Stephen Hawking

Jordan Packham
Salt Lake Community College Physics 1010

Stephen Hawking is widely known and recognized for his contributions to physics on the
highest levels, even in his old age he continues to work hard towards his goal of a unifying
theory of everything, bringing all four forces together. Hawking has been popular in physics for
a long time, however his break into general fame, was seen when he wrote the book a brief
history of time, to bring many complex ideas of physics to the masses. Hawking throughout his
life has seen many great hardships and in his current is nearly completely paralyzed. Even in

the face of his condition it seems Hawking will never stop pursuing his goals, bringing greater
light to our understanding of the Universe.
Stephen was born on January 8th 1942 in Oxford England. He went to Oxford
university, where he studied physics. Later, he studied Cosmology at Cambridge. While
Stephen Hawking was a PHD student he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrigs disease also
known as amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and was told by doctors that he would only live
2 more years. Hawking's condition was first diagnosed when he was 21, and he was not
expected to see his 25th birthday. (Harmon, 2012) The difficulty of living with ALS has caused
Hawking to need round the clock care and has taken away his independence. Even with all the
struggles he is facing Hawking has sped forward with the help of his assistants and students to
continue solving some of the greatest questions science has to ask.
Hawking radiation, named after Stephen Hawking, is the radiation that is emitted from a
black hole near the event horizon, this radiation can be released in this way due to quantum
effects. Throughout the universe there are pairs of particles that are constantly coming into
existence and splitting up, then when they meet up again their combined matter will equal
zero. These two particles are different and opposing, one with positive mass and the other
paired particle has negative mass. At the event horizon, or the very edge of a black hole when
these particles are spontaneously generating the positive mass particles will be able to escape
the black hole while the negative particle will be sucked in thus annihilating some of the matter
within the black hole. The positive particles are going to be seen as thermal radiation coming
from the black hole. While the black hole is at its bigger stages it loses its mass slowly,
however as time goes on it will lose mass more quickly and the temperature will continue to
increase, when it reaches a critical size it will lose the rest of its mass very quickly. Through
the application of the very small to the very large, quantum mechanics being used to explain
what is happening at the edge of a black hole was a revolutionary, and amazing step to start
unifying the quantum mechanics with relativity.

A Briefer History of Time was released in 1988, this book was extremely popular and
helped plunge Stephen Hawking into his celebrity status. A brief history of time brought science
and many complex topics to the general populace through simpler explanation. Prof Hawking
is the author of A Brief History of Time which has sold 10 million copies (Paris, 2007) with
its wide reaching audience it certainly reached its goal to spread the concepts in the book to
the public. The fascination in this book is great, including topics around cosmology, black
holes, and the big bang all of which considered by many to pique anyone's curiosity.
Stephen Hawking throughout his life has made many accomplishments, due to his
actions and contributions he has also received many great titles. Stephen Hawking earned a
Bachelor's degree in math and physics from Oxford University. Hawking received his Masters
and PHD from Cambridge University in Cosmology. Hawking received the Pius XI medal the
Pius XI Medal is awarded by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences every two years to a young
scientist under the age of 45, chosen by the Academic body for his or her exceptional promise
(Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 2011-2015). Hawking has also received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama. Hawking once held one of the same positions that
Isaac Newton had, the Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. Prof Hawking, 66, will
have held the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics for 30 years at the time of his
retirement (The Telegraph, 2008) Professor Hawking is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a
Member of the US National Academy of Sciences A great organization whose is dedicated to
promoting excellence in science (Royal Society, 2016). With all these great positions held
looking back on his accomplishments can leave you in awe.
Stephen Hawking has contributed many great things with ground breaking theories and
also books and videos to help others understand physics better. His great research and
theories will remain as one of the great stepping stones as others continue to carry on where
he had so much influence. As Hawking continues to try to contribute his life to the dedication of
his goal, I hope that the rest of the physics world can continue its search for the theory of
everything and bring all 4 forces together as one unifying theory as Hawking has tried to do.

Katherine Harmon January 7, 2012. Scientific American: How Has Stephen Hawking Lived
Past 70 with ALS? Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stephen-hawkingals/
Natalie Paris April 26th, 2007. The Telegraph: Hawking to experience zero gravity. Retrieved
from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549770/Hawking-to-experience-zerogravity.html
Pontifical Academy of Sciences 2011-2015. Pius XI Medal: Winners of the Pius XI and Pius XII
Prizes 1939-43 retrieved from
http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/about/medal.html
The Royal Society 2016. The Royal Society retrieved from https://royalsociety.org/
The Telegraph Oct 23, 2008. The Telegraph: Stephen Hawking to retire as Cambridge's
Professor of Mathematics retreived from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3248858/Stephen-Hawking-to-retire-as-CambridgesProfessor-of-Mathematics.html