Stephen Hawking

1. Stephen Hawking A brief history of his life.

2. The Beginning The eldest of Frank and Isobel Hawking's four children, Stephen William Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of the death of Galileo—long a source of pride for the noted physicist—on January 8, 1942. He was born in Oxford, England, into a family of thinkers. His Scottish mother had earned her way into Oxford University in the 1930s—a time when few women were able to go to college. His father, another Oxford graduate, was a respected medical researcher with a specialty in tropical diseases. The Hawkings would go on to have two other children, Mary (1943) and Philippa (1947). And their second son, Edward, was adopted in 1956.

3. At the age of eleven, Stephen went to St. Albans School and then on to University College, Oxford, his father's old college. Stephen wanted to study Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he pursued Physics instead. After three years and not very much work, he was awarded a first  class honours degree in Natural Science. 

4. His debut at the Cambridge University Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there being no one working in that area in Oxford at the time. His supervisor was Denis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph.D. he became first a Research Fellow and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973, Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in 1979, and held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1979 until 2009.  Stephen is still an active part of Cambridge University and retains an office at the Department for Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics. His title is now the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. 

5. His Illness Stephen was diagnosed with ALS shortly after his 21st birthday, a type of motor neurone disease which would eventually cost him almost all neuromuscular control. Although doctors predicted (incorrectly, as it turned out) that Hawking would not survive more than two or three years, he did gradually lose the use of his arms, legs and voice, until he was almost completely paralysed and quadriplegic. In spite of being wheelchair bound and dependent on a computerised voice system for communication Stephen Hawking continues to combine family life (he has three children and three grandchildren), and his research into theoretical physics together with an extensive programme of travel and public lectures.

6. His Theories Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. In the late 1960s, he and his Cambridge friend and colleague, Roger Penrose, applied a new, complex mathematical model they had created from Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity which led, in 1970, to Hawking proving the first of many singularity theorems. This theorem provided a set of sufficient conditions for the existence of a singularity in space-time, and also implied that space and time would indeed have had a beginning in a Big Bang event, and would end inblack holes. In effect, he had reversed Penrose's idea that the creation of a black hole would necessarily lead to a singularity, proving that it was a singularity that led to the creation of the Universe itself.

7. In collaboration with Brandon Carter, Werner Israel and David Robinson, he provided a mathematical proof of John Wheeler's so-called "No-Hair Theorem", that any black hole is fully described by the three properties of mass, angular momentum and electric charge, and proposed the four laws of black hole mechanics, similar to the four classical Laws of Thermodynamics. From analysis of gamma rayemissions, he also suggested that primordial or “mini black holes” would have been formed after the Big Bang. In 1974, Hawking and Jacob Bekenstein showed that black holes are not actually completely black, but that they should thermally create and emit sub-atomic particles, known today as Hawking radiation, until they eventually exhaust their energy and evaporate. This also resulted in the so-called “Information Paradox” or “Hawking Paradox”, whereby physical information (which roughly means the distinct identity and properties of particles) appears to be completely lost to the universe, in contravention of the accepted laws of physics. Hawking defended this paradox against the arguments of Leonard Susskind and others for thirty years, until famously retracting his claim in 2004.

8. Awards Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees. He was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes, is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Stephen Hawking has won many awards and honors such as Pius XI gold medal for science. He has also won the Albert Einstein medal. Stephen Hawking was awarded Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth the II in person. So he is Sir Stephen Hawking.  Stephen Hawking has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

9. Family Life When Hawking was a graduate student at Cambridge, his relationship with a friend of his sister, Jane Wilde, whom he had met shortly before his diagnosis with motor neurone disease, continued to develop. The couple became engaged in October 1964 — Hawking later said that the engagement gave him "something to live for" — and the two were married on 14 July 1965. By December 1977, Jane had met organist Jonathan Hellyer Jones when singing in a church choir. Hellyer Jones became close to the Hawking family, and by the mid-1980s, he and Jane had developed romantic feelings for each other According to Jane, her husband was accepting of the situation, stating "he would not object so long as I continued to love him."[ Jane and Hellyer Jones determined not to break up the family and their relationship remained platonic for a long period.

10. In the late 1980s Hawking had grown 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. Hawking told Jane that he was leaving her for Mason and departed the family home in February 1990. After his divorce from Jane in the spring of 1995, Hawking married Mason in September,declaring "It's wonderful — I have married the woman I love."

11. A Brief History of Time A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a 1988 popular-science book by British physicist Stephen Hawking. It became a bestseller and sold more than 10 million copies in 20 years. It was also on the London Sunday Times bestseller list for more than four years and was translated into 35 languages by 2001. Hawking attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the big bang, black holes and light cones, to the nonspecialist reader. His main goal is to give an overview of the subject, but he also attempts to explain some complex mathematics. In the 1996 edition of the book and subsequent editions, Hawking discusses the possibility of time travel and wormholes and explores the possibility of having a universe without a quantum singularity at the beginning of time.

12. Early in 1983, Hawking first approached Simon Mitton, the editor in charge of astronomy books at Cambridge University Press, with his ideas for a popular book on cosmology. Mitton was doubtful about all the equations in the draft manuscript, which he felt would put off the buyers in airport bookshops that Hawking wished to reach. With some difficulty, he persuaded Hawking to drop all but one equation. The author himself notes in the book's acknowledgements that he was warned that for every equation in the book, the readership would be halved, hence it includes only a single equation: E = mc2. The book does employ a number of complex models, diagrams, and other illustrations to detail some of the concepts it explores.

13. The Theory of Everything Cambridge University astrophysics student Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) begins a relationship with literature student Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). Although Stephen excels at mathematics and physics, his friends and professors are concerned over his lack of thesis topic. After Stephen and his professor Dennis Sciama (David Thewlis) attend a lecture on black holes, Stephen speculates that black holes may have been part of the creation of the universe and decides to write his thesis on time. While pursuing his research, Stephen's muscles begin to fail, eventually causing him to fall and hit his head. He learns he has motor neuron disease; he will be unable to talk, swallow, or move most of his body, and has approximately two years to live. As Stephen becomes reclusive, focusing on his work, Jane confesses her love to him. She tells Stephen's father she intends to stay with Stephen even as his condition worsens. They marry and have a son. Stephen presents his thesis to the examination board, arguing that a black hole created the universe; they tell him his theory is brilliant. While celebrating with Jane and his friends, Stephen realises he cannot walk and begins using a wheelchair.

14. After having a second child, a daughter, Stephen develops a theory about the visibility of black holes and becomes a world-renowned physicist. While focusing on the children, Stephen's health and his increasing fame, Jane is unable to work on her own thesis and is frustrated; Stephen tells her he understands if she needs help. She joins the church choir, where she meets widower Jonathan (Charlie Cox). She and Jonathan become close friends, and she employs him as a piano teacher for her son. Jonathan befriends the entire family, helping Stephen with his illness, supporting Jane, and playing with the children. When Jane gives birth to another son, Stephen's mother asks Jane if the baby is Jonathan's. Jane is appalled; seeing that Jonathan overheard the conversation, when they are alone they admit their feelings for one another. Jonathan stays away from the family, but Stephen visits him, saying that Jane needs him. While Jane and Jonathan take the children camping, Stephen is invited to a concert in Bordeaux and contracts pneumonia. In hospital, the doctors tell Jane that Stephen needs a tracheotomy, which will leave him unable to speak. She agrees to the surgery.

15. Stephen learns to use a spelling board and uses it to communicate with Elaine, his new nurse (Maxine Peake). He receives a computer with a built-in voice synthesiser, and uses it to write a book, A Brief History of Time, which becomes an international best-seller. Stephen tells Jane that he has been invited to America to accept an award and will be taking Elaine with him. Jane and Stephen agree to divorce. Stephen goes to the lecture with Elaine, the two having fallen in love, and Jane and Jonathan reunite. At the lecture, Stephen sees a student drop a pen; he imagines getting up to return it, almost crying at the reminder of how his disease has affected him, and gives an inspiring speech about human endeavour. Stephen invites Jane to meet the Queen with him; they share a happy day together with their children with Stephen saying "Look what we made".

17. Made by: • Fekete Raluca-Maria • Mulea Bianca • Plămadă Ana-Maria • Vlad Anca Class 9 G, social science profile Colegiul National “Horea, CloscasiCrisan” Alba Iulia, Alba county

18. Bibliography: • http://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/scientists_hawking.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking#Primary_and_secondary • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking#Marriages • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Everything_%282014_film%29#Plot