Transcript Stephen Hawking

Created by: Michael Newman
Stephen Hawking is a famous physicist that showed that Einstein's General Theory
of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and
an end in black holes. Hawking discovered a theory . Hawking discovered a
theory that black holes were not back, and that black holes could emit radiation,
calling it Hawking Radiation.
 Stephen Hawking suffers from Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou
Gehrig’s Disease, Motor Neuron Disease, or as
the French calls it maladie de Charcot. ALS is a
fatal and incurable neurological disease that
damages the motor neurons in the brain and
spinal cord. Motor neurons are nerve cells that
control your movement. The upper and lower
motor neurons are an important part of the
body’s neuromuscular system.
 Over time, ALS causes these motor neurons to
shrink and disappear in the brain and spinal
cord, therefore the muscles no longer receive
signals to move. The muscles become smaller
and weaker, and gradually the body becomes
paralyzed.
 In his last year attending Oxford in 1962, he began noticing his clumsiness and
slurred speech increasing. When Hawking returned home from Christmas his father
urged him to see a doctor. At age 21, Hawking was diagnosed with ALS. During the
1960’s his health worsened leading him to use crutches, he slowly lost the ability to
write, and in 1969 he was confined to a wheelchair. In 1985, Hawking caught
pneumonia and required tracheotomy, and would never speak again. Stephen
Hawking was known for his sense of humor but he was also known for his
independency, his disease did not affect his will to learn, in fact when he lost his
ability to write he adapted to visual methods—seeing equations in terms of
geometry.
Stephen Hawking has a
positive and very
strong outlook on life;
one time when he was
at the hospital he
witnessed a boy, in a
bed opposite to his, die
from leukemia. From
that point on, he always
remembered that
young boy and never
took advantage of life
or felt sorry for himself.
Hawking travels,
lectures, and Hawking
had the opportunity to
go on zero gravity
flight, experience
weightlessness, and
was able to do
acrobatic moves.
 Despite the difficulties Stephen
Hawking has had due to ALS, he has
“overcome” his disability through the
use of technology. Hawking can no
longer speak, but has special
computers to allow him to
communicate with the world.
 Stephen Hawking has been quite
often asked, “How do you feel about
having ALS?” Hawking’s answer is,
“Not a lot. I try to lead as normal a life
as possible, and not think about my
condition, or regret the things it
prevents me from doing, which are
not many.” Hawking has lived with
ALS most of his life, but never let his
disease prevent him from living his
life.
 Stephen Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death (January 8, 1942).
 Stephen Hawking is a remarkably smart man, but when he was younger he didn’t do so
well in school, at one point he ranked three spots from the bottom of his class.
 Stephen Hawking’s father wanted him to study medicine.
 Stephen Hawking was a Coxswain in the rowing team at Oxford.
 Stephen Hawking was given a few years to live, after being diagnosed with ALS. He is now
71 years old.
 In 1979, Hawking attained the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of
Cambridge in England. The chair dates all the way back to 1663, and the second person to
hold it was Sir Isaac Newton.
 Stephen Hawking has not been awarded a Nobel Prize
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/stephen-
hawking/8994788/Prof-Stephen-Hawkings-voice-slows-downas-his-face-muscles-weaken.html
 http://www.special-education-degree.net/stephen-hawking/
 http://www.healthworks.my/als/
 http://mail.colonial.net/~hkaiter/Stephen_Hawking.htm