HEROES OF SPACE
STEPHEN HAWKING
The theoretical physicist who changed the way we see the universe
WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD
Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford to medical researcher
Frank Hawking and Isobel Eileen Hawking. During his early education
at St Albans School in Hertfordshire, Hawking’s interest in science and contemplation of the universe began. With a nudge from his biologically minded father, Hawking enrolled in natural science at University College, Oxford, in which he obtained first-class honours. It was during this time that Hawking was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. At almost 21 years old, doctors told Hawking that he likely wouldn’t survive for more than two years with the disease. Nevertheless, Hawking continued in his academic pursuits, receiving his doctorate in cosmology from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, for his thesis, entitled Properties of Expanding Universes, in 1966. Within the same year, Hawking received a fellowship to Gonville and Caius College, where he ultimately spent the rest of his career uncovering the mechanics of the universe.