Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, England.
Both his parents had studied at Oxford.
When he was nine, Stephen got very poor grades in school and just managed to be an average student.
He was always interested in how stuff works and he took clocks and radios apart, but had trouble putting them back together.
Still, his nickname was Einstein.
Stephen was always interested in Math and Science.
He won a scholarship to study Physics at Oxford.
Then, he studied cosmology at Cambridge.
Fighting with ALS
When he was 21, Stephen started tripping, dropping items and his speech became unclear.
After a series of tests, doctors concluded that Stephen was suffering from ALS- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; a disease which paralyzed him and required a speech generating device to communicate.
He worked very hard to earn his Phd and today, even though he is on a wheelchair he can communicate with a touch pad computer and a voice synthesizer.
When he was 65, he took a zero gravity ride, which enabled him to leave his wheelchair, for the first time in 40 years.
Stephen Hawking Quotes
"It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven't done badly. People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining."
"I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars."
Famous Works
His most famous theory is that black holes can emit radiation; also known as Hawking radiation.
Hawking has received numerous awards but never won the Nobel Prize.
He received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 .
Stephen always enjoyed writing books. His best seller, 'A Brief History in Time' made terms like the Big Bang and black holes easy to understand.
Other famous Stephen Hawking books include: A Briefer History in Time, On the Shoulders of Giants and The Universe in a Nutshell.
Hawking has also co-written many books for children along with his daughter Lucy. His famous books for children include George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt and George and the Big Bang.
Stephen Hawking IQ- Estimated to be over 160.
Hawking Today
Stephen Hawking is Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge University.
He is a highly successful lecturer and author and has also authored several scientific lectures apart from his books.
Using the equalizer, he is capable of speaking just 15 letters per minute.
Since 2009 he has been completely paralyzed but he is still a living legend.
