Introduction
Stephen Hawking was one of the most famous scientists of the modern era. His achievements in physics placed him in the same row as people like Einstein. Hawking mostly advanced theories associated with the universe and its development. Moreover, he put effort into popularizing science among people, and his findings became discussed even among individuals who have no understanding of complex physics. This paper describes the life of Stephen Hawking and his most important works.
Biography
The path of a scientist was determined for Stephen Hawking from the start. Being born in 1942 in a family of a tropical medicine researcher, he was influenced by his father to take this path (Mellors). However, he found biology vague and unspecific, so mathematics and physics became his choice. Being a talented young man, Hawking did not take much time to study since he could easily understand most of the information intuitively. However, this fact did not prevent him from receiving first-class honors in physics upon graduating from Oxford University in 1962 (Mellors). His primary interest at that time was the theory of relativity.
However, it was a cosmology that drew Hawking’s attention later in his life. This was the field he concentrated on during his post-graduate studies at Cambridge University, which he finished in 1966 with a doctorate (Mellors). Discovering the origins of the universe became the goal of his life, and eventually led him to develop some of the most outstanding theories in modern science. For example, Hawking introduced the concept of singularity as one of his earliest works (Mellors). He claimed that it is a place that can be situated in a black hole, where time, space, and matter act differently.
Stephen Hawking also had an interesting personality and a challenging life. During his university studies, he was diagnosed with ALS – a disease that made him lose the ability to move and speak in several decades (Mellors). However, it did not decrease his passion for work and life. He managed to lead a successful career, publish several non-fiction books about space science, and even married twice and had children (Mellors). Stephen Hawking died in 2018 but left many people inspired about cosmology and universe discovery.
Conclusion
Stephen Hawking was one of the most prominent physics scientists, who introduced some of the most important theories that are currently used in space exploration. Despite having a progressing disease influencing his activities, he led an active lifestyle and managed to make many people interested in this field. Hawking’s findings have completely changed the knowledge about the universe, making humankind one step closer to discovering its origins.
Work Cited
Mellors, Julie, editor. Gale Biography Presents: Scientists and Inventors. Gale Cengage Learning, 2018.