Stephen hawking brief biography of james

The work was an instant success, spending more than four years atop the London Sunday Times' best-seller list. Since its publication, it has sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into more than 40 languages. A Brief History of Time also wasn't as easy to understand as some had hoped. So in , Hawking followed up his book with The Universe in a Nutshell , which offered a more illustrated guide to cosmology's big theories.

In , Hawking authored the even more accessible A Briefer History of Time , which further simplified the original work's core concepts and touched upon the newest developments in the field like string theory. Together these three books, along with Hawking's own research and papers, articulated the physicist's personal search for science's Holy Grail: a single unifying theory that can combine cosmology the study of the big with quantum mechanics the study of the small to explain how the universe began.

This kind of ambitious thinking allowed Hawking, who claimed he could think in 11 dimensions, to lay out some big possibilities for humankind. He was convinced that time travel is possible, and that humans may indeed colonize other planets in the future. In September , Hawking spoke against the idea that God could have created the universe in his book The Grand Design.

Hawking previously argued that belief in a creator could be compatible with modern scientific theories. In this work, however, he concluded that the Big Bang was the inevitable consequence of the laws of physics and nothing more. The Grand Design was Hawking's first major publication in almost a decade. Within his new work, Hawking set out to challenge Isaac Newton 's belief that the universe had to have been designed by God, simply because it could not have been born from chaos.

In a very simple sense, the nerves that controlled his muscles were shutting down. At the time, doctors gave him two and a half years to live. Hawking first began to notice problems with his physical health while he was at Oxford — on occasion he would trip and fall, or slur his speech — but he didn't look into the problem until , during his first year at Cambridge.

For the most part, Hawking had kept these symptoms to himself. But when his father took notice of the condition, he took Hawking to see a doctor. For the next two weeks, the year-old college student made his home at a medical clinic, where he underwent a series of tests. Eventually, however, doctors did diagnose Hawking with the early stages of ALS.

It was devastating news for him and his family, but a few events prevented him from becoming completely despondent. The first of these came while Hawking was still in the hospital. There, he shared a room with a boy suffering from leukemia. Relative to what his roommate was going through, Hawking later reflected, his situation seemed more tolerable.

Not long after he was released from the hospital, Hawking had a dream that he was going to be executed. He said this dream made him realize that there were still things to do with his life. In a sense, Hawking's disease helped turn him into the noted scientist he became. Before the diagnosis, Hawking hadn't always focused on his studies. With the sudden realization that he might not even live long enough to earn his Ph.

As physical control over his body diminished he'd be forced to use a wheelchair by , the effects of his disease started to slow down. Over time, however, Hawking's ever-expanding career was accompanied by an ever-worsening physical state. By the mids, the Hawking family had taken in one of Hawking's graduate students to help manage his care and work.

He could still feed himself and get out of bed, but virtually everything else required assistance. In addition, his speech had become increasingly slurred, so that only those who knew him well could understand him. In he lost his voice for good following a tracheotomy. The resulting situation required hour nursing care for the acclaimed physicist.

It also put in peril Hawking's ability to do his work. The predicament caught the attention of a California computer programmer, who had developed a speaking program that could be directed by head or eye movement. The invention allowed Hawking to select words on a computer screen that were then passed through a speech synthesizer. At the time of its introduction, Hawking, who still had use of his fingers, selected his words with a handheld clicker.

Eventually, with virtually all control of his body gone, Hawking directed the program through a cheek muscle attached to a sensor. Through the program, and the help of assistants, Hawking continued to write at a prolific rate. Hawking did not rule out the existence of a Creator, asking in A Brief History of Time "Is the unified theory so compelling that it brings about its own existence?

In the same book he suggested that the existence of God was not necessary to explain the origin of the universe. Later discussions with Neil Turok led to the realisation that the existence of God was also compatible with an open universe. Further work by Hawking in the area of arrows of time led to the publication of a paper theorising that if the no-boundary proposition were correct, then when the universe stopped expanding and eventually collapsed, time would run backwards.

One of the first messages Hawking produced with his speech-generating device was a request for his assistant to help him finish writing A Brief History of Time. Media attention was intense, [ ] and a Newsweek magazine-cover and a television special both described him as "Master of the Universe". He received further academic recognition, including five more honorary degrees, [ ] the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society , [ ] the Paul Dirac Medal [ ] and, jointly with Penrose, the prestigious Wolf Prize Hawking pursued his work in physics: in 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.

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.

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.

Hawking also maintained his public profile, including bringing science to a wider audience. Hawking had wanted the film to be scientific rather than biographical, but he was persuaded otherwise. The film, while a critical success, was not widely released. As Hawking insisted, this time the focus was entirely on science. Hawking continued his writings for a popular audience, publishing The Universe in a Nutshell in , [ ] and A Briefer History of Time , which he wrote in with Leonard Mlodinow to update his earlier works with the aim of making them accessible to a wider audience, and God Created the Integers , which appeared in In doing so, the theory suggests a possible resolution of the fine-tuning question.

Hawking continued to travel widely, including trips to Chile, Easter Island , South Africa, Spain to receive the Fonseca Prize in , [ ] [ ] Canada, [ ] and numerous trips to the United States. By , consensus among physicists was growing that Hawking was wrong about the loss of information in a black hole. As part of another longstanding scientific dispute, Hawking had emphatically argued, and bet, that the Higgs boson would never be found.

Hawking and Higgs engaged in a heated and public debate over the matter in and again in , with Higgs criticising Hawking's work and complaining that Hawking's "celebrity status gives him instant credibility that others do not have". Hawking quickly conceded that he had lost his bet [ ] [ ] and said that Higgs should win the Nobel Prize for Physics , [ ] which he did in In , 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.

Several buildings have been named after him, including the Stephen W. During his career, Hawking supervised 39 successful PhD students. On 28 June , as a tongue-in-cheek test of his conjecture that travel into the past is effectively impossible, Hawking held a party open to all, complete with hors d'oeuvres and iced champagne, but publicised the party only after it was over so that only time-travellers would know to attend; as expected, nobody showed up to the party.

On 20 July , Hawking helped launch Breakthrough Initiatives , an effort to search for extraterrestrial life. In August , 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. Hawking's final paper — A smooth exit from eternal inflation?

Hawking met his future wife, Jane Wilde , at a party in The following year, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. In October , the couple became engaged to marry, aware of the potential challenges that lay ahead due to Hawking's shortened life expectancy and physical limitations. During their first years of marriage, Jane lived in London during the week as she completed her degree at Westfield College.

They travelled to the United States several times for conferences and physics-related visits. The couple had three children: Robert, born May , [ ] [ ] Lucy , born November , [ ] and Timothy, born April Hawking rarely discussed his illness and physical challenges—even, in a precedent set during their courtship, with Jane. Hawking accepted, and Bernard Carr travelled with them as the first of many students who fulfilled this role.

Hawking returned to Cambridge in 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 doctoral thesis and her new interest in singing.

Hellyer Jones became close to the Hawking family and, by the mids, he and Jane had developed romantic feelings for each other. By the s, 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. In the late s, Hawking grew 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.

In , Jane Hawking published a memoir, Music to Move the Stars , describing her marriage to Hawking and its breakdown. 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 , Hawking and Mason quietly divorced, [ ] [ ] and Hawking resumed closer relationships with Jane, his children, and his grandchildren.

Hawking had a rare early-onset, slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease MND; also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease , a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord, which gradually paralysed him over decades. Hawking had experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at Oxford, including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing.

His family noticed the changes when he returned home for Christmas, and medical investigations were begun. At the time, doctors gave him a life expectancy of two years. In the late s, Hawking's physical abilities declined: he began to use crutches and could no longer give lectures regularly. 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".

I've called it both at one time or another. When Hawking first began using a wheelchair he was using standard motorised models. Hawking used a variety of different chairs from that time, including a DragonMobility Dragon elevating powerchair from , as shown in the April photo of Hawking attending NASA's 50th anniversary; [ ] a Permobil C from ; and then a Permobil F3 from Hawking's speech deteriorated, and by the late s 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. During a visit to CERN on the border of France and Switzerland in mid, Hawking contracted pneumonia , which in his condition was life-threatening; he was so ill that Jane was asked if life support should be terminated.

Stephen hawking brief biography of james

She refused, but the consequence was a tracheotomy , which required round-the-clock nursing care and caused the loss of what remained of his speech. The cost of the care was funded by an American foundation. One of those employed was Elaine Mason, who was to become Hawking's second wife. For his communication, Hawking initially raised his eyebrows to choose letters on a spelling card , [ ] but in he received a computer program called the "Equalizer" from Walter Woltosz, CEO of Words Plus, who had developed an earlier version of the software to help his mother-in-law, who also had ALS and had lost her ability to speak and write.

Elaine Mason's husband, David, a computer engineer, adapted a small computer and attached it to his wheelchair. 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. Hawking gradually lost the use of his hand, and in he began to control his communication device with movements of his cheek muscles, [ ] [ ] [ ] with a rate of about one word per minute.

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.

By , he could no longer drive his wheelchair independently, but the same people who created his new typing mechanics were working 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.

Starting in the s, Hawking accepted the mantle of role model for disabled people, lecturing and participating in fundraising activities. In August , Hawking narrated the "Enlightenment" segment of the Summer Paralympics opening ceremony in London. As he had pneumonia in , he was advised not to have ice poured over him, but his children volunteered to accept the challenge on his behalf.

In late , Hawking revealed in a BBC interview that one of his greatest unfulfilled desires was to travel to space. Besides personal ambition, he was motivated by the desire to increase public interest in spaceflight and to show the potential of people with disabilities. Hawking died at his home in Cambridge on 14 March , at the age of Inscribed on his memorial stone are the words "Here lies what was mortal of Stephen Hawking —" and his most famed equation.

Hawking's final broadcast interview, about the detection of gravitational waves resulting from the collision of two neutron stars , occurred in October In March , it was announced that the Royal Mint would issue a commemorative 50p coin , only available as a commemorative edition, [ ] in honour of Hawking. In May it was announced that an Acceptance-in-Lieu agreement between HMRC, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Cambridge University Library, Science Museum Group, and the Hawking Estate, would see around 10, pages of Hawking's scientific and other papers remain in Cambridge, while objects including his wheelchairs, speech synthesisers, and personal memorabilia from his former Cambridge office would be housed at the Science Museum.

He believed that philosophers "have not kept up with modern developments in science", "have not taken science sufficiently seriously and so Philosophy is no longer relevant to knowledge claims", "their art is dead" and that scientists "have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge ". He said that philosophical problems can be answered by science, particularly new scientific theories which "lead us to a new and very different picture of the universe and our place in it".

In , 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 years? That is why I asked the question, to get people to think about it, and to be aware of the dangers we now face. Hawking expressed concern that life on Earth is at risk from a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, global warming , an asteroid collision , or other dangers humans have not yet thought of.

Hawking stated that, given the vastness of the universe, aliens likely exist, but that contact with them should be avoided. In 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 warned that superintelligent artificial intelligence could be pivotal in steering humanity's fate, stating that "the potential benefits are huge Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history.

It might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks. A super-intelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren't aligned with ours, we're in trouble". Hawking was concerned about the future emergence of a race of "superhumans" that would be able to design their own evolution [ ] and, as well, argued that computer viruses in today's world should be considered a new form of life, stating that "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. Hawking was an atheist. 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 realisation. 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.

Hawking's association with atheism and freethinking was in evidence from his university years onwards, when he had been a member of Oxford University's humanist group. He was later scheduled to appear as the keynote speaker at a Humanists UK conference. 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. If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God', but it wouldn't be a personal God that you would meet and put questions to. Hawking was a longstanding Labour Party supporter.

Hawking was greatly concerned over health care, and maintained that without the UK National Health Service , he could not have survived into his 70s. He stated, "The more profit is extracted from the system, the more private monopolies grow and the more expensive healthcare becomes. The NHS must be preserved from commercial interests and protected from those who want to privatise it.

But he was also critical of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn , expressing scepticism over whether the party could win a general election under him. Hawking feared Donald Trump 's policies on global warming could endanger the planet and make global warming irreversible. He said, "Climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it's one we can prevent if we act now.

By denying the evidence for climate change, and pulling out of the Paris Agreement , Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children. Hawking was also a supporter of a universal basic income. In , Hawking, Arthur C. They discussed the Big Bang theory , God and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

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

He was shown to sing an extended version of the " Galaxy Song ", after running down Brian Cox with his wheelchair, in a pre-recorded video. Hawking used his fame to advertise products, including a wheelchair, [ ] National Savings , [ ] British Telecom , Specsavers , Egg Banking , [ ] and Go Compare. The animated sitcom The Freak Brothers features a recurring character, Mayor Pimco, who is apparently modelled after Stephen Hawking.

Hawking received numerous awards and honours. 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". The citation continues, "Other important work by Hawking relates to the interpretation of cosmological observations and to the design of gravitational wave detectors. At the Pride of Britain Awards , Hawking received the lifetime achievement award "for his contribution to science and British culture".

The fellowship is awarded annually to an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the STEM fields and social discourse, [ ] with a particular focus on impacts affecting the younger generations. Each fellow delivers a lecture on a topic of their choosing, known as the 'Hawking Lecture'. Hawking himself accepted the inaugural fellowship, and he delivered the first Hawking Lecture in his last public appearance before his death.

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 to honour members of the arts community for contributions that help build awareness of science. The first recipients of the medals, which were awarded at the festival, were chosen by Hawking himself.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. English theoretical physicist — Hawking, c. Oxford , England. Cambridge , England. See list. Jane Wilde. Elaine Mason. General relativity quantum gravity. Early universe. Philosophical Insights : He shares his views on the meaning of life, the pursuit of knowledge, and the importance of curiosity and exploration.

Hawking expresses hope for the future of humanity and the role of science in addressing global challenges. Legacy : Hawking contemplates his legacy and the impact he hopes to have on future generations of scientists and thinkers. He underscores the importance of continued scientific inquiry and the pursuit of understanding the universe.

These images offer readers a glimpse into his personal and professional life, enhancing the memoir's intimacy and accessibility. The visual elements complement the text, bringing to life the moments and experiences described in the book. Through his personal narrative, Hawking humanizes the pursuit of scientific knowledge, showing that it is driven by curiosity, perseverance, and the collaborative efforts of many individuals.

His story serves as an inspiration to aspiring scientists and anyone facing significant challenges. Hawking's memoir highlights his resilience and determination in the face of a debilitating illness. His ability to continue making groundbreaking contributions to theoretical physics while coping with ALS serves as a powerful testament to the human spirit.

Throughout the book, Hawking emphasizes the importance of science and education in advancing human understanding and improving our world. He advocates for increased public engagement with scientific issues and the need for continued investment in research and education. Critics and readers praised the book for its accessibility, warmth, and the insight it provided into Hawking's remarkable life.

A Brief History of Time : This book explores fundamental questions about the nature of the universe, the Big Bang, black holes, and time travel. It aimed to make complex scientific concepts accessible to a general audience and became a global bestseller. Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays : A collection of essays and lectures covering a range of topics, including Hawking's thoughts on black holes, the universe, and his personal life.

The Universe in a Nutshell : A follow-up to "A Brief History of Time", this book provides updated content and more visual explanations of complex scientific ideas. The Grand Design : Co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow, this book explores the origins of the universe, the laws of nature, and the role of God in creation, proposing that the laws of physics alone can explain the universe's existence.

Stephen Hawking's life and work have had a profound impact on our understanding of the universe. His contributions to science, his resilience in the face of a debilitating disease, and his efforts to communicate complex ideas to the public have made him an enduring figure in both science and popular culture. University Education:.