Updated on March 8, 2024
Throughout his life, Stephen Hawkings was widely known for his significant contributions to cosmology, the development of the universe, and the study of the origin. During his career, he became a cultural icon and had some interesting facts about his life, some of which amounted to him being one of the greatest theoretical physicists of all time. Here are 20 facts about him.
1. Stephen Hawkings worked on the theory of black holes. He proposed that black holes would emit subatomic particles until they eventually exploded.
2. He wrote 5 children’s books with his daughter Lucy. The first one is titled “George’s Secret Key to the Universe”. Four others were also published in the series.
3. Hawkings at the age of 65, flew up in a space shuttle to experience zero gravity. He was weightless for a total of four minutes.
4. Stephen Hawkings underwent a tracheotomy, and as a result lost his voice. He needed 24-hour care and thankfully in 1985, a Californian computer programmer, because of Hawking’s condition, made a computer to help him speak with his head and eye movement.
5. In 1988, he dreamed of writing a physics book that the general public would understand and wrote it with his speech synthesizer, the result being “A Brief History Of Time.”
6. Stephen Hawkings wanted to prove backward time travel was not possible, and as a result invited time travelers to a party he hosted. No one came, which further proved the point.
7. His PhD doctoral thesis, was called “Properties of the Expanding Universe.” The basis was to show the earth could be created in mathematical terms. When the site hosting the thesis was created, it crashed.
8. He claimed to be an atheist and didn’t believe in God, heaven, or the afterlife. Yet, he claimed the universe and life had meaning.
9. Hawkings was a famous scientist, which earned him spots on several shows such as Star Trek, Big Bang Theory, and The Simpsons.
10. He had an equation named after him, called the “The Hawkings Equation”. The formula is the masterpiece of understanding the theory of black holes. He asked for it to be engraved on his tombstone.
11. Stephen Hawkings and Jim Hartle came up with the Boundless Universe Theory in 1983. It claims the earth has no boundaries, but is a contained entity.
12. Stephen is estimated by the Evening Standard that his net worth was $6.9 million, most of which was as a result of his books.
13. He earned $3 million after winning the Special Fundamental Physics Prize, for his large body of work.
14. Amongst other physicists like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Hawkings supported the “multiverse” theory. This suggests that we are just one of parallel universes out in the cosmos.
15. He received several awards, such as the Albert Einstein Award, the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.
16. Hawkings was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the age of 21. He lived 55 more years and died on March 14, 2018, at the age of 76. “The human race,” he said, “is so puny compared to the universe that being disabled is not of much cosmic significance.”
17. In 1985, he suffered from pneumonia and almost died. His wife insisted on not taking him off life support, after which he eventually recovered. He then finished writing the book “A Brief History Of Time.”
18. Stephen Hawkings married twice. His first wife Jane Wilde mothered his three kids, after which they got a divorce in 1990. He left his wife for his nurse Elaine Mason, after which she filed for a divorce in 2006.
19. He was born on Galileo’s 300th death anniversary and died on Albert Einstein’s birthday.
20. He did not learn to read until he was 8, and in his own words, was a lazy student all through his days at Oxford.
This story illuminates the truth that with courage and perseverance, one can transcend barriers and leave an indelible mark on the world.
RELATED
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 20 Things you didn’t know about the 32nd president of the United States
Frida Kahlo: 20 Things you didn’t know about one of Mexico’s greatest artists
