STEPHEN HAWKING TAKES ADVANTAGE OF ADVERSITY- (Scientific)

 “I got an Education there that was as good as, if not better than, I would have had at Westminster. I have never found that my lack of social graces has been a hindrance”, a highlighted expression of Hawking, a model of overcoming, and professional development, despite of his disability.

Was born in Oxford (Great Britain) on January 8, 1942, being the oldest of four children, his parents were Frank and Isobel Hawking Hawking. He married twice, first with Jane Wilde in 1965, who had three children with, and with his nurse Elaine Mason on September 16th, 1995.

A model of overcoming

Progress in intellectual activity has not stopped despite suffering from a degenerative neuromuscular disease.

Fame of school does not determine success.

In 1950 his parents moved to St. Albans, where he attended the Institute for Girls in St. Albans (which admitted boys up to age 10 years) and 11 years changed to the namesake school, where he was a good student but not brilliant.

At first, Hawking wanted to study mathematics at the University, inspired by his teacher, but her father wanted him to agree to University College, Oxford, as he had done. In the absence of a math teacher at the time, the college did not accept students of that discipline, so Hawking enrolled in natural sciences and got a scholarship.

Illness is not obstacle

Stephen Hawking is severely disabled as a result of their disease: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which did not prevent him from maintaining its high scientific and public activity. The first symptoms of the disease appeared during his stay in Oxford and finally he was diagnosed with ALS at age 21. At that time the doctors predicted he would not live more than 2 or 3 years (average survival time of the disease), but for unknown reasons, is one of the few people who has survived many more years, even suffering the gradual advance of the disability. (history)

Professional Development

In High school Hawking was not an outstanding student, however, he decided to study mathematics and physics at University College, Oxford, where he earned his degree in 1962 and his doctorate in 1966 at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

Scientific Researches

He focused his scientific interest in the field of general relativity, particularly in the physics of black holes. In 1974, according to the predictions of quantum physics, he proposed that black holes emit subatomic particles to deplete their energy, to finally explode.

Among his publications are: The Large Scale Structure of Space-time with G. F. R. Ellis, General Relativity: Review on the Centennial of Einstein with W. Israel, and 300 Years of Gravity, with W Israel. Stephen Hawking has published three popular books: his bestseller A Brief History of Time (History of Time: From Big Bang to black holes), Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, in 2001. The Universe in a Nutshell, in 2005; and other important researches. (biografiasyvidas)

Recognition

He was elected to the Royal Society that same year, three years later; he was appointed professor of gravitational physics at Cambridge, where, two years later, he obtained the Lucasian chair of mathematics, like Isaac Newton.

On August 12, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama delivers the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 There are buildings that have been named in his honor: the Science Museum Stephen W. Hawking in San Salvador, the Stephen Hawking Building in Cambridge, and the Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada. Also at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, University of Cambridge, it was unveiled a statue of Hawking by Ian Walters, on December 19, 2007. (wikipedia)

Stephen Hawking is a clear example that a person’s success does not depend on the place of origin, or institution where he or she has been educated, but on the effort and wish that each one has; likewise, physical limitations caused by a disease must not be a getting stuck reason. It must be taking into account Hawking's words, when he said: "Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change."

                                                                                                                                  By: Mirna Reyes