now face."[41]

Stephen Hawking being presented by his daughter Lucy Hawking at the lecture he gave for NASA's 50th anniversary

Hawking expressed concern that life on Earth is at risk from a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, global warming, or other dangers humans have not yet thought of. Such a planet-wide disaster need not result in human extinction if the human race were to be able to colonize additional planets before the disaster.[42]

Hawking created Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth, a documentary on space colonization, as a 2017 episode of Tomorrow's World.[43] His final words to the world appeared posthumously, in April 2018, in the form of a Smithsonian TV Channel documentary entitled, Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet.[44]

Hawking stated that, given the vastness of the universe, aliens likely exist, but that contact with them should be avoided. He warned that aliens might pillage Earth for resources. In 2010 he said, "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans." [45] In July 2015, Hawking helped launch Breakthrough Initiatives, an effort to search for extraterrestrial life.[46]

Hawking appreciated the forms of artificial intelligence that had already proved very useful. However he warned the consequences of creating something superintelligent that could spell the end of the human race:

It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate ... Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded.[47]

Hawking argued that computer viruses should be considered a new form of life. He quipped, "maybe it says something about human nature, that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. Talk about creating life in our own image."[1]

Appearances in popular media

In 1988, Stephen Hawking, Arthur C. Clarke and Carl Sagan were interviewed in God, the Universe and Everything Else. They discussed the Big Bang theory, God, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.[48]

At the release party for the home video version of the A Brief History of Time, Leonard Nimoy, who had played Spock on Star Trek, learned that Hawking was interested in appearing on the show. Nimoy made the necessary contact, and Hawking played a holographic simulation of himself in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1993.[49] The same year, his synthesizer voice was recorded for the Pink Floyd song "Keep Talking", and in 1999 for an appearance on The Simpsons.

Hawking appeared in documentaries titled The Real Stephen Hawking (2001), Stephen Hawking: Profile (2002),and Hawking (2013), and the documentary series Stephen Hawking, Master of the Universe (2008).

Hawking allowed the use of his copyrighted voice[50][51] in the biographical 2014 film The Theory of Everything, in which he was portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in an Academy Award-winning role.[52]

In March 2018, just days before his death, Hawking was the guest of Neil deGrasse Tyson on StarTalk. Also Broadcast in March 2018, Hawking was the voice of The Book Mark II on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series.[53]

Awards and honors

During his long career, Hawking received numerous awards and honors. In 1974 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). His nomination read:

Hawking has made major contributions to the field of general relativity. These derive from a deep understanding of what is relevant to physics and astronomy, and especially from a mastery of wholly new mathematical techniques. Following the pioneering work of Penrose he established, partly alone and partly in collaboration with Penrose, a series of successively stronger theorems establishing the fundamental result that all realistic cosmological models must possess singularities. Using similar techniques, Hawking has proved the basic theorems on the laws governing black holes: that stationary solutions of Einstein's equations with smooth event horizons must necessarily be axisymmetric; and that in the evolution and interaction of black holes, the total surface area of the event horizons must increase. In collaboration with G. Ellis, Hawking is the author of an impressive and original treatise on "Space-time in the Large." Other important work by Hawking relates to the interpretation of cosmological observations and to the design of gravitational wave detectors." [54]

Hawking with University of Oxford librarian Richard Ovenden (left) and naturalist David Attenborough (right) at the opening of the Weston Library, Oxford, in March 2015. Ovenden awarded the Bodley Medal to Hawking and Attenborough at the ceremony.

In 1975, he was awarded both the Eddington Medal and the Pius XI Gold Medal, and in 1976 the Dannie Heineman Prize, the Maxwell Prize and the Hughes Medal. He was appointed a professor with a chair in gravitational physics in 1977. The following year he received the Albert Einstein Medal and an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford.

In 1981 he was awarded the American Franklin Medal, and in the 1982 New Year Honours appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He also received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1985), the Paul Dirac Medal (1987) and, jointly with Roger Penrose, the prestigious Wolf Prize (1988). In the 1989 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of Honour (CH).

President Barack Obama talks with Hawking in the White House before a ceremony presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 12 August 2009.

Hawking was also a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences[55]

In 2002, following a UK-wide vote, the BBC included Hawking in their list of the 100 Greatest Britons.[56] He was awarded the Copley Medal from the Royal Society (2006),[57] the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which the highest civilian award in the United States (2009),[58] and the Russian Special Fundamental Physics Prize (2013). [59]

Hawking received the 2015 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences shared with Viatcheslav Mukhanov for discovering that the galaxies were formed from quantum fluctuations in the early Universe. At the 2016 Pride of Britain Awards, Hawking received the lifetime achievement award "for his contribution to science and British culture." After receiving the award from Prime Minister Theresa May, Hawking humorously requested that she not seek his help with Brexit.[60] In July 2017, Hawking was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Imperial College London.[61]

Legacy

Stephen Hawking has been described as "a man who has quite simply changed the way we look at the world."[60]

Did you know?
Stephen Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death and died on the 139th anniversary of Einstein's birth

Text in the article

He was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death and died on the 139th anniversary of Einstein's birth.

Hawking was a member of the Advisory Board of the Starmus Festival, and had a major role in acknowledging and promoting science communication. The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication is an annual award initiated in 2016 to honour members of the arts community for contributions that help build awareness of science.[62]

Several buildings have been named after him, including the Stephen W. Hawking Science Museum in San Salvador, El Salvador, the Stephen Hawking Building in Cambridge, and the Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute in Canada. Appropriately, given Hawking's association with time, he unveiled the mechanical "Chronophage" (or time-eating) Corpus Clock at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in September 2008.[63]

During his career, Hawking supervised 39 successful PhD students, and one who did not complete the program.[64]

In March 2018, it was announced that two Russian astronomers who discovered GRB180316A, a newborn black hole in the Ophiuchus constellation had dedicated their find to Stephen Hawking, having discovered it two days after his death.[65]

Major Works

Popular books

  • A Brief History of Time. 1988. 10th Anniversary edition, Bantam, 1998. ISBN 978-0553380163
  • Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays (1993)
  • The Universe in a Nutshell (2001)
  • On the Shoulders of Giants (2002)
  • God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs That Changed History (2005)
  • The Dreams That Stuff Is Made of: The Most Astounding Papers of Quantum Physics and How They Shook the Scientific World (2011)
  • My Brief History (2013)

Co-authored

  • The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time (with George F.R. Ellis) (1973)
  • Three Hundred Years of Gravitation (with Werner Israel) (1989)
  • The Nature of Space and Time (with Roger Penrose) (1996)
  • The Large, the Small and the Human Mind (with Roger Penrose, Abner Shimony, and Nancy Cartwright) (1997)
  • The Future of Spacetime (with Kip Thorne, Igor Novikov, Timothy Ferris and introduction by Alan Lightman, Richard H. Price) (2002)
  • A Briefer History of Time (with Leonard Mlodinow) (2005)
  • The Grand Design (with Leonard Mlodinow) (2010)

Children's fiction

Co-written with his daughter Lucy.

  • George's Secret Key to the Universe (2007)
  • George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt (2009)
  • George and the Big Bang (2011)
  • George and the Unbreakable Code (2014)
  • George and the Blue Moon (2016)

Films and series

  • A Brief History of Time (1992)
  • Stephen Hawking's Universe (1997)
  • Hawking – BBC television film (2004) starring Benedict Cumberbatch
  • Horizon: The Hawking Paradox (2005)
  • Masters of Science Fiction (2007)
  • Stephen Hawking and the Theory of Everything (2007)
  • Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe (2008)
  • Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking (2010)
  • Brave New World with Stephen Hawking (2011)
  • Stephen Hawking's Grand Design (2012)
  • The Big Bang Theory (2012, 2014–2015, 2017)
  • Stephen Hawking: A Brief History of Mine (2013)
  • The Theory of Everything – Feature film (2014) starring Eddie Redmayne
  • Genius by Stephen Hawking (2016)

Selected academic papers

  • Hawking, Stephen. "Singularities and the geometry of spacetime" December 13, 1966. Published in The European Physical Journal H, November 10, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  • Hawking, S.W., and R. Penrose. "The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology" Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 314(1519) (1970):529–548.
  • Hawking, S. "Gravitational Radiation from Colliding Black Holes" Physical Review Letters 26(21) (1971):1344–1346.
  • Hawking, S.W. "Black holes in general relativity" Communications in Mathematical Physics 25(2) (1972): 152–166.
  • Hawking, S.W. "Black hole explosions?" Nature 248(5443) (1974):30–31.
  • Hawking, S.W. "The development of irregularities in a single bubble inflationary universe" Physics Letters B 115(4) (1982):295–297.
  • Hartle, J., and S. Hawking. "Wave function of the Universe" Physical Review D 28(12) (1983):2960–2975.
  • Hawking, S. "Information loss in black holes" Physical Review D 72(8) (2005):084013
  • Hawking, S.W., and T. Herzog. "Populating the Landscape: A Top Down Approach Phys. Rev. D73 (12) (2006): 123527. Retrieved June 2, 2018.

Notes

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Kitty Ferguson, Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work (Paragon, 2012, ISBN 978-1445844237).
  2. 2.0 2.1 Stephen Hawking: “I’m happy if I have added something to our understanding of the universe” Radio Times, December 7, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kristine Larsen, Stephen Hawking: A Biography (Prometheus Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1591025740).
  4. Kitty Ferguson, Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind (St. Martin's Griffin, 2017, ISBN 978-1250139368).
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Michael White and John Gribbin, Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science (Joseph Henry Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0309084109).
  6. Stephen Hawking, My brief history (Bantam, 2013, ISBN 978-0345535283).
  7. Stephen W. Hawking (ed.), Stephen Hawking's A brief history of time: A reader's companion (Bantam Books, 1992, ISBN 978-0553077728).
  8. James Geach, Stephen Hawking's PhD thesis, explained simply World Economic Forum, October 30, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  9. George F.R. Ellis, Stephen Hawking’s 1966 Adams Prize Essay. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  10. S.W. Hawking and W. Israel (eds.), Three Hundred Years of Gravitation (Cambridge University Press, 1989 ISBN 978-0521379762).
  11. Award Essays by Year - 1971. Gravity Research Foundation. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  12. Stephen Hawking The Royal Society.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Stephen Hawking to retire as Cambridge's Professor of Mathematics The Daily Telegraph, October 23, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  14. Leonard Susskind, The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics (Little, Brown and Company, 2008, ISBN 978-0316016407).
  15. Eric Baird, Relativity in Curved Spacetime: Life Without Special Relativity (Chocolate Tree Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0955706806).
  16. Tim Radford, How God propelled Stephen Hawking into the bestsellers lists The Guardian, July 31, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Stephen W. Hawking, Kip S. Thorne, John P. Preskill, Black Hole Information Bet. Pasadena, California, February 6, 1997. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  18. John Preskill, On Hawking’s Concession July 24, 2004. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  19. Matt Kwong, Stephen Hawking's black holes 'blunder' stirs debate CBC News, January 29, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  20. Jacob Aron, Stephen Hawking says he has a way to escape from a black hole New Scientist, August 25, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  21. Roger Highfield, Stephen Hawking: driven by a cosmic force of will The Daily Telegraph, January 3, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  22. Jonathan Amos, Higgs: Five decades of noble endeavour BBC News, October 8, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  23. Jane Hawking, Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen (Alma Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1846881152).
  24. Jane Hawking, Music to Move the Stars: A Life with Stephen (Macmillan, 1999, ISBN 978-0333746868).
  25. Eddie Redmayne wins first Oscar for 'Theory of Everything' Reuters, February 22, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 Joao Medeiros, How Intel Gave Stephen Hawking a Voice Wired, January 13, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  27. Tom Leonard and Alistair Osborne, Branson to help Hawking live space dream The Telegraph, April 27, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  28. Martin Rees, Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) Nature, March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  29. Roger Penrose, 'Mind over matter': Stephen Hawking The Guardian, March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  30. Stephen Hawking: Tributes pour in for 'inspirational' physicist BBC News, March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  31. Sarah Marsh, Cambridge colleagues pay tribute to 'inspirational' Hawking The Guardian, March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  32. IPC to Pay Tribute to Stephen Hawking During PyeongChang Paralympics Closing Ceremony Yonhap News Agency, March 15, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  33. Prof Stephen Hawking funeral: Legacy 'will live forever'. BBC News, March 31, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  34. Stuart Clark, The Unknown Universe: A New Exploration of Time, Space, and Modern Cosmology (Pegasus Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1681771533).
  35. Andrew Griffin, Stephen Hawking death: The equation the professor asked to be put on his tombstone The Independent, March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  36. 36.0 36.1 36.2 Ki Mae Heussner, Stephen Hawking on Religion: 'Science Will Win' ABC News, June 7, 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  37. Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time (Bantam, 1998, ISBN 978-0553380163).
  38. 38.0 38.1 Michael Stone, Stephen Hawking makes it official: He’s an atheist Patheos, September 25, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  39. Alan Boyle, 'I'm an Atheist': Stephen Hawking on God and Space Travel NBC News, September 23, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  40. Ian Sample, Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story' The Guardian, May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  41. Ian Sample, The great man's answer to the question of human survival: Er, I don't know The Guardian, August 2, 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  42. Sarah Knapton, Prof Stephen Hawking: disaster on planet Earth is a near certainty The Daily Telegraph, January 19, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  43. Sarah Knapton, Tomorrow's World returns to BBC with startling warning from Stephen Hawking – we must leave Earth The Telegraph, May 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  44. Dan Taylor, Stephen Hawking’s incredible last words will stun you Morning Ticker, March 24, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  45. Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens BBC News, April 25, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  46. Gregory Katz, Searching for ET: Hawking to look for extraterrestrial life Associated Presss, July 20, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  47. Rory Cellan-Jones, Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind BBC News, December 2, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  48. God, the Universe and Everything Else (1988) IMDb. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  49. Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future (Pocket Books, 1999, ISBN 978-0671536091).
  50. Hélène Mialet, Hawking Incorporated: Stephen Hawking and the Anthropology of the Knowing Subject (University of Chicago Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0226522265).
  51. James Edgar, 'Have you still got that American voice?' Queen asks Stephen Hawking The Telegraph, May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  52. Ramin Setoodeh, How Eddie Redmayne Became Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything' Variety, October 28, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  53. Nicholas Tufnell, 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' is back with the original cast CNET, March 9, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  54. Stephen Hawking The Royal Society, December 1974. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  55. Ordinary Academicians Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  56. 100 great British heroes BBC News, August 21, 2002. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  57. Award winners : Copley Medal The Royal Society. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  58. Ewen MacAskill, Obama presents presidential medal of freedom to 16 recipients The Guardian, August 13, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  59. 2013 Fundamental Physics Prize Awarded to Alexander Polyakov Fundamental Physics Prize, March 21, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  60. 60.0 60.1 Claire Corkery, Pride of Britain 2016: Stephen Hawking makes Brexit joke at PM Theresa May's expense Express, November 1, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  61. Deborah Evanson, Stephen Hawking awarded Imperial College London's highest honour Imperial College London, July 17, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  62. Stephen Hawking Medals For Science Communication STARMUS, December 16, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  63. Hawking unveils 'strangest clock' BBC News, September 19, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  64. Stephen William Hawking Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  65. Russian astronomers devote newly-discovered black hole to Stephen Hawking Russia Today, March 21, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Baird, Eric. Relativity in Curved Spacetime: Life Without Special Relativity. Chocolate Tree Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0955706806
  • Boslough, John. Stephen Hawking's Universe: An Introduction to the Most Remarkable Scientist of our Time. Avon Books, 1989. ISBN 978-0380707638
  • Clark, Stuart. The Unknown Universe: A New Exploration of Time, Space, and Modern Cosmology. Pegasus Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1681771533
  • Ferguson, Kitty. Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work. Paragon, 2012. ISBN 978-1445844237
  • Ferguson, Kitty. Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind. St. Martin's Griffin, 2017. ISBN 978-1250139368
  • Gibbons, Gary W., Stephen W. Hawking, and S.T.C. Siklos. The Very Early Universe: Proceedings of the Nuffield Workshop, Cambridge, 21 June to 9 July, 1982. Cambridge University Press, 1985. ISBN 978-0521316774
  • Hawking, Jane. Music to Move the Stars: A Life with Stephen. Macmillan, 1999. ISBN 978-0333746868
  • Hawking, Jane. Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen. Alma Books, 2010. ISBN 978-1846881152
  • Hawking, Stephen W. (ed.). Stephen Hawking's A brief history of time: A reader's companion. Bantam Books, 1992. ISBN 978-0553077728
  • Hawking, S.W., and W. Israel (eds.). Three Hundred Years of Gravitation. Cambridge University Press, 1989 ISBN 978-0521379762
  • Larsen, Kristine. Stephen Hawking: A Biography. Prometheus Books, 2007. ISBN 978-1591025740
  • Mialet, Hélène, Kevin C. Knox, and Richard Noakes (eds.). From Newton to Hawking: A History of Cambridge University's Lucasian Professors of Mathematics. Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0521663939
  • Mialet, Hélène. Hawking Incorporated: Stephen Hawking and the Anthropology of the Knowing Subject. University of Chicago Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0226522265
  • Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future. Pocket Books, 1999. ISBN 978-0671536091
  • Pickover, Clifford A. Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0195336115
  • Susskind, Leonard. The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics. Little, Brown and Company, 2008. ISBN 978-0316016407
  • White, Michael, and John Gribbin. Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science. Joseph Henry Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0309084109
  • Yulsman, Tom. Origins: The Quest for our Cosmic Roots. CRC Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0750307659

External links

All links retrieved February 9, 2023.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.