搜索
StephenWilliamHawking•Earlylife•Graduateschool•Theoryofsingularity•Publications•Honorsandcommitments•StephenWilliamHawkingwasbornon8January1942(300yearsafterthedeathofGalileo)inOxford,England.•Whenhewaseight,hisfamilymovedtoSt.Albans,atownabout20milesnorthofLondon.•Attheageofeleven,StephenwenttoSt.AlbansSchoolandthenontoUniversityCollege,Oxford;hisfather'soldcollege.•Afterthreeyearsandnotverymuchwork,hewasawardedafirstclasshonoursdegreeinNaturalScience.StephenHawkingat19,coxingforanOxfordrowingeight.Theyearwas1961.Hawkingclaimedhebecameinvolvedwithrowingbecausehewasboredstudyingphysics.StephenthenwentontoCambridgetodoresearchinCosmology.AftergaininghisPh.D.hebecamefirstaResearchFellowandlateronaProfessorialFellowatGonvilleandCaiusCollege.AfterleavingtheInstituteofAstronomyin1973,StephencametotheDepartmentofAppliedMathematicsandTheoreticalPhysics.Mydreamsatthattimewereratherdisturbed.Beforemyconditionhadbeendiagnosed,Ihadbeenveryboredwithlife.Therehadnotseemedtobeanythingworthdoing.ButshortlyafterIcameoutofhospital,IdreamtthatIwasgoingtobeexecuted.IsuddenlyrealisedthattherewerealotofworthwhilethingsIcoulddoifIwerereprieved.Anotherdream,thatIhadseveraltimes,wasthatIwouldsacrificemylifetosaveothers.Afterall,ifIweregoingtodieanyway,itmightaswelldosomegood.ButIdidn'tdie.Infact,althoughtherewasacloudhangingovermyfuture,Ifound,tomysurprise,thatIwasenjoyinglifeinthepresentmorethanbefore.Ibegantomakeprogresswithmyresearch,HawkingmarriedhisfirstwifeJaneWildein1965.Hismarriagewasanimportantstepinhisemotionallife.Marriagegavehim,herecalled,thedeterminationtoliveandmakeprofessionalprogressintheworldofscience.ProfessorHawkingmarriedhissecondwifeElaineMasonatCambridgeregistryofficeinSeptember1995.MasonhadbecomehisnurseafterhissplitfromWilde.Hawkingdivorcedforthesecondtimein2006.TheQueenmeetsHawkingin2006ataBuckinghamPalacereceptionforrepresentativesoftheBritishscientificcommunity.StephenHawkinggivenPresidentialMedalofFreedombyBarackObamaNelsonMandelameetsHawkinginJohannesburginMay2008.HawkingwasinAfricatolendhissupporttoplanstocreatethecontinent'sfirstpostgraduatecentresforadvancedmathsandphysicsaftertheBritishgovernmentrefusedtoprovidefunding.