Stephen William Hawking - biography.

Stephen William Hawking - biography. British theoretical physicist and mathematician Birth January 8, 1942 Place of Oxford, England Birth Known for Making advances in the field of cosmology Discovering several new properties of black holes Explaining theoretical physics to the public through books, films, and lectures Career 1962 Graduated from University College at Oxford University with a bachelor's degree in physics 1966 Received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cambridge 1966-1977 Served as a research assistant, taught physics as an instructor, and began to study black holes while moving through several positions at the University of Cambridge 1974 Became one of the youngest fellows of the Royal Society, a scientific organization in London 1977-1979 Taught physics as a professor at the University of Cambridge 1979- Became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge-the same position once held by Isaac Newton 1988 Published A Brief History of Time, a general audience book in which he explains his cosmological theories in everyday language Did You Hawking's research indicates that black holes can lose mass over time, eventually evaporating away completely. Know Hawking has suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, since the early 1960's. Although he can no longer speak and can barely move, his mind remains unaffected. Hawking's present objective is a unified field theory that, if successful, will combine quantum mechanics with relativity. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.