Biography of Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking, English scientist, physicist, and mathematician, was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England to Frank Hawking, a research biologist[->0], and Isobel Hawking. He has two younger sisters, Philippa and Mary, and an adopted brother, Edward. Hawking was not an outstanding student at St. Alban's School, nor did later at Oxford University, which he entered in 1959.He immediately begin postgraduate studies at Cambridge University. The onset of Hawking's graduate education at Cambridge marked a turning point in his life. It was then that he embarked upon the formal study of cosmology, which focused his study. And it was then that he was first stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease, a weakening disease of the nervous and muscular system that eventually led to his total confinement in a wheelchair. At Cambridge his talents were recognized, and he was encouraged to carry on his studies despite his growing physical disabilities. His marriage in 1965 to Jane Wilde was an important step in his emotional life. Jane cared for him until 1990 when the couple separated. They had three children: Robert, Lucy[->1], and Timothy. Hawking married his personal care assistant[->2], Elaine Mason, in 1995; the couple divorced In October 2006. Hawking received his doctorate degree in 1966. He then began his lifelong research and teaching association with Cambridge University. As Hawking's physical condition grew worse his intellectual achievements increased. He wrote down his ideas in A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. It sold over a million copies and was listed as the best-selling nonfiction book for over a year.
In 1993 Hawking wrote Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, which, in addition to his scientific thoughts, contains chapters about Hawking's personal life. He coauthored a book in 1996 with Sir Roger Penrose titled The