Arianna Alvarez

10/25/2015
Multi Genre Project
UWRT 1103
Stephen Hawking Biographical Summary

What do you think about when one says the name Stephen Hawking? Is he a
vague memory in your brain? Do you think about him or what he did? What point did
you find out about Stephen Hawking? The iconic name has been repeated throughout
half of the 20th century to today, so much so that it has become a household name
throughout the United States and United Kingdom. Stephen Hawking, so many
adjectives to put into one sentence: renown cosmologist, Lucasan Professor (once a
position held by Isaac Newton), current survivor of ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease aka
Amyotrophic Lateral Disease), father of three, ex-husband to two ex-wives, and
subtle comedian. The characteristics Ive given are contributing factors towards
Hawkings immense popularity within popular culture. Stephen Hawkings popularity
stemmed from his early days in Oxford University to this day and not just for his
scientific contributions to the scientific community.
Why did Stephen Hawking become so famous compared to other scientists who
probably contributed as much, if not more than Hawking? Its simple, Hawkings
comeback story is the most renown and heartfelt timeline to occur to a scientist. By
the age of twenty-one, Hawking began to develop cosmological theories, an iconic
relationship with Jane Wilde, and a motor-neuron disease known as ALS (). Hawking

continues to deal with the physical limitations due to his crippling disease, but that
hasnt stopped Hawking in the least. Stephen Hawking had a unique and knowledge
plentiful life before and after ALS. Before the crippling disease of ALS, Stephen
Hawking was taking a glimpse within the world of physics and cosmology.
Stephen Hawking attended Oxford University at the age of seventeen with the
prospects of going into cosmology. In 1962, Hawking graduated with an honors in
natural sciences and gained a spot to attend Trinity Hall at Cambridge University for a
doctorate degree in cosmology. In Hawkings, first-year in Cambridge, he took notice
of his falling, tripping, and inability to talk clearly. It became evident that his disease
was beginning to develop. As Hawkings disease developed throughout his 20s, it
became harder to have a family with his wife Jane. In addition, to the life back
home, Stephen Hawking was developing cosmological theories within the scientific
community. Hawking made several contributions such as Hawking Radiation, theories
upon black holes and their impending existence, and still trying to develop The
Theory of Everything. Throughout Hawkings life, he had to face the fact that the
availability of his motor-neuron abilities would disappear and leave him disabled.
Disabled with three children and a wife that couldnt fathom the increase popularity
of Stephen Hawking. Why was Hawkings popularity increasing in great lengths? It is
the question asked from a great number of years of notoriety and professionalism
within Hawkings field. Why were we looking at Stephen Hawking in popular culture
than ever before?
In the wake of Stephen Hawkings complete inability for motor-neuron
capabilities, the media began to give Stephen Hawking more lime-light in regards to

his disability and wondrous mental capability within the realm of cosmological
science. A man that is stuck within the confines of a wheelchair can expand his mind
so greatly that it defies what people thought about the universe prior to Hawkings
greatest theories.