Stephen Hawking's Affects On The Science Community

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Professor Stephen Hawking’s Affects on the Scientific Community

Professor Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist who specializes in the study of black holes while also working in the areas of general relativity, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. He also holds the holds the chair of Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University. Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, England. At age eight Hawking moved from Oxford to St. Albans, which is located about 20 miles north from England. Hawking described St. Albans as, “a somewhat stodgy place compared with Highgate or Harpended. My parents made hardly any friends there… But it also reflected a different kind of population…” (Childhood 7) At age 17 Hawking attended University College in Oxford, he intended to study in the field of mathematics but the college didn’t offer it, so instead, he studied physics, and after three years received a first class honors degree in Natural Science. After Oxford Hawking moved on to study cosmology at Cambridge University, under the supervision of Denis Sciama. After receiving his Ph.D. he became a Research Fellow, and later a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. In 1973, Hawking then went to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. With this said, how has Hawking’s work affected people’s views on the universe?
When Hawking was 21 he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, it is a,
“fatal disease of the motor neurons (nerve cells) that control the skeletal muscles of the body. The disease characteristically produces a wasting away of the muscles that have lost their nerve supply, resulting in weakening and paralysis. There are also signs of spasticity, or stiffness, of the muscles and exaggerated reflexes. Eventually, ALS results in total paralysis an...