Stephen Hawking Biography

Stephen Hawking (1942 – 2018) is an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author. He is best known for his attempts to explain in clear terms the origins of the universe and some of the most complicated aspects of the cosmos and physics.[3] Hawking was the first scientist to offer a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.[1]

Early life Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England[1]. His family had moved to Oxford to escape the threat of V2 rockets over London.[1] As a child, he showed prodigious talent and unorthodox study methods[1*].[3] On leaving school, he got a place at University College, Oxford University where he studied Physics. His physics tutor at Oxford, Robert Berman, later said that Stephen Hawking was an extraordinary student. He used few books and On gaining a B.A.Hons in Physics, he briefly stayed to study astronomy but was not interested in observing sunspots so moved to Trinity College, Cambridge where he was able to pursue his passion for theoretical astronomy and cosmology.[1]

It was in Cambridge that Stephen Hawking first started to develop symptoms of neuro-muscular problems – a type of motor neuron disease.[1] This quickly started to hamper his physical movements. His speech became slurred, and he became unable to even to feed himself. At one stage, the doctors gave him a lifespan of three years. However, the progress of the disease slowed down, and he has managed to overcome his severe disability to continue his research and active public engagements. At Cambridge, a fellow scientist developed a synthetic speech device which enabled him to speak by using a touchpad.[2] This early synthetic speech sound has become the ‘voice’ of Stephen Hawking, and as a result, he has kept the original sound of this early model – despite technological advancements.

Nevertheless, despite the latest technology, it can still be a time-consuming process for him to communicate. Stephen Hawking has taken a pragmatic view to his disability:

“It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining[2]. ” The Guardian (27 September 2005)

Stephen Hawking’s principal fields of research have been involved in theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity.

Sumber https://www.biographyonline.net/scientists/stephen-hawking.html

notes : [1] : the tenses that are used in this article = past

[2] gerund

[3] : personal pronouns