Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was an English scientist, cosmologist, teacher and author. He is best known for discovering how the universe was formed and predicting what might happen to it in the future.

A Star Is Born

Born on 8th January 1942 in Oxford, England, Stephen William Hawking was born exactly 300 years after the death of the famous astronomer Galileo – a fact that Stephen was very proud of. He was born during the Second World War, which was a very dangerous time for London, so his parents, Frank Hawking and Isobel Walker, moved from their home in Highgate, London to Oxford to ensure Stephen’s safety.

His parents went on to have three more children: two girls named Philippa and Mary and an adopted boy named Edward. They were a family who placed a high value on education and his parents studied at the University of Oxford; his father studied medicine and became a medical researcher while his mother studied philosophy and politics.

Childhood

Stephen’s fascination with science, particularly space, began at an early age, when he would enjoy spending time with his mother; lying together on the grass in the garden to watch the stars.

When Stephen was a child of eight, the family moved to St Albans in Hertfordshire, a town about 20 miles north of London. At school, Stephen was often referred to as ‘Einstein’ by his classmates. After taking the eleven-plus exam a year early, Stephen attended St Albans School. He remained here throughout his secondary education, making close friends with whom he enjoyed playing board games and making model aeroplanes and boats. With the help of his maths teacher, Dikran Tahta, Stephen and his friends built a computer from clock parts, an old telephone switchboard and various other recycled objects.

University

Inspired by Mr Tahta, Stephen wanted to study maths at university, despite his father advising him to study medicine. Stephen compromised and chose to study physics and chemistry at the same college that his father had attended. He took the entry exams a year early, meaning that he was only 17 years old when he started university.

Stephen became a lively, witty and popular member of his class, interested in classical music and science fiction. He also joined the college boat club, where he became cox for a rowing crew – he was said to be a daredevil because of the risks he took in the boat!

Following the completion of his first degree, Stephen was still passionate about space, so attended Cambridge University where he studied cosmology and made some incredible discoveries.

It was at Cambridge that Stephen first developed problems with his health. He became very clumsy, regularly falling or dropping things. His speech became slurred and hard to understand.

Doctors diagnosed Stephen with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, and he was given just two years to live. However, his disease progressed more slowly than doctors had imagined, meaning he was able to return to his studies, marry his first wife, Jane Wilde, and start a family. In later years, his ALS meant that he used a wheelchair and communicated using voice synthesis technology.