Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) was born in Oxford on January 8, 1942, exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo. From 1979 to 2009, he held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a position once held by Sir Isaac Newton. He was regarded as one of the most prominent theoretical physicists since the time of Albert Einstein. His work in theoretical physics, concerning the origin and structure of the universe, from the Big Bang to black holes, revolutionized the scientific community. His bestselling books contributed to the popularization of science, attracting millions of readers. For his scientific and social contributions, he received numerous awards, honors, and distinctions. In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded Stephen Hawking the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Hawking suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and his health deteriorated over the years. For most of his life, he was almost entirely paralyzed and communicated through a speech-generating device. He was married twice, first to Elaine Mason, with whom he had three children: Lucy, Robert, and Timothy, and then to Jane Hawking. In 2013, he published his autobiographical book "My Brief History." He passed away in Cambridge on March 14, 2018, due to complications from ALS, at the age of 76.