Stephen Hawking: Great Accomplishments

Who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at 21 and had been told he only had 2 years to live, but lived well over that and ended up being one of the most influential scientists since Einstein? Who developed the theory of the beginning of the universe itself, known as the Big Bang? You may or may not know him, but if you guessed it, it’s Stephen Hawking, who has inspired me to write this speech.

Born January 8, 1942, in Oxford, United Kingdom, Hawking was born into a house where education was very important. Both of his parents, Frank and Isobel Hawking, had studied at Oxford University with multiple degrees. He was known for developing or experimenting with the theories of black holes, the event horizon, matter, general relativity, quantum theory, space-time, and the Big Bang. When he was going off to college, he received a scholarship to Oxford University as well. At Oxford, he studied for his Bachelor’s degree (1962), and later went to Cambridge to receive his Ph.D. in theoretical physics (1966). In 1979, Hawking became the 17th Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, after Sir Issac Newton himself.

Now I’m going to talk about his great accomplishments. In 1970, he discovered that by using quantum theory, and general relativity, he was able to show that black holes emit radiation (later known as Hawking Radiation). In 1973, Hawking discovered that black holes could “leak” energy and particles into space, and even maybe explode into fountains of high-energy sparks. In 1977 he became a professor of gravitational physics at Cambridge University. In 1979, he was appointed Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1982, he was awarded a CBE by the Queen. In 1988, he published one of his most famous books, “A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes,” which was recorded in the 1998 Guinness Book of Records as an all-time best seller. Then, in 1989, he was made a companion of honor. Four years later, in 1993, he published “Black Holes and Baby Universes, and Other Essays,” which was a collection of scientific articles exploring ways in which the universe may be governed. 1998 comes along, and Hawking publishes “Stephen Hawking's Universe: The Cosmos Explained,” which was a book about the basis of our existence and everything around us. In 2001, he released “Universe in a Nutshell” in the UK, which unravels the mysteries of recent breakthroughs in physics. In 2002, he released “On the Shoulders of Giants, The Great Works of Physics and Astronomy,” which was an exploration of some of the greatest visionaries such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Einstein. Later that year, he published “The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe,” a book that presents the most complex theories of physics past and present. Finally, in 2004, Hawking announces that he has solved the Black Hole paradox, which had been troubling scientists for years. He presents his most recent findings at the international conference on general relativity and gravitation in Dublin.

I chose Stephen Hawking for his intelligence and perseverance. His bright mind accomplished so much, all while fighting a fatal disease