The memory that I will die soon is the most important tool in helping me to accept difficult decisions in my life. Because everything else - other people's expectations, pride, all this fear of embarrassment or failure - all these things dissolve in the face of death, leaving only what is really important.
Steve Jobs

At twenty-one, he was diagnosed with what sounded like a death sentence. Doctors gave a talented graduate student of Cambridge no more than two or three years of life. Half a century has passed since then, and Stephen Hawking not only struggled all this time with a terrible illness, but also became one of the most famous scientists of our time. His contribution to theoretical physics can hardly be overestimated, and life path Hawking and the strength of his spirit can be extremely admirable.

Hostage to your own body

Hawking, twenty-three, came to his wedding, already leaning on a cane.

Stephen was born on January 8, 1942, becoming the first child in the family of Frank and Isabel Hawking - they later had two daughters, and also had an adopted son.

At first, it was impossible to assume that the boy had a great scientific future. By his own admission, he learned to read only at the age of eight, and in the schools where he studied, Stephen did not shine at all - exams were given to him without much difficulty, but he did not pursue excellent grades. But Hawking with early years he was keenly interested in how everything that surrounds him is arranged - from toys to the Universe. It was this curiosity that eventually prompted him to devote his life to solving the mysteries of the universe.

Hawking took on writing A Brief History of Time to earn money for teaching children

In 1962 Stephen Hawking graduated with honors from Oxford and decided to move from his alma mater to Cambridge, where he planned to pursue his doctoral dissertation. The theory of relativity was not given to him - it required much more thorough mathematical training than that which Stephen had at that time, and therefore he gave preference to cosmology.

By that time, Hawking had already begun to have health problems, but for the time being he did not mature how serious. First, there was stiffness in movements, then he fell down the stairs in the hostel, and from a summer trip to Iran he returned completely exhausted. Finally, in the winter, at the insistence of his mother, Stephen went for an examination, the results of which were disappointing. Doctors diagnosed Hawking with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive disease nervous system, which inevitably leads to paralysis and almost always leads to early death.

The reaction of the young genius to the doctors' verdict was quite natural and human - deep depression. Why continue research and work on a doctoral dissertation when there is simply no time left to contribute to science, and indeed to live?

Love helped to overcome the surging wave of despair. Shortly before Stephen found out about the terrible cause of his ailments, he met Jane Wilde, his friend younger sister... A romance began between the young people, and Hawking again felt a taste for life. In the fall of 1964, the engagement took place, and for the first time Stephen had an incentive to work hard: since he was going to start a family, he should have completed his dissertation and find an occupation that would allow him to support himself and his wife. So, despite his ailment, Stephen led an extremely eventful life.

On July 14, 1965, he and Jane were married, and the following spring Hawking defended his doctoral dissertation and soon received the J. Adams Prize from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. In 1967, when, according to doctors' forecasts, Hawking was no longer supposed to be alive, Jane gave birth to his first child - son Robert. Subsequently, the couple had two more children. Of course, household chores mostly fell on Jane's shoulders, and if at first her husband needed moral support, then very soon he needed careful care.

In 2004, the BBC released a television movie about Hawking's youth, in which he played the role of a scientist Benedict Cumberbatch(film "Star Trek: Retribution", TV series "Sherlock")

Explorer's Passion

Throughout his scientific career, Stephen Hawking repeatedly entered into disputes with colleagues that ended in comic bets. And Stephen almost always ended up having to admit defeat.

• In the mid-seventies, Hawking argued with his friend and colleague Kip Thorne about the nature of the astronomical object Cygnus X-1. Hawking was betting that the object would not turn out to be a black hole. According to rumors, while hoping for the opposite, because at that time the very existence of black holes was in doubt. Be that as it may, in 1990, when new observational data confirmed that black holes did exist and that Cygnus X-1 was one of them, Hawking admitted failure and "paid" the winner a debt - a year's subscription to the adult magazine Penthouse made Thorne's wife pretty angry.
• In 1997, Hawking, along with Thorne, entered into an argument with University of California professor John Preskill. He argued that Hawking radiation is associated with information that has fallen into the black hole and, thus, this information does not disappear without a trace. Stephen and Thorne himself were of the opinion that radiation is a kind of new information, the source of which should be sought within the event horizon of the black hole itself. Seven years later, Hawking changed his mind, and Preskill received an award - the baseball encyclopedia. True, the loser noted with his inherent irony that he should have given Ash to Preskill instead of the book and clearly demonstrate in what form the information absorbed by the black hole can return.
• At the turn of the millennium, Hawking bet a hundred dollars that the Higgs boson would not be found. In July 2012 European Center Nuclear Research announced the discovery of a particle - and Stephen immediately admitted that he was wrong again.

Newton's heir

Although the disease did not develop at all as the doctors expected, who had waved their hand at Hawking in advance, his health was steadily deteriorating. In 1970, he was chained to wheelchair, after a few years, he could not even eat and move from bed to a stroller without assistance. Since that time, one of Stephen's students constantly lived in the Hawking house and helped Jane take care of her husband. And then the scientist's voice began to fail - an unprepared person simply could not make out what Stephen was saying, so he had to read lectures with an "interpreter".

At the same time, Hawking worked with a productivity that could be envied and completely healthy people... In particular, it was Stephen who first showed the connection between general relativity and quantum mechanics... Together with Roger Penrose, he proved that if general relativity is correct, then the initial state of the universe was a singularity.

According to Jane, in last years marriage, her main task was to remind Stephen that he is not a god ...

In the early seventies, Stephen became one of the founders of the theory of black hole thermodynamics. In addition, he, along with several colleagues, postulated that information about its mass is sufficient to describe any black hole, electric charge and kinetic moment.

And in 1974, shortly after his visit to the USSR and communication with Soviet physicists, Hawking was able to theoretically substantiate that black holes emit elementary particles and can "evaporate". This made a real revolution in the concept of black holes, because it was previously believed that they only absorb matter. The effect is called Hawking radiation, although it has not yet been confirmed by observational data.

Hawking's active participation in the development of the theory according to which the Universe has no boundaries should also be noted. For clarity, Stephen compares the Universe with our planet: its space is finite, but there is no "edge of the Earth".

And all this is just the tip of the iceberg! Hawking's contribution to the development of theoretical physics can hardly be overestimated, and it is likely that only our descendants will be able to fully appreciate it.

Stephen Hawking's work brought him not only well-deserved fame in the scientific community, but also numerous awards that began to pour in on him like a cornucopia in the mid-1970s. The collection of awards received by Hawking both from scientific organizations and from various countries is being replenished with enviable regularity to this day. In particular, he received the Albert Einstein Prize, the Eddington Medal awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain, the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society of London, became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest awards of the United States.

Stephen once threw a party for time travelers, but did not send invitations until the day after.

In 1979, Hawking received the post of Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge, which had been held by such luminaries of science as Newton, Babbage and Dirac before him. This position remained with him for the next thirty years - despite continued deterioration in health. A new heavy blow of fate struck the scientist in 1985. During a visit to Switzerland, at the European Center for Nuclear Research, Hawking contracted pneumonia, and the disease nearly brought him to his grave. There was a moment when the scientist's condition seemed hopeless and the doctors suggested turning off the life support system, but Jane flatly refused.

In the end, the doctors managed to save the life of the physicist, but during treatment they had to undergo a tracheostomy, and this operation permanently deprived Hawking of his voice. In the first time after his illness, Stephen could communicate with others only with the help of eyebrows: with their movement he made it clear to the interlocutor, who was holding a card with letters in his hands, which letter he meant. Of course, it became almost impossible to convey complex thoughts and reasoning, and even more so to work on new scientific projects after the operation.

American Walt Walstosh, who developed the Equalizer program, came to the aid of the sick scientist. By selecting letters, words or phrases on the screen, which were then voiced by a speech synthesizer, Hawking was able to maintain full-fledged connection with people again - especially after a mini-computer was built into his wheelchair.

On the set of the TV series "The Big Bang Theory" with actor Jim Parsons

In 1985 Hawking could still use two fingers. right hand and with their help controlled the computer. Over time, they refused to Stephen. In recent years, only a few muscles of the right cheek have retained mobility - it is to their contractions that a special sensor reacts, which allows Hawking to type texts. Alas, at a much slower speed than before - just one word per minute.

After Hawking survived the pneumonia, the strength of his family and students was no longer enough to take care of him properly, and three nurses had to be hired to provide 24-hour care. One of them - Elaine Mason - later became his second wife.

Stephen separated from his first wife in the early 1990s after a quarter of a century of marriage. Obviously, during this time, Jane had to endure many difficulties that most wives could not dream of in nightmares, but this was not the only reason family discord. A sincere believer Jane could not come to terms with the views of her husband, who cut God out of the picture of the world with Occam's razor.

However, it was not she who initiated the break, but Hawking himself, who decided to go to Elaine. In 1995, Stephen divorced Jane and remarried almost immediately. The second marriage was not as durable as the first, and divorce followed in 2006. By that time, Hawking was no longer just a recognized genius and a prominent scientist, but a world celebrity.

Hawking and his daughter Lucy were in zero gravity in 2007

Scientist and religion

Back in school, classmates nicknamed Stephen Einstein. Like a "father general theory relativity ”, Hawking in the pages of his works now and then mentions God and discusses his designs, but for Stephen this is nothing more than metaphors, and he does not consider himself a believer, which he repeatedly emphasized in his speeches and interviews. Moreover, in his works, he more than once argued that God is not needed to explain the Universe, and in the latest popular science book "The Higher Design", co-authored with physicist Leonard Mlodinov, Hawking emphasizes that for the appearance of everything existence does not need a Creator - the laws of physics are enough.

Popular physics

Any scientist, especially a theoretical physicist, whose research is far from everyday needs, rarely succeeds in gaining wide popularity outside the scientific community. Hawking is one of the rare exceptions to this rule thanks to his promotional activities. Stephen does not hide the fact that he was always upset by how little people who are far from science are interested in its advanced achievements. In the early 1980s, Hawking began work on his first popular science book, A Brief History of Time, which was intended to convey to readers in an understandable form the ideas of modern physics about the origin of the Universe and its structure.

Performing with daughter Lucy

Hawking himself admitted that he does not really like complex mathematical formulas and it is more convenient for him to work with visual images. It was in this form that he decided to convey cosmological theories to ordinary people. Almost all of them were presented on the pages of the "Brief History of Time" with the help of visual illustrations, and in the book there was a place for only one equation - the famous E = mc². This approach has fully justified itself. Of course, Hawking hoped that he would be able to captivate a mass audience with the secrets of the universe, but he did not expect his book to be a resounding success.

A Brief History of Time has gone through many reprints, has been translated into more than forty languages, and its circulation has exceeded ten million copies. V old days Hawking has had money problems more than once: big family, treatment, nurses - all this required hefty funds. The need to replenish family budget was one of the reasons that prompted the scientist to take up the book. After its release, Stephen's financial problems were a thing of the past - now he has become a millionaire. And as the book spread throughout the world, Hawking's fame grew steadily.

Since the early 1990s, the scientist has become a frequent guest on television. First of all, of course, as an author and presenter educational programs, where he talks about the nature of space-time and black holes, the origin of the Universe and those mysteries of the universe that science has yet to reveal. For example, about the possibility of time travel or the existence of aliens. But this is not the end of it.

In 1992, a film based on A Brief History of Time was released, which caught the eye of Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in the Star Trek series. The actor contacted the scientist and offered him to star in the series in a cameo role. Hawking agreed and in one of the episodes of "The Next Generation" played cards with the android Data, Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. In recent years, Stephen has appeared in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, dedicated to the lives of young nerdy scientists. The last episode with his participation was released in September 2017.

Hawking is the only one to star in Star Trek as himself

Homer Simpson's theory that the universe is a giant donut was so liked by the cartoon Hawking that he was not averse to stealing it.

It was too late to change his scientific career to acting, but Hawking obviously liked to play himself, and over the next years he returned to this role more than once - for example, in the animated series Futurama and The Simpsons. The scientist is presented there in an ironic manner - but Stephen loves to joke, including over himself. Probably, this is one of those qualities that allowed him to endure all the blows of fate and emerge victorious from the duel with her.

Despite his venerable age and deteriorating health, Hawking was engaged in the study of the nature of the universe and the popularization of science until the last days. The scientist died on March 14, 2018, having lived half a century longer than the doctors promised him. And even if his dream of going into space did not come true, he lived a rich life and did more than anyone in his place could. Stephen Hawking proved that there are no such hardships in life that could not be overcome with intelligence and will.

Space Tales

In 2007, Stephen Hawking tried his hand at a new role - the author of children's books. Together with his daughter Lucy, who became a journalist and writer, Stephen wrote a trilogy about the adventures of a little boy George and his friends, who, with the help of a supercomputer, wander through the Universe and get acquainted with its secrets. Young readers not only follow the adventures of the heroes, but also get acquainted with the basics of modern physics in an entertaining way.

* * *

Perhaps, since the time of Einstein, no scientist has received such attention from the general public as Hawking. His name is now and then mentioned in games, TV shows, on the pages of science fiction books and comics ... And this, perhaps, serves as no less convincing proof of his services to humanity than numerous awards and prizes.

Stephen was buried on March 31, 2018 in Cambridge next to the graves of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

The death of the famous British physicist Stephen Hawking was reported by the BBC, citing Hawking's family. The globally recognized popularizer of science was 76 years old.

Stephen Hawking's biography

Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, UK. His parents worked as doctors. Frank's father was engaged in research activities, Isabelle's mother served as secretary of a medical institution.

Steve was not the only child in the family. He grew up in the company of two sisters and half-brother Edward, who was adopted by the Hawking family.

After graduating from high school, he entered Oxford University, in 1962 he received a bachelor's degree.

Just two and a half years later, in 1966, Stephen became one of the first doctors of philosophy at Trinity Hall College at the University of Cambridge.

What kind of illness did Hawking have?

As a child, he was a healthy child, did not get sick even in adolescence.

However, in his youth, he was given a terrible diagnosis - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The symptoms of the disease developed at a tremendous rate.

Due to illness, Stephen became completely paralyzed. But even in a wheelchair, he did not stop mentally. The future world-renowned scientist was engaged in self-education, studied scientific literature, attended seminars.

In 1974 he received permanent membership of the Royal Society of London.

Related materials

Complications of the disease

In 1985, Stephen Hawking underwent laryngeal surgery for complicating pneumonia. After that, the scientist completely stopped talking. His friends came to the rescue - engineers from the University of Cambridge. They specially developed a speech synthesizer for Stephen.

Hawking has only the mimic muscle of his cheek remaining mobile. The sensor, which was installed in front of this muscle, helped the scientist control the computer, with which he communicated with others.

Hawking's feat

Scientists, being completely paralyzed, agreed to experience the conditions of being in a weightless space. He flew in a specially equipped aircraft... This event took place in 2007 and completely changed the idea of ​​Stephen Hawking about the world around him. The scientist set himself a goal - to conquer space no later than 2009.

Hawking and physics

Stephen Hawking's main specialization is cosmology and quantum gravity. He investigated thermodynamic processes in wormholes, black holes and dark matter. The phenomenon that describes and characterizes the "evaporation of black holes" - "Hawking radiation" is named after him.

In 1997, Stephen Hawking made a bet with Kip Thorne against John Philip Preskill. This was the beginning of Stephen Hawking's groundbreaking exploration, which he presented at a special press conference in 2004.

He challenged the opinion of his colleague that in the waves emitted by black holes there is some information that cannot be deciphered. Hawking objected to him, based on his own research in 1975, that such information cannot be detected, because it falls into a universe parallel to ours.

And in 2004, at a conference on cosmology in Dublin, Hawking presented a revolutionary new theory about the nature of a black hole, admitting the correctness of his opponent Preskill. In his theory, Hawking concluded that information in black holes did not disappear without a trace, but was significantly distorted, and one day it would leave the hole along with radiation.

Known not only in scientific circles. Many compare him to eminent scientists such as Einstein and Newton. Hawking deals with issues of theoretical physics and applied mathematics, the theory of space and time, studies the fundamental laws that drive the Universe. Stephen is a very influential scholar of our time, he is the head of the department at the University of Cambridge.

But the story of Stephen Hawking is a constant overcoming of an incurable disease that accompanies him almost all his adult life. This one was able to realize the limitless possibilities of the human mind, suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Brief biography of the scientist

Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, to a middle-class family. However, his parents were Oxford graduates and considered intellectuals. Stephen was an ordinary child, only at the age of 8 he learned to read. He studied well at school, but did not differ in any way from his peers.

Feeling an interest in physics in high school, he entered the physics department at Oxford, where he did not show much zeal for studies, devoting more time to sports and parties. Despite all this, he managed to graduate from the university in 1962 with a bachelor's degree. Stephen remained for some time at Oxford and studied sunspots, but later decided to go to Cambridge. There he studied theoretical astronomy.

Stephen Hawking's disease began to make itself felt already during the period of admission to the University of Cambridge. And in 1963 young man a disappointing diagnosis was made - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

What is ALS?

It is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that progresses slowly. It is characterized by damage to the cortex and brain stem, as well as neurons in the spinal cord, which are responsible for movement. Patients develop paralysis, and then atrophy of all muscles.

In Europe, Stephen Hawking's disease has long been named after the scientist Charcot, who described its symptoms in mid XIX century. In the United States, this disease is often referred to as Hering's disease in memory of a popular basketball player who died of ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a rather rare disease. Out of 100 thousand people, from one to five suffer from it. Most often, people from 40 to 50 years old get sick. Stephen Hawking's disease, the cause of which is unknown, is incurable. Science still does not understand why the death of nerve cells is triggered. Heredity plays a role in about 10% of cases.

However, in the early 2000s, researchers suggested that ALS was associated with the accumulation of neurotransmitter molecules in the brain. There is some evidence that this disease develops due to excess glutamic acid, causing neurons to work at full capacity, and as a result, quickly die. Currently, the search for genes responsible for the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is being actively pursued. Even taking into account the fact that a lot of work is being done to find a cure for this disease, the mortality rate from it is 100%.

Signs and course of the disease

Stephen Hawking's disease, the symptoms of which can be easily confused with the manifestation of other, less dangerous ailments, is very insidious. At first, a person experiences mild muscle disorders (most often of the arms). This is expressed in difficulty, for example, to write, button up, take small items.

After the disease begins to progress, and in the process, the spinal cord gradually die off, and with them the parts of the brain that control voluntary movements. In the end, everything more muscle turns out to be motionless, not receiving impulses from the brain.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis gets its name because the neurons that conduct impulses to the muscles of the body are located on the sides throughout the spinal cord.

Quite often, in the early stages of the disease, difficulties arise with speech and swallowing. In the later stages, a person is already completely devoid of movement, his face loses facial expressions, the muscles of the tongue atrophy, salivation appears. However, he does not experience any pain.

Although Stephen Hawking's disease is terrible, as it makes him paralyzed, it does not disrupt his thought processes. Memory, hearing, vision, consciousness, cognitive functions of the brain remain at the same level.

What is the reason for the death of ALS patients?

In the last stages of the disease, the muscles of the respiratory tract also atrophy, as a result of which a person cannot breathe. Although it also happens that the body has not yet been completely immobilized, the muscles that are involved in breathing cease to function.

Stephen Hawking's life with ALS

Despite the dire diagnosis, Stephen continued active life... However, the symptoms of the disease made themselves felt. And after another deterioration, Hawking went to the hospital for examination, where he was told the terrible news that he had no more than two years to live. After this news, any person would have fallen into a depression, Stephen was no exception. But the thirst to live won, and he began to write his dissertation. Hawking suddenly realized that there was still time to do something worthwhile, something useful to the whole world.

Stephen Hawking's illness did not prevent him from marrying Jane Wilde in 1965, however, he came to his wedding with a cane. His wife knew about the terrible diagnosis, but decided to devote her whole life to her chosen one, caring for him, while he could work fruitfully, doing scientific work. They lived together for more than 20 years, three children were born in marriage. Thanks to Jane, Stephen exercised constantly, even when he was half paralyzed.

But living with someone with ALS is very difficult. Therefore, in the early 90s, the couple divorced. Hawking, however, was not alone for long. He married his nurse. This marriage lasted 11 years.

Scientific activity

Stephen William Hawking, whose disease progressed along with his scientific career, defended his dissertation in 1966, and the next year he no longer walked with a cane, but on crutches. After a successful defense, he joined Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge as a research assistant.

It had to be used since 1970, but despite this, from 1973 to 1879 Hawking worked at the University of Cambridge at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, where in 1977 he became a professor.

Physicist Stephen Hawking from 1965 to 1970 conducted research concerning the state of the Universe at the time of the Big Bang. In 1970 he was engaged in the theory of black holes, formulated several theories. As a result of his, he made enormous contributions to cosmology and astronomy, as well as to the understanding of gravity and the theory of black holes. Thanks to his fruitful work, Hawking became the owner a large number awards and prizes.

Until 1974, the scientist could eat on his own, as well as get up and go to bed. Some time later, the illness forced them to seek help from students, but later they had to hire a professional nurse.

Stephen Hawking quickly lost the ability to write due to muscle atrophy in his arms. Decide challenging tasks and equations, building and visualizing graphs had to be done in my head. The scientist's speech apparatus also suffered, he was understood only by close people and those who often communicated with him. Despite this, Stephen dictated scientific papers to the secretary and gave lectures, but, it is true, with the help of an interpreter.

Book writing

The scientist decided to popularize science and in the 1980s began working on a book called A Brief History of Time. It explained the nature of matter, time and space, the theory of black holes and the Big Bang. The author avoided complex mathematical terms and equations, hoping that both common people the book will be interesting. And so it happened. Stephen never hoped that his work would become so popular. In 2005, Hawking wrote a second book and named it The Shortest History of Time. It focuses on the latest advances in theoretical astronomy.

Communication with the outside world using technology

In 1985 Hawking contracted pneumonia. Stephen is completely speechless due to a forced tracheotomy. Caring people saved the scientist from silence. For him, a computer program was developed that allows using a lever to move a finger to select the words displayed on the monitor and compose phrases from them, which were ultimately sent to Communicating with people through computer technology significantly improved the life of a scientist. It also became possible to translate the equations of physics into symbols using the equalizer, which were written in words. Now Stephen had learned to deliver lectures on his own, but they had to be composed in advance and sent to the speech synthesizer.

After muscle atrophy completely immobilized the scientist's limbs, an infrared sensor was placed in his glasses. This allows you to select letters with your eyes.

Conclusion

Despite his serious illness, Stephen William Hawking, at 73, remains very active. Many healthy people would envy him. He often travels, gives interviews, writes books, tries to popularize science, makes plans for the future. The professor's dream was to travel in a spaceship. The disease taught him not to spare himself, because she is not so supportive of many. He believes that he has lived so long thanks to mental labor and excellent care.

We can say that the story of Stephen Hawking is an example of the enormous hard work and courage that only a select few have.

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 - on the news, on space programs, scientific journals and even in your favorite TV shows. Many people have a question: "A scientist in a wheelchair - what is his name?" The answer is Stephen Hawking. A biography with a photo will help you find out about it the smartest man more.

Childhood and youth

British scientist was born in Oxford, January 8, 1942. His father, Frank, worked at the Hampstead Medical Research Center, and his mother, Isabelle, worked there as a secretary. Stephen has 2 sisters - Philip and Mary and adoptive brother Edward.

The future scientist grew up as an ordinary child and did not show any outstanding abilities. He loved collecting electric locomotives and collecting models of various equipment.

According to his mother, Stephen already at school looked like a little scientist with his awkward figure, big glasses and love of scientific debate. His peers called him Zubrila and Einstein, but, despite these nicknames, the scientist was never an excellent student. He preferred physics, mathematics and chemistry, and was indifferent to the rest of the sciences. Nevertheless, his grades allowed him to enter the University of Oxford.

Disease

At university, Stephen Hawking enjoyed fun, partying and rowing. He devoted a little time to his studies, doing only the most necessary. There is a known case when Hawking completed a task in one day that his classmates could not cope with in a week.

In his third year, Hawking began to notice some awkwardness behind him, he often fell and dropped things. After another strong fall, he went to the doctor, but the doctor found no cause for concern and advised the student to drink less beer and get more rest.

Stephen completed his studies at Oxford with honors. The next step in obtaining a degree in physics was Cambridge. The scientist's health deteriorated and the awkwardness could no longer be attributed to fatigue or absent-mindedness. At the age of 21, Hawking went to the doctor again.

This time, a more serious study was carried out. The doctors found out that the disease was progressing and Stephen had no more than two years left to live. Atrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou-Hering's disease) is a disease that destroys the nerve cells that control muscles. The disease progresses, and gradually fades away, paralysis sets in and finally the respiratory muscles fail, which leads to death.

Typically, this fatal disease occurs in older adults over 50, and patients die within 2.5 years of diagnosis. Professor Stephen Hawking is an exception to both rules. The scientist's biography could be offensively short, but now he is already 73 years old.

Personal life

Who is Stephen Hawking? Not only a famous scientist who became practically a legend during his lifetime, but also happy father and grandfather. Family and new love helped the 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 helped to overcome the success in work and the relationship that had begun with a young girl Jane Wilde. Future wife became a muse, assistant and best friend scientist. In order to financially secure their future, Hawking began to actively work. 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 child was born. Stephen met two other children already in

In 1985, while on a trip to Geneva, Hawking contracted pneumonia. This disease is extremely dangerous for people with lateral sclerosis. Stephen was in critical condition, and doctors suggested that Jane let her terminally ill husband die in peace. But the woman decided to fight for her husband's life to the end and took him home to Cambridge, where she managed to overcome the infection. To facilitate breathing, doctors were forced to perform a tracheotomy. The scientist was forever deprived of the ability to speak.

It was difficult for Jane to deal with her three children and her husband, so after the operation they hired a caregiver, Alain Mason.

Due to disagreements and a difficult environment in the house, Stephen separated from his wife and moved into his caregiver's house in 1990. The couple filed for divorce in 1991, and in 1995 Hawking married Elaine.

Their marriage lasted 11 years and was accompanied by numerous scandals in the press. Many suspected that the woman married for selfish motives and mistreated her husband. In 2004, Steven was even called in for questioning by the police to explain the origin of the numerous injuries. The scientist denied the accusations against his wife, but still divorced after 2 years. Today he is not married and is in close contact with his children and grandchildren.

Armchair

In 1970, Hawking could no longer walk on his own and began to use a wheelchair, at first an ordinary one, later with a pneumatic motor. Who is Stephen Hawking without his chair, which allows the professor to continue working despite his dire health condition? It was the image of a scientist in a huge armchair stuffed with electronic devices that was so remembered by ordinary people. Because of his interest in his person, Hawking chose the popularization of science as one of his activities.

After a pre-carried tracheotomy, the professor was under threat, because he practically could not communicate. He had to use cards with letters, pointing to necessary movement eyebrows. It took a whole minute to compose one word. The real breakthrough in the communication system was the use of the computer. Letters and words crawl across the screen, which you can point to by pressing your finger on the clicker.

Engineer David Mason helped create a laptop computer that could be fitted to a wheelchair, and gave Hawking his famous electronic voice with an American accent. By the way, Stephen considers this voice to be his business card and does not discard it when upgrading hardware and software.

Now the scientist's fingers are paralyzed and he, together with his assistant, invented a new communication system. The computer can now be controlled with an infrared sensor that detects twitching of the right cheek.

Scientific work

The nature of black holes is one area of ​​interest for Stephen Hawking. The famous scientist is one of the founders of quantum cosmology. His findings made a splash in the scientific community. The professor believes that a black hole does not absorb information without a trace, but distorts and releases it as it evaporates. This radiation is named after Hawking.

The professor is actively working not only on writing books and articles, but also giving public lectures, attending scientific conferences all over the world, starring in television programs and giving interviews. He talks about the development of artificial intelligence and the colonization of other planets, helps with medical research and is interested in creating exoskeletons that will allow people with disabilities live a fulfilling life.

Popularization of science

Thanks to his recognition, Professor Stephen Hawking does a lot to popularize science. His title "A Brief History of Time" was published in 1988, became a bestseller and is still popular. It is written simple language for ordinary people far from the world of science.

Other famous books Hawking - "Black Holes and Young Universes", "The World in a Nutshell". They tell about the contents of black holes, the structure of space-time and the Big Bang. The scientist also co-authored a children's book with his daughter. It tells children about space and is called "George and the Secrets of the Universe".

Mass media

The professor's name is often mentioned in various shows and TV shows, in which Stephen Hawking takes part with pleasure. The life and work of the scientist is shown in two feature films "Theory of Everything" and "Hawking". He has a cameo on the hit TV series about young physicists "The Big Bang Theory", and on the TV series " Star Trek: The Next Generation ", and Stephen voiced his characters in" The Simpsons "and" Futurama "independently.

In addition, the image of a scientist in a wheelchair and his name is used in huge amount fantastic films, TV series, books.

After watching films and reading his books, you can fully answer for yourself the question: "Who is Stephen Hawking?"

Stephen William Hawking (Stephen William Hawking, years of life: 01/08/1942 - 03/14/2018) - English professor, scientist, astrophysicist, cosmologist, specialist in applied mathematics, writer, teacher.

Hawking is the author of major discoveries in the theory of "black holes", the creation of the theory of quantum gravity. In addition to many official awards, medals and awards, Hawking is the owner of the titles "most famous scientist after Einstein", "the greatest physicist of our time" and "founder of quantum cosmology."

One of his books, entitled "A Brief History of Time", which tells about the origin of the universe - 237 weeks was included in the bestseller list (sold over 10 million copies) according to the newspaper The Sunday Times. Colleagues admire his contribution to the popularization of scientific activity.

Especially worth noting is his irresistible desire for life and the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This is a rare incurable disease that develops slowly and leads to paralysis. It overtook him at the age of 21, after which the doctors measured the genius for only two years of life. But instead of two years, he lived 55 years, and even what! He was able to make his illness an ally and used it to better concentrate on his activities.

What trials of fate befell the scientist? What kind of person was a genius in wheelchair? Stephen Hawking's biography will tell about this.

Family and childhood

Stephen William Hawking was born during the war on January 8, 1942 in Oxford. His parents moved to this city from London, since it was safer there than in the capital (there was an agreement with the Germans that they would not bomb Oxford and Cambridge, instead of the British refusing to air raids on Heidelberg and Göttingen).

Stephen was born exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo, which he mentioned in his autobiography, adding, however, that his first "agu" was then said by "another 200,000 babies."

Stephen's great-grandfather John Hawking was a farmer during the agricultural depression (early 20th century); grandfather Robert Hawking also did not succeed in the field of farming. But Stephen's grandmother owned the house in which she organized the school. Thanks to this, the Hawkings were able to pay for the higher education of their son Frank, Stephen's father.

Frank Hawking studied medicine at the University of Oxford, specialized in tropical diseases. For their further study, in 1937 he moved to the eastern region of Africa.

When the war began, the scientist returned to his homeland and expressed a desire to serve. When he was denied ("your place in medicine"), Frank Hawking began working in medical center.

Stephen's mother Isabelle Hawking worked in the same center as a secretary. She came from the doctor's family, where, in addition to her, there were seven other children. Despite the poverty, her parents managed to pay for their daughter's education at Oxford. Isabelle's meeting with Frank happened at the very beginning of the war.

In 1942, the couple had their first child, Stephen.

1.5 years after the appearance of a son, a daughter, Mary, is born, and then - Philip, who had a 5-year age difference with her older brother. When Stephen was 14, his parents took an adopted child into the family, so Hawking had a half-brother, Edward.

One of my first memories future genius calls "going out": at the age of 2.5, his parents left him alone for the first time on the kindergarten playground. The experience was deplorable, both literally and figuratively: the baby got scared and burst into tears. The Hawkins, surprised at their son's unreadiness for socialization, took Stephen away and kept him at home for another 1.5 years.

This is what the Hawking home in Highgate looked like, where Stephen spent his childhood.

As a child, toys made Stephen want to understand how systems work, he liked to disassemble everything. He was fond of ship models, fiddled with the clockwork train.

Hawking Sr. took his son to his laboratory, where the boy liked to look through a microscope. True, Stephen was afraid that mosquitoes infected with tropical diseases might get out and bite him. Dad encouraged his son's passion for the exact sciences, studied mathematics with him, until he began to understand the subject better than him.

All the holidays, up to Stephen's 16th birthday, the family spent in a gypsy cart in the vicinity of Osmington Mills, a seaside town. The Hawking children made bunk beds from army stretchers, and they themselves spent the night in a tent.

Stephen entered the 1st grade in 1952, at St. Albans' School for Girls, which also took boys. Interestingly, Stephen's first wife Jane also studied at this institution. According to her memoirs, described in the book "Being Hawking" (2007), the Hawking children were brought to school "in an antediluvian London taxi."

Since this indicated great poverty, in order to avoid the ridicule of their peers, the children hid on the floor of a hired car.

The Hawking family received from Jane the following characteristics: "Tall, gray-haired, personable" (Hawking-Sr.), "small, with a lean figure" (mother), "plump, unkempt, absent-minded" (Mary), "bright-eyed, easy-going" (Philip). Stephen Jane was called "the boy with unruly golden brown hair."

Later Stephen goes to private school nearby. The most boring subject for him is physics: for a little boy it is too clear and obvious. The student considers chemistry more interesting, because something often explodes in the lesson! As a schoolboy, Stephen begins to be interested in the question "where did we come from?"

At the age of 13, Hawking Sr. wanted to transfer his son to a private Westminster School, one of the most prestigious in the country. Due to poverty, Stephen's only chance to study there was to win a grant. But while testing his knowledge for a scholarship, the boy fell ill. Later, the scientist claimed that he received an excellent education at St. Albans' school, which is, perhaps, "even better than at Westminster."

At the age of 17, Stephen receives his high school diploma. Fun fact: Other than this document, Hawking did not have any official paper confirming that he studied mathematics. When at Cambridge he began teaching mathematics to third-year students, he was ahead of them in the material by a week (according to his autobiography; Wikipedia gives a different period of "two weeks").

The young man has to pass the final and entrance exams himself, since his family leaves for India for a year. During this time he lives with Dr. John Humphrey, a colleague of his father's. For admission, Hawking chooses the alma mater of his parents - Oxford University. After passing the examinations for a scholarship in March 1959, Hawking was convinced that he did not enter. For the depressed Stephen, the university admission telegram came as a complete surprise.

In years 1 and 2, Hawking felt rather lonely. Short stature(1.65 m), he was one of the youngest students, because many of his fellow students had already served in the army. In the 3rd year, for greater socialization and expanding the circle of friends, the guy joined the student rowing club and became a helmsman.

A physics course at Oxford in those years did not require excessive effort, Hawking "serenely studied the subject in an atmosphere of utter boredom." Diligence was generally not prestigious, diligence and hard work within the walls of one of the oldest universities in the country were regarded as a sign of "mediocrity." The luminary of science admitted that only his illness was able to reverse this attitude; the diagnosis gave an incentive to do everything in his power for the development of science.

Fearing that the chances of earning an honors degree from Oxford were slim, Hawking tore up the unfinished work and threw it at trash can teacher. To the commission, hiding his uncertainty, he announced that if he received a degree with honors, he would go to write a dissertation in Cambridge, and if he did not receive it, he would stay at Oxford. The examiners gave him the highest mark, and in 1962, with a BA (B.A.), Hawking actually arrives in Cambridge as a graduate student.

At the age of 21, Stephen begins to notice stiffness in his movements: he stumbles, cannot cope with tying his shoelaces. With alarming symptoms, the young guy is admitted to the hospital, where, after terrible tests, he is told that he has an incurable disease - "amyotrophic lateral sclerosis." It is a motor neuron disease that leads to paralysis. The diagnosis sounded like a sentence: in 1963, the doctors "measured out" the guy a little more than 2 years of life.

Throughout his life, the disease paralyzed Hawking. In the late 1960s, he began to use a stroller all the time.

His speech gradually deteriorated, became indistinct. In 1985 he contracted pneumonia. An urgent tracheostomy (throat surgery) brought air into the Airways, but after her Hawking lost the ability to speak.

Friends presented him with a speech synthesizer. Forefinger the right hand, retaining mobility, with the help of a hand manipulator, the professor navigated the synthesizer. Hawking's thoughts were voiced by a mechanical voice, but the scientist admitted that he likes him, although he has American accent... When the finger lost its mobility, Hawking was able to communicate with others thanks to the movable facial muscles on his cheek, where a sensor was installed that controlled the computer.

Hawking retained his sense of humor, sarcastically about his condition. Before the start of the lecture, for example, I could say: "Maybe I don't look as good as you would like, but I will try to compensate for this with interesting scientific news."

He turned the 2 years of life predicted by doctors into 55 years filled with fruitful work. He became a real medical phenomenon.

First wife

Hawking's first wife is Jane Wilde, the same girl who remembered him in 1st grade. But it was only fleeting childhood memory... Their first deliberate meeting took place at a New Years party on January 1, 1963. According to Jane, Stephen was so amused by his own stories that sometimes the flow of his speech was interrupted by fits of laughter that reached hiccups.

A couple of days later, an invitation came from a new acquaintance to a party planned for January 8th. Jane's friend informed her that the holiday was timed to coincide with Stephen's 21st birthday (which was not mentioned in the invitation). Jane bought Stephen a phonograph record because it was difficult to think of another gift for a man she had just met.

After the holiday, Jane temporarily lost touch with her friend, until her friend "stunned" with the news that Stephen had been in the hospital for 2 weeks already.

A week after the news, Jane met Hawking on the platform, and agreed when he invited her to the theater. After the performance, they had to return to the theater because Jane had forgotten her wallet. When at that time the lights were turned off in the theater, the girl was delighted as Stephen imperiously ordered her to "take my hand" and led her in the dark to the exit. Hawking later invited Jane to the May Ball in Cambridge. The girl recalled how dangerous he was driving then; later she realized that it was his challenge to the diagnosis: to hurry, to have time to take place, to leave his mark on life.

Family life was not easy from the beginning, but they were young and full of hope: he turned 23, she - 21. At Kennedy airport they were even mistaken for 16-year-olds traveling "without adult supervision."

They traveled extensively as Hawking began to be invited to conferences. His wife jokingly noted that the specialization of physicists changed depending on the name of the conference: scientists quickly became astrophysicists (when a scientific meeting of the Astrophysical Union was planned) or relativists (when a conference on general relativity was due).

When in 1967 the couple had a son, Robert, Stephen devotedly supported his wife, sitting for hours by the bed; and even, contrary to the rules of the hospital, made his way through the emergency entrance to visit her. When their first child was 6 weeks old, the following incident occurred at the airport on the way to Seattle: Jane left her son in the arms of Stephen, sitting in a wheelchair, and when she returned, she saw that the baby had wet himself. Stephen's face was filled with inhuman anguish. Although the trousers were dry-cleaned, Stephen did not wear them again.

The spouses are used to living in one day, they did not plan the future, but dealt with tasks as they appeared. From a young girl, Jane quickly turned, by her definition, into a "matron" capable of solving problems.

Hawking's wife called physics a "ruthless rival" and "demanding mistress", and about her husband's colleagues she said that they were all pleasant interlocutors, talking about "earthly matters" one by one, but as soon as they got together, they began endless discussions.

Jane Hawking understood that in the learned society of Cambridge she needed to take place as a person, to be “only” a wife and mother meant to fail. In a busy schedule, she found time to write a dissertation in the field of medieval literature... So in the Hawking family there were two professors. Jane Hawking has been with her husband for 26 years. According to daughter Lucy, thanks to their wedding, Hawking received a great incentive to live and work.

Second wife

However, the relationship of the spouses gradually came to naught, which was facilitated by ... Hawking's romantic infatuation with his own nurse, Elaine Mason! In the early 1980s, Elaine was invited to look after Hawking as a professional nurse. Interestingly, Ms. Mason was previously married to an engineer who helped develop a speech synthesizer for the brilliant Briton.

Since 1990, Stephen and Jane have been living in different houses... In 1995, the couple formalized their divorce, and in the same year the 53-year-old professor married Elaine. Neither Jane nor the professor's children attended the wedding ceremony.

After 11 years married life in the fall of 2006, Stephen and Elaine filed for a divorce, the reason for which was not disclosed.

The gifted graduate student's scientific advisor was Dennis Schama. He supported Stephen, believing that he was capable of a career of Newtonian significance. In 1966, Hawking at Trinity College Cambridge defended his dissertation and was awarded academic degree Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.).

After a successful scientific work"Properties of Expanding Universes" for Hawking was entrenched in the image of a talented newcomer.

Since 1968 he has been working for 4 years at the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, after a year he is engaged in research at the Institute of Astronomy. Since 1973 for 2 years he has been working at the Department of Cambridge University (applied mathematics and theoretical physics), after reading the theory of gravity to students, and since 1977 he was a professor of gravitational physics.

For 30 years, from 1979 to 2009, specializing in theoretical physics and cosmology, Hawking worked at Cambridge as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. Isaac Newton also worked in the same honorary, one of the most prestigious in the world, academic post 310 years ago.

In 1973, the astrophysicist came to the USSR and discussed theoretical questions of black holes with Ya. Zel'dovich and A. Starobinsky. Hawking also came to a scientific event on the quantum theory of gravity, which was held in the capital in 1981. Academician V. Rubakov recalls that the Briton was "a bright person with whom it was pleasant to communicate, albeit difficult."

In 2007 Hawking established the Center for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge. According to him, the center was founded to "develop a theory of the universe that will be both mathematically consistent and verifiable from the point of view of observation."

To put it poetically, Hawking wanted to know "What God thinks about," he was not interested in finding an answer to a simpler question. The scientist devoted his life to finding a single equation that would answer the fundamental questions: “Why are we here? How did it appear? Where did they come from? "

Cosmology and quantum gravity were major fields scientific research scientist. The greatest achievement of the professor is considered theoretical research radiation of elementary particles that occurs in black holes. A cosmological theory, presented to the public in 1995, claimed that black holes "evaporate" and "radiate." Hawking refuted the existing opinion of a black hole as a "cosmic cannibal" sucking everything into its bowels. The scientist proved that a black hole is not a one-way ticket, it evaporates and radiates. The radiation received the name of the discoverer - "Hawking radiation".

Hawking's interest in the phenomenon of black holes was aroused by the brilliant mathematician Roger Penrose. Star dying process large mass, as a result of which its density infinitely increases, captivated the young graduate student. Hawking wondered about the opposite of the formation of a black hole: what if we imagine a process that is reversed in time? Not the phenomenon of the contraction of matter into one microscopic point, but, on the contrary, the process of emergence from it ... of everything?

Hawking contributed to the Big Bang, a cosmological model of the emergence of an expanding universe from a tiny point. In the mid-1960s Hawking received the Adams Prize (which he shared with Penrose) for his work in mathematics "Singularities and the geometry of space-time."

But having answered one question - how the Universe appeared (from the singularity), the scientist was puzzled by the disclosure of the very secret of the singularity. Where did this tiny point come from, from which everything originated?

In 1971, the scientist proposed the concept of microscopic black holes, the mass of which is trillions of kilograms and does not exceed the volume of an elementary particle. In 2016, a scientist named microholes as a source of almost unlimited energy. During its operation, the Hadron Collider is theoretically capable of creating microholes.

The emergence of artificial black holes, albeit microscopic, causes certain excitement among the inhabitants of the planet: “will there be a hole that will suck the entire Earth?”.

When answering questions about the safety of experiments, employees of the collider refer to Hawking's discovery. Microholes, they argue, are unstable due to Hawking radiation and will evaporate immediately.

1974 brings first evidence real existence black holes. It turns out to be Cygnus X-1 - an object where X-ray radiation was recorded as a result of matter flowing into it from the star.

Fact, but it was Stephen Hawking who insisted that Swan X-1 is not a black hole at all! In 1974, he even made a comic bet on this topic with a close friend, American physicist By Kip Thorn. Stephen explained the argument like this - if I get disappointed and Swan X-1 is not a black hole, I will at least win the bet! At stake, by the way, was a subscription to the erotic entertainment publication Penthouse.

In 1990, after receiving evidence of a gravitational singularity in the system, Hawking admitted that he was wrong.

In the 70s, Hawking pondered the phenomenon of black holes before going to bed, and one evening he had an insight. He decided to apply quantum mechanics to the black hole and imagined how small elementary particles would behave on its boundary. Thermodynamic processes look like this: particles with negative mass are absorbed by the hole, and thereby reduce its mass (over time, the black hole "evaporates"), and particles with positive mass avoid absorption and become a source of radiation (the black hole "emits"). Looking for " unified theory everything ”, Hawking in his discovery was able to combine the“ theory of the small ”and the“ theory of the large ”(quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of relativity).

Another issue that Hawking has been working on in recent years is the absorption of information by a black hole. According to his hypothesis, voiced in 2015, information does not disappear in the region of large gravitational attraction, but appears on the surface of the event horizon, taking the form of a hologram. Knowing what is happening at the edge of a black hole, you can describe its state inside.

Video: The educational film "Stephen Hawking and the Theory of Everything" clearly informs what the main scientific discoveries scientist

Stephen Hawking was awarded a number of prestigious prizes and awards: in 1978 he received the Einstein Prize, 4 years later - the Order of the British Empire, in 1989 he was awarded the Order of the Knights of Honor, etc. Since 1974 he was a member of the Royal Society of London, was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (1986) and National Academy Sciences USA (1992).

Hawking was ranked 25th among the "100 Greatest Britons of All Time" in a 2002 BBC poll. The scientist himself did not consider himself a genius - "I may be good at something, but I am not Einstein." He called himself "the lucky one who gets paid for doing what he likes."

Stephen Hawking was not only engaged in fundamental science, but also actively popularized it. His first popular science work, A Brief History of Time (1988), sold over 10 million copies. The book has been translated into 40 languages ​​and has been on The Sunday Times' Most Popular Book for over 4.5 years!

This was followed by books that also became bestsellers: "Black Holes and Young Universes" (1993), "The World in a Nutshell" (2001), "Theory of Everything" (2006), etc., 17 books in total. In collaboration with his daughter Lucy, the Briton composed stories about the adventures of the fidget George.

Hawking had a talent for translating from the language of a scientist into a simple human language, lucidly covered scientific topics, acquainting readers with the structure and organization of the Macrocosm.

Even in his old age, in order to meet the demand for his performances, Hawking accepted invitations to lectures. In 1998, at a meeting in the White House, the scientist gave a completely rosy forecast to humanity for the next thousand years. But already in 2003 his statements became threatening: Hawking advised humanity to move to other worlds without delay.

The importance of going beyond the Earth is also discussed by those who dream of colonizing Mars.

In December 2015, the Stephen Hawking Medal for Scientific Communication was presented in London. Within the framework of the STARMUS festival, the award is presented annually for a significant contribution to the dissemination of knowledge in science, art and cinema.

The image of an astrophysicist has long become a cult, and his name is synonymous with courage and talent. The scientist is mentioned in literature, music and films. The professor's voice, who gave him a speech synthesizer, is present in the songs of Pink Floyd, and in the voice acting of the animated series The Simpsons. And here is a shot from the Harry Potter movie, where the prisoner of Azkaban is carried away " Brief history time ".

Hawking appeared in The Big Bang Theory (episode Hawking).

From feature films Of note is Hawking (2004, BBC), which was a 2005 BAFTA nominee for Best Dramatic Film. The film was played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who will continue to play the role of scientists: Alan Turing (in The Game of Imitation 2014), and (in 2017, a trailer for the new film was released).

Another film, Theory of Everything (2014), is known to Russian audiences as Stephen Hawking's Universe. The actors who played the Hawking spouses convey not only the external similarity, but also the characters of the prototypes.

In 2015, the film won an Oscar for Best Actor. Eddie Redmayne, who successfully portrayed Hawking, will later be honored to say farewell speech at the professor's funeral.

The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay (based on Jane Hawking's book).

Stephen Hawking, despite his illness, remained a great lover of life. In 2012, at the opening of the London Paralympic Games, he stated: “There is no such thing as an unremarkable human existence. No matter how difficult life may seem, there is always something that you can do and succeed in it. "

He tried to lead, as far as possible, an active lifestyle. In 2007, Zero Gravity gave him the chance to experience the absence of gravity. While the Boeing-727, re-equipped for these purposes, made turns, sliding down a curve, those on board experienced a state of weightlessness. Stephen said that flying became a real freedom for him, and people who knew him claimed that he had the biggest smile they had ever seen. “It was wonderful,” the professor assured. Flights beckoned Hawking, he admitted that if he was someone like, he would rent spaceship.

Hawking was persistent and decisive on many issues. Played for nuclear disarmament, the fight against climate change and universal health. The professor supported the pacifist movement: in 1968 he took part in the anti-war march against the conflict in Vietnam, in 2003 he called the war in Iraq a "war crime", and so on.

The astrophysicist has been a media darling. The ability to see the bright side of life and perseverance in the face of adversity were important aspects of his warm and open personality.

Stephen Hawking was loving father, during his lifetime managed to acquire a grandson William Smith (1997) from his daughter Lucy.

The scientist was an atheist, and spoke about God like this: "I believe in God if by him is meant the embodiment of the forces that govern the Universe."

Death of a scientist

Stephen Hawking died at the age of 76 on March 14, 2018 in Cambridge. The cause of death was complications caused by his illness. The funeral took place at St. Mary's Church in downtown Cambridge on 31 March. More than half a thousand people gathered to honor the memory of the scientist.

His scientific activity has always been aimed at comprehending the foundations of the universe. In revealing the mysteries of the universe, he made a significant contribution.

The author of the book "Stephen Hawking" H. Mania called the British "the absolute embodiment of a free spirit and a great mind." An ingenious mind, enclosed in a body with disabilities, he became a living demonstration that for human activity there should be no boundaries.