How old is Stephan Hawking?

Stephen Hawking is remembered as one of the most influential scientists of our time and a leading figure in such fields as cosmology and theoretical physics. He was born in Oxford in 1942, where he later studied mathematics at University College and received his bachelor’s degree in 1962. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in 1966, his research focused on cosmology and the origins of the universe.

Hawking’s scientific work tackled some of the most difficult problems, including general relativity, black holes and the nature of space-time. Together with Roger Penrose, he developed important theories about gravitational singularities and the prediction of black hole radiation, later known as Hawking radiation. In 1974, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1979 he was honored to become the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, a position once held by Isaac Newton.

Hawking received numerous prestigious honors during his career, including the Wolf Prize in Physics, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2012. He also gained international fame as the author of popular-science bestsellers like A Brief History of Time and Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays. Stephan Hawking suffered from motor neuron disease in his early twenties but continued his work for decades in the face of severe physical limitations. He passed away in 2018, aged 76, and left a significant scientific legacy. 

Related Scientists Birthdays