Science Biographies: The Unknown Side of Stephen Hawking

This chapter explores the extraordinary life, scientific breakthroughs, and personal struggles of Stephen Hawking. Beyond his public persona as a brilliant cosmologist bound to a wheelchair, this study covers his eccentric upbringing, his academic journey through Oxford and Cambridge, the dramatic diagnosis of his motor neurone disease, and the engineering marvels that allowed him to communicate with the world.

1. The Paradox of Birth and Early Eccentricities

Stephen Hawking’s life was framed by historic scientific milestones. He was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England—exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo Galilei.

Smart Clarification: The transcript phonetically renders his birth details as "born in chili 300 years after de datastroom." This is a phonetic error in the transcription of "born on January 8th, 300 years after the death of Galileo Galilei."

Family Background and Intellectual Environment

Hawking's parents were highly educated academics who attended the University of Oxford:

• Frank Hawking (Father): A medical researcher who specialized in tropical diseases.
• Isobel Hawking (Mother): One of the few female students at Oxford during her time, studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).

To escape the dangers of the Blitz in London during World War II, the family temporarily relocated to Oxford. They eventually settled in St Albans, where they gained a reputation for being highly eccentric.

Real-Life Analogy: The Hawking Household

The Hawking family lived in a large, cluttered, and structurally neglected house. They kept bees in the basement, traveled around in an old, converted London taxi, and spent dinner times in near-total silence because everyone was intensely reading books at the table.

Despite this intellectual saturation, Stephen was not a childhood prodigy. He was remarkably slow to learn to read, only mastering the skill at eight years old, and his early school grades at the progressive Byron House School were thoroughly average.

2. The St Albans Years and the First Computer

When Stephen was 13, his father wanted him to attend the prestigious Westminster School in London. However, because the family could not afford the tuition fees on their own, Stephen had to sit for a scholarship exam.

Building the First Computer

At St Albans School, Hawking met an inspirational mathematics teacher, Dikran Tahta. Under Tahta's guidance, Hawking and his school friends built a functioning computer. This was a remarkable feat of early DIY engineering, constructed out of discarded materials:

• An old telephone switchboard
• Clock parts
• Scrap metal and other salvaged components

This hands-on project ignited Hawking's passion for understanding the fundamental mechanics of the universe, prompting him to pursue mathematics and physics at the university level.

3. Oxford, Boredom, and the Rowing Club

Stephen’s father, Frank, strongly discouraged him from studying mathematics at university, fearing that there were very few career prospects for mathematicians. Yielding to his father's wishes, Hawking applied to study Physics at University College, Oxford, winning a scholarship to cover his expenses.

The Oxford Slump

During his first 18 months at Oxford, Hawking was deeply unhappy, lonely, and academically unmotivated. The work was ridiculously easy for him, leading to extreme boredom. He later estimated that he did only about one hour of work per day during his entire undergraduate career.

The Turning Point: Joining the Rowing Club

To combat his isolation and make friends, Hawking joined the college rowing club. Because of his lightweight build, he did not row; instead, he took on the role of the coxswain (the person who sits at the stern, steers the boat, and directs the crew).

While the rowing club made him highly popular and socially active, it further distracted him from his academic studies, setting up a high-stakes crisis at graduation.

4. The Cambridge Transition and the Borderline Oral Exam

To pursue his postgraduate studies in cosmology at the University of Cambridge, Hawking needed to graduate from Oxford with a First-Class Honors degree. Because of his lack of study, his final exam results fell exactly on the borderline between a First-Class and a Second-Class degree.

To resolve his grade, the Oxford examiners summoned him for an oral examination (viva). Hawking used his sharp wit to turn the situation to his advantage.

The Famous Ultimatum

During the oral exam, Hawking told the examiners:

"If you award me a First, I will go to Cambridge. If you award me a Second, I will stay at Oxford. Therefore, I expect you will give me a First."

The examiners, recognizing his raw intelligence and perhaps amused by his audacity, awarded him his First-Class degree. In 1962, Hawking arrived at Cambridge to begin his postgraduate work in cosmology.

5. The Devastating Diagnosis and Finding a Purpose

Upon arriving at Cambridge, Hawking was disappointed to learn that he was assigned to Dennis Sciama as a supervisor, rather than the world-famous astronomer Fred Hoyle. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Sciama was an exceptionally supportive mentor who kept Hawking intellectually stimulated during the darkest period of his life.

The ALS Diagnosis

During his final year at Oxford, Hawking had noticed a growing physical clumsiness, occasionally falling down stairs or struggling to tie his shoes. In 1963, at the age of 21, he underwent medical testing and was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (also known as Motor Neurone Disease).

Hawking fell into a deep depression, feeling there was no point in continuing his PhD if he was going to die so quickly.

The Catalyst: Jane Wilde

The turning point came when he met Jane Wilde, a language student, at a party. The two fell deeply in love. The prospect of marriage gave Hawking a powerful reason to live and work. They married in 1965, providing him with the emotional stability and purpose needed to throw himself entirely into his cosmological research.

6. Revolutionizing Cosmology: Black Holes and Hawking Radiation

Hawking’s research focused on the most extreme objects in the universe: black holes.

The Foundation

Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity predicted the existence of black holes—regions of space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. However, Einstein himself was highly skeptical that these "monsters" actually existed in reality.

In the 1960s, mathematician Roger Penrose proved mathematically that black holes could realistically form when massive stars collapse at the end of their life cycles.

The Discovery of Hawking Radiation

Hawking took Penrose’s work further by combining General Relativity (the physics of the very large) with Quantum Mechanics (the physics of the very small). In doing so, he made a shocking discovery: black holes are not completely black.

This escaping radiation, now known as Hawking Radiation, implies that black holes slowly leak mass and will eventually evaporate entirely over vast stretches of time.

The Information Paradox

This discovery led to a major unresolved puzzle in modern physics: The Black Hole Information Paradox.

• If a black hole evaporates, what happens to the information about the objects that fell into it?
• Quantum mechanics dictates that information can never be destroyed.
• If the information is lost forever when the black hole evaporates, it violates the fundamental laws of physics.
• Hawking initially argued that the information is lost, but later conceded that it might be recovered through the radiation, though the puzzle remains unsolved.

7. The Big Bang Singularity and Views on Creation

Hawking applied the mathematical models of black hole collapses in reverse to understand the origin of the entire universe.

The Cosmic Singularity

If a collapsing star shrinks down to an infinitely dense point called a singularity, then reversing the expansion of the universe means that everything must have originated from a single, infinitely dense point in the past. This work provided powerful mathematical backing for the Big Bang Theory.

Views on God and the "Fireworks" Analogy

Hawking’s work led him to conclude that the laws of physics (specifically gravity) allowed the universe to create itself from nothing.

Real-Life Analogy: Hawking referenced the "primeval atom" theory of Georges Lemaître (the priest and physicist who first proposed the Big Bang). Lemaître compared the Big Bang to a display of fireworks. Hawking argued that while one might view the laws of gravity as the "creator," there was no need for a personal God to step in and "light the touchpaper" to start the fireworks. The universe could begin entirely on its own.

8. The Strain of Disability and the Tracheostomy Crisis

As Hawking's physical condition deteriorated, the burden of his care fell squarely on his wife, Jane.

Domestic Tensions

By the late 1970s, Hawking was confined to a wheelchair and could no longer feed, dress, or bathe himself. Jane had to care for him while raising their three children. The physical and emotional strain was immense.

To cope, Jane turned to her local church choir, where she met organist John Jones. Jones became a close family friend, moving into the household to help care for the children and support Jane, creating a highly unconventional domestic arrangement.

The 1985 Switzerland Crisis

In 1985, while visiting the CERN research center in Geneva, Switzerland, Hawking contracted a severe case of pneumonia. He was placed on life support, and doctors asked Jane if they should turn off the ventilator. Jane flatly refused.

To save his life, doctors performed an emergency tracheostomy (cutting a hole in his windpipe). The operation was successful, but it permanently destroyed his vocal cords, leaving him completely unable to speak.

9. Engineering a Voice: The Evolution of Hawking's Communication Systems

Initially, Hawking was reduced to communicating by raising his eyebrows to select letters on a spelling card. This was agonizingly slow and exhausting.

The Technological Evolution

To restore his ability to communicate, a series of engineering solutions were developed over the years:

The Predictive Text Breakthrough

As Hawking lost the use of his hand muscles, Intel engineers built a state-of-the-art system that detected twitches in his cheek muscle via an infrared sensor. Because selecting letters one by one was incredibly slow, they integrated a predictive text algorithm (similar to modern smartphone keyboards).

By analyzing Hawking's books and academic papers, the system could predict his next words with incredible accuracy. If he typed "black," the system would immediately suggest "hole." This allowed him to continue writing books, delivering lectures, and conducting research.

10. Global Celebrity, "A Brief History of Time," and Later Years

In 1988, Hawking published his landmark popular science book, A Brief History of Time.

The $E = mc^2$ Rule

His editors warned him that every mathematical equation included in a popular science book would halve its sales. To maximize readership, Hawking omitted all equations except for one: Albert Einstein's famous formula,