Stephen Hawking

PROFESSOR STEPHEN HAWKING d2018. English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author who was director of research in Cosmology at Cambridge University at the time of his death. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009. He achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discusses his theories and cosmology in general. His book A Brief History of Time appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. He was a Fellow of The Royal Society and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2002, he was ranked No25 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. In 1963, he had been diagnosed with an early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease, that gradually paralysed him over the decades. After the loss of his speech, he was able to communicate through a speech generating device ; initially through use of a handheld switch and eventually by using a single cheek muscle. He died on March 14th 2018 at the age of 76, after living with the disease for more than 50 years