Stephen Hawking: An Extraordinary Physicist
Stephen Hawking is probably the best known astrophysicist today. Born in 1942, he is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. His publications for the general public on time and on black holes are best sellers. The man behind the work is as interesting as the scientific theories he proposes.
Stephen Hawking was born in war time Britain, one of four children and the son of Frank and Isobel Hawking. His father was a research biologist. Hawking was interested in studying mathematics but University College, Oxford, where he enrolled, did not offer the subject and so he studied physics instead focussing on relativity, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. It was obvious to his fellow students and his tutors that he possessed an exceptional intelligence.
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