Stephen Hawking

by Sofia Blasini

Stephen W. Hawking is a notable theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and researcher at the University of Cambridge. His contributions to modern physics have led to theories on quantum mechanics and relativity, as well as widespread public recognition due to his inspirational life story. Multiple movies portray his work and life as one of the world's greatest scientist to have lived.

Personal life

Early life

Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942-- coincidentally 300 years after the death of Galileo-- in Oxford, England. His parents, Frank and Isobel Hawking, lived in north London but were forced to have Stephen in Oxford since it was the safest place during World War II. Frank and Isobel's economical constraints did not impede them from studying medicine and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, respectively, at the University of Oxford, where they met at a medical research institute. Isobel gave birth to Hawking's two younger sisters (Philippa and Mary) and adopted Hawking's brother Edward.

When Hawking was eight years old, his family moved to St. Albans-- a town north of London. Hawking went to St. Albans School when he was eleven years old. The Hawking family was considered very intelligent and eccentric and lived in a poorly maintained house. Hawking later attended University College, Oxford. Hawking wanted to pursue a degree in Mathematics whereas his father wanted him to study medicine as he did; however, Hawking opted to study Physics as a Mathematics major was unavailable. He achieved first class honors degree in Natural Science after three relaxed years in University College.

Disability

Hawking first noticed problems with his health while he was at Oxford. He would constantly trip and slur his speech. However, he did not check the problem until 1963 while at Cambridge when he was just 21 years old. His father, noticing his symptoms, took him to the doctor, and Hawking spent two weeks undergoing medical tests in the clinic. The doctors finally diagnosed Hawking with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord. The doctor's told Hawking he was expected to live for about two and a half years more.

Although this was devastating news for Hawking and his family, he was cheered up by a couple of events. The first of these was having a boy with leukemia as his roommate in the hospital. Hawking felt his disease was more tolerable than his roommate's. Secondly, Hawking dreamed that he was going to be executed, which made him realize that he still had things to complete in his life.

One of the most significant parts of his life was meeting his future wife, Jane Wilde, in a New Year's party in 1963 shortly after being diagnosed with ALS. His love for her changed his life, and he later married Jane in 1965. Moreover, Hawking's ALS diagnosis propelled him to become the incredibly renown scientist he is today. Hawking claims he "there had not seemed to be anything worth doing" before his condition as he was "very bored with life." However, realizing that he had a time clock for his life, he immersed himself into his work and research.

Education

Hawking attended University College, Oxford for his undergraduate education, where he completed a degree in Physics. Contrary to what most would believe, Hawking slacked his three years at Oxford, claiming he probably devoted about a thousand hours to his studies during his three years at Oxford. He found the academic work very easy, and refused to answer exam questions that tested factual knowledge rather answering only those that dealt with theoretical physics. He barely made first class honors in Oxford, which he needed in order to continue to his graduate studies in cosmology at the University of Cambridge. In a critical oral exam, Hawking told his examiners that "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." and his examiners realized that Hawking was far more clever than any of them.

Hawking had a rough start at Cambridge. During his time at Cambridge, he was diagnosed with ALS and felt depressed for a period of time. He was, however, motivated by his supervisor Dennis William Sciama to continue his studies, and he did so very brashly. Physicist at the time debated about the prevailing theories on the creation of the universe, specifically the Big Bang and Steady State theories. Hawking wrote his thesis inspired by Roger Penrose's theorem of a spacetime singularity in the center of black holes, and applied this thinking to the entire universe. Hawking attained his Ph.D. degree in cosmology in 1966, titling his Adams Prize winning essay "Singularities and the Geometry of Space-Time."

Career

After gaining his Ph.D., Hawking became a Research Fellow and then a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College in the Institute of Astronomy. He left this department in 1973 and worked in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1979 until 2009. This chair was held first by Isaac Barrow and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton. Hawking is still an active member at the University of Cambridge, currently retaining an office in the Department of Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics. His title is now the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

Contributions to physics

Black holes

Along with Roger Penrose, Hawking showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied that space and time begin with the Big Bang and end in black holes. Hawking was thus able to unify general relativity and quantum theory in one of the most important scientific developments of the 20th century. Hawking also discovered that black holes should not be completely black, and should rather emit radiation and evaporate and disappear.

It is also believed that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time, thus implying that the the origin of the universe is governed by the laws of science.

Hawking radiation

Hawking gained his most popularity in 1974 with his breakthrough research. He demonstrated that matter, in the form of radiation (called Hawking radiation), can escape the gravitational force of a collapsed star, contrary to the belief that black holes are information vacuums. Hawking radiation reduces the mass and energy of black holes and is therefore also known as black hole evaporation. Therefore, black holes that lose more mass than they gain shrink and eventually disappear.

Connectedness

Stephen Hawking has always been one of my heroes. His plight against his devastating disease while becoming one of the most successful scientists in the world inspires me to go beyond all expectations in everything I do. Moreover, I have a special interest in space and cosmology as a whole (I guess partly due to my insane obsession with Star Wars since I was a little kid). I enjoy reading and learning about theories on the origins and fate of the universe, black holes, and time. Growing up, I discussed these topics with my grandfather, and they have gained a special place in my memories.

I am majoring in Industrial Engineering, which is not really related to physics and cosmology. Nonetheless, Industrial Engineers a very versatile and can work in a wide array of fields as they work primarily with systems and optimization. Industrial Engineers can have jobs that involve systems engineering within the physics and cosmology industry.

Stephen Hawking

Contents

Personal life

Early life

Disability

Education

Career

Contributions to physics

Black holes

Hawking radiation

Connectedness

See also

Further reading

External links

References

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