How Did Stephen Hawking Impact The World?

Stephen W. Hawking: The man who created the theory of everything. That sounds like a person who would be interesting to meet. Not to mention that Stephen Hawking was one of the greatest physicists ever and besides he born on the 300th anniversary of the death of Galileo; the first person to study the sky with a telescope (McDaniel, 21). Hawking was involved in the rowing team at Oxford and it changed him; he was no longer a awkward, lonely genius. Hawking achieved many things in his lifetime which positively impacted America and physicists throughout the world. Stephen Hawking impacted American society through the discovery of black hole radiation, his entertainment and his inspirational lifelong struggle with ALS which left him
Hawking got into college at Cambridge University in Oxford, England in 1959 at 17 years old but Cambridge did not offer mathematics so he went into physics and cosmology which is the study of the universe (McDaniel, 30). It was a rough and sometimes boring path but after he got ALS Hawking started to be more devoted to his work. That is when Hawking Radiation was discovered which showed essential information on how gravity relates to other forms of energy. Spontaneous creation is the only reason that there is something rather than empty space and why the universe and humans exist which was one of goals that Stephen Hawking was going to find out an answer to and understand it (Biographies Online). In 1974 Hawking turned into a celebrity in the science world when he demonstrated that matter in radiation can escape the gravitational force of a star. At 32 years old Stephen was named a fellow of the Royal Society, earned an Einstein award and also received a Pius XI Gold medal for science from Pope John Paul VI (Street). Stephen Hawking was not like most people who retire at 60; he was still excelling in both his professional career and personal life. While Hawking was living with a deadly
In 1963 when Stephen Hawking was 21, he went to a family doctor and found out he had amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or in Britian known as a motor neuron disease and in the U.S. it’s known as Lou Gehrig’s (McDaniel 15). ALS causes nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to weaken and die which ended up leading him to become paralyzed. Doctors estimated Stephen to live for only two years but Stephen was strong; he knew if he was going to die he might as well do something good and that’s when he focused more on finding more information about the black hole radiation. In 1985 Stephen lost his voice to a tracheotomy and had to use a computer to speak for him making the only thing that worked on Hawking’s body were his hands (Biographies Online). Stephen Hawking’s story serves as an inspiration to children and adults everywhere, especially those struggling with a chronic illness. Stephen Hawking decided to turn his life and his scientific discoveries into entertainment. Hawking’s achievement in his science and living with his disease caused him to become internet famous. After he published his book called A Brief History of Time when he could only move his hands he was invited to give lectures everywhere on his physics on the black holes.