STEPHEN HAWKING- POSITIVITY ‘BENCHMARK’ Essay/Summary

STEPHEN HAWKING- POSITIVITY ‘BENCHMARK’

Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8 1942 in Oxford, England. His father was a well-known researcher in tropical medicine but Stephen was interested in studying mathematics and physics. His early school years at St. Alban’s School in London were marked by unhappiness with his peers and on the playing field. While at Oxford he became increasingly interested in physics. After completion of his graduation he immediately began postgraduate studies at Cambridge University.

Hawking’s education at Cambridge marked a turning point in his life as he focused on cosmology in his studies. Then 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. He got married in 1965 and his marriage gave him the determination to live and make professional progress in the world of science. He received his doctorate degree in 1966.

Hawking made his first major contribution in association with Roger Penrose on the idea of singularity. He became popular in 1974 for his two discoveries such as off heat of black holes (Hawking Radiation) and size of black holes. In the 1980s Hawking answered one of Einstein's unanswered theories, the famous unified field theory.

He published a best-selling nonfiction book for over a year, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. In 1993, he wrote a book which contained a few autobiographical elements, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays. In 1996, he and his friend Sir Roger published The Nature of Space and Time. In 2007, he and his daughter Lucy released sequels in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016 for their children’s biographical book George’s Secret Key to the Universe. Despite deteriorating health, he attended book release circuit, motivated differentlyabled people and was praised by them as a hero.

Hawking became a member of Royal Society of London in 1974. He was one of the 100 Great Britons by BBC. He was awarded America’s highest civilian honour in 2009 and Russian Special Fundamental Physics Prize in 2013. Though he was diagnosed with a rare neurone disease he had a highly intellectual and challenging life till his 76^th year. He died on 14 March 2018. He was applauded by his renowned friends and politicians.

Hawking was an inspiration because he transformed our understanding of the universe. The success formula he taught us through his 8 lessons from his extraordinary life and achievements. He has used technology to overcome his disability through voice synthesiser. He refused to let his disability not only halt his research but also his married life with his lover Jane Wilde. He was always curious like a child by questioning himself with ‘why’ and ‘how’. He was very active and he had never lost his sense of humour by cracking jokes on his crazy appearance. He stood by his principles and rejected the title Knighthood for mismanagement of fund for his research and education. He never gave up working on the nature of black holes in spite of criticism and controversy. He valued time as a precious resource because it would be impossible to turn back the clock. He shared his knowledge and had succeeded in making astrophysics and artificial intelligence accessible to everyone. He concluded that if one do not share one’s knowledge by communicating it clearly and effectively one can lose a golden opportunity.