Everyone has heard of Einstein and Bell. But among scientists who live today, there is really only one you absolutely have to know and that is the British physisist Stephen Hawking. He has done ground breaking research about for example gravitation, relativity and black holes.
If you want to know more about him, there is a popular movie in the cinema right now called “The Theory of Everything”. The title is taken from Hawking’s goal to find a theory that can explain all the riddles of the universe. The movie mainly tells the story of the relationship between Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane, but you also get to know some things about his work. In the recent British Academy Film Awards, the movie won three prices, including that for best actor.
Here are a few more interesting things about Hawking:
- Stephen Hawking once had a party then sent out invitations AFTER the party in hope to find time-travellers.
- He suffers from a rare disease, ALS, that make him increasingly paralyzed. That is why he is sitting in a wheel chair. He communicates using a single cheek muscle attached to a speech-generating machine.
- He calls himself atheist, which means he does not believe in God.
- Stephen Hawking has won numerous awards such as: The Albert Einstein award, The Prince of Asturias award and The Hughes Medal (there is way to many to list here. Way to many. Seriously, the page would be like half a mile long!)
- When he was asked what is IQ was he said: “I don’t know, but people who boast about their IQ are losers.”
So there you are! A few things I bet you don’t know about Stephen Hawking.
By Loulou