Stephen hawking childhood biography summary

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Stephen hawking family

Stephen Hawking was a British scientist, professor and author who performed groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology, and whose books helped to make science accessible to everyone. At age 21, while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge , he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS. Part of his life story was depicted in the film The Theory of Everything.

Hawking was born on January 8, , in Oxford, England. His birthday was also the th anniversary of the death of Galileo — long a source of pride for the noted physicist. The eldest of Frank and Isobel Hawking's four children, Hawking was born into a family of thinkers. His Scottish mother earned her way into Oxford University in the s — a time when few women were able to go to college.

His father, another Oxford graduate, was a respected medical researcher with a specialty in tropical diseases. Hawking's birth came at an inopportune time for his parents, who didn't have much money. The political climate was also tense, as England was dealing with World War II and the onslaught of German bombs in London, where the couple was living as Frank Hawking undertook research in medicine.

In an effort to seek a safer place, Isobel returned to Oxford to have the couple's first child.