Campbell, Aero-News Network) (opens in new tab) Professor Stephen Hawking experiences the freedom of weightlessness during a zero gravity flight. He predicted that, following the Big Bang, black holes as tiny as protons were created, governed by both general relativity and quantum mechanics. Using the two theories together, Hawking also determined that black holes are not totally dark but instead emit radiation. Working with fellow cosmologist Roger Penrose, he demonstrated that Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity suggests that space and time began at the birth of the universe and ends within black holes, which implies that Einstein's theory and quantum theory must be united.

He proposed that, since the universe boasts a beginning - the Big Bang - it likely will have an ending. Over the course of his career, Hawking studied the basic laws governing the universe. In 1979, he was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, the most famous academic chair in the world (the second holder was Sir Isaac Newton, also a member of the Royal Society). In 1974, he was inducted into the Royal Society, a worldwide fellowship of scientists. Hawking continued at Cambridge after his graduation, serving as a research fellow and later as a professional fellow. Stephen Hawking pictured in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1979 (Image credit: Photo by Santi Visalli/Getty Images) (opens in new tab) Hawking remarried in 1995 but divorced in 2006. The couple had three children before separating. Just before his diagnosis, Hawking met Jane Wilde, and the two were married in 1965. A speech-generating device constructed at Cambridge, combined with a software program, served as his electronic voice, allowing Hawking to select his words by moving the muscles in his cheek. Talking grew more challenging and, in 1985, an emergency tracheotomy caused his total loss of speech. He attained his PhD in 1966 (Hawking made his PhD thesis available online in 2017) and he went on to forge new roads into the understanding of the universe in the decades since.Īs the disease spread, Hawking became less mobile and began using a wheelchair. Completing his doctorate did not appear likely, but Hawking defied the odds. He was not expected to live more than two years.

In early 1963, just shy of his 21st birthday, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (opens in new tab).

What happened to stephen hawking