Who is Stephen Hawking? The life and activities of Stephen Hawking
Who is Stephen Hawking? This question is asked by many people who first saw the scientist on television or read his articles. Professors can be found everywhere - in the news, broadcasts about space, scientific journals and even in favorite TV shows. Many people have a question: "A scientist in a wheelchair - what's his name?" The answer is Stephen Hawking. A biography with a photo will help you to find out about this cleverest person more.
Childhood and youth
The British scientist was born in Oxford, 8January 1942. His father, Frank, worked at Hampstead's medical research center, and his mother, Isabelle, worked there as secretary. Stephen has 2 sisters - Philip and Mary and adopted brother Edward.
The future scientist grew up as an ordinary child and did not show any outstanding abilities. He liked to collect electric locomotives and collect models of various techniques.
According to the mother, Stephen was already at school likea small scientist with his awkward figure, big glasses and a love of scientific debate. The peers called him Zubril and Einstein, but despite these nicknames, the scientist was never an excellent student. He preferred physics, mathematics and chemistry, and to the rest of the sciences was indifferent. However, the ratings allowed him to enter Oxford University.
Disease
At the university, Stephen Hawking enjoyed a cheerfulstudent life, attending parties and rowing. He spent a bit of time studying only the essentials. There is a well-known case when Hawking performed a task for one day, with which his classmates could not cope for a week.
In the third year, Hawking began to notice for himselfsome clumsiness, he often fell and dropped things. After another severe fall, he turned to the doctor, but the medic did not find cause for concern and advised the student to drink less beer and have more rest.
Stephen finished his studies at Oxford with distinction. The next step in obtaining a scientific degree in physics was Cambridge. The state of health of the scientist worsened and awkwardness could no longer be attributed to fatigue or absent-mindedness. At the age of 21, Hawking called the doctor again.
This time, a more seriousstudy. Doctors have found out that the disease is progressing and that Steven has not been alive for more than two years. Lateral atrophic sclerosis (Lou-Goering disease) is a disease that destroys the nerve cells responsible for controlling the muscles. The disease progresses, and gradually the motor activity fades, paralysis occurs and in the end the respiratory muscles refuse, which leads to death.
As a rule, this is a fatal diseaseoccurs in the elderly over 50 years, and patients die within 2.5 years after diagnosis. The exception to both rules was Professor Stephen Hawking. Biography of the scientist could be up to an insulting short, but now he is 73 years old.
Personal life
Who is Stephen Hawking? Not only the famous scientist, who during his lifetime became almost a legend, but also a happy father and grandfather. Family and new love helped a young man to adapt to a new life after a terrible diagnosis. The disease progressed slowly, which allowed Stephen to gradually get used to his condition.
Depression and a pessimistic mood helpedOvercome the success in the work and the relationship with young girl Jane Wilde. The future wife became a muse, assistant and best friend of the scientist. In order to financially secure their future, Hawking began to work actively. In 1965 he married Jane after a year of relationship. In 1967, he was forced to start using crutches and in the same year his first-born was born. Two other children Stephen met already in a wheelchair.
In 1985, during a trip to Geneva, Hawking fell illpneumonia. This disease is extremely dangerous for people with lateral sclerosis. Stephen was in the worst condition, and the doctors suggested Jane allow her husband to die deadly. But the woman decided to fight for her husband's life to the end and transported him home, to Cambridge, where he managed to fight the infection. To facilitate breathing, doctors were forced to carry a tracheotomy. The scientist has lost the ability to speak forever.
Jane had a hard time dealing with three children and her husband, so after the operation they hired nurse Elaine Mason.
Their marriage lasted 11 years and was accompanied bynumerous scandals in the press. Many suspected that the woman had married out of mercenary motives and mistreated her husband. In 2004, Stephen was even summoned for questioning to the police, so he explained the origins of numerous injuries. The scientist denied the accusations against his wife, but still divorced after 2 years. Today he is not married and closely communicates with his children and grandchildren.
Armchair
In 1970, Hawking could no longer move aroundindependently and began to use a wheelchair, first ordinary, later with an air motor. Who is Stephen Hawking without his chair, which allows the professor to continue working despite the grave state of health? It is the image of the scientist in the huge, crammed with electronic devices armchair so memorable to the townsfolk. Because of the interest in his person, one of the areas of his activity, Hawking chose to popularize science.
After prenesennoy tracheotomy scientificthe activities of the professor was in jeopardy, because he practically could not communicate. He had to use cards with letters, indicating the desired movement of the eyebrows. Compilation of one word took a whole minute. A real breakthrough in the communication system was the use of a computer. The screen crawls letters and words, which you can specify by clicking your finger on the clicker.
Engineer David Mason helped create a portablea computer that could be installed on a wheelchair, and provided Hawking with his famous electronic voice with an American accent. By the way, Stephen considers this voice to be his calling card and does not abandon it when upgrading hardware and software.
Now the fingers of the scientist are paralyzed and hewith his assistant invented a new system of communication. Now the computer can be controlled using an infrared sensor that catches the jaw of the right cheek.
Scientific work
The nature of black holes is one of the areasSteven Hawking is interested. A well-known scientist is one of the founders of quantum cosmology. His findings have made a furor in the scientific community. The professor believes that the black hole does not absorb information without a trace, and distorts and releases as evaporation proceeds. This radiation is named after Hawking.
The professor is actively working not only onwriting books and articles, but also giving public lectures, attending scientific conferences around the world, filming in television programs and giving interviews. He talks about the development of artificial intelligence and the colonization of other planets, helps in medical research and is interested in creating exoskeletons that will enable people with disabilities to live a full life.
Popularization of science
Thanks to his recognizability, Professor StephenHawking does a lot to popularize science. His first book, entitled "A Brief History of Time," was published in 1988, became a bestseller and is still popular. It is written in simple language for ordinary people, far from the world of science.
Other well-known books by Hawking are "Black Holes and"The world is in a nutshell", they tell about the contents of black holes, the device of space-time and the Big Bang.The scientist wrote a children's book in collaboration with his daughter.It tells the children about the cosmos and is called "George and the secrets of the universe" ".
Stephen Hawking is the author of popular scientific programs on space "The Universe of Stephen Hawking", "In the Universe with Siven Hawking", "The Great Plan for Stephen Hawking."
Mass media
The name of the professor is often mentioned in various showsand telecasts, in which Steven Hawking takes part. The life and work of the scientist is shown in two feature films "Theory of Everything" and "Hawking." He has a cameo in the popular series about young physicists "The Big Bang Theory", and the series "Star Trek: The Next Generation", and his voices in the "Simpsons" and "Futurama" Stephen himself voiced.
In addition, the image of the scientist in the stroller and his name is used in a huge number of fantastic films, serials, books.
After watching the films and reading his books, you can fully answer for yourself the question: "Who is Stephen Hawking?".
