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Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England. His
family had moved to Oxford to escape the threat of V2 rockets over London.
His physics tutor at Oxford, Robert Berman, later said that Stephen Hawkins was
an extraordinary student.
He used few books and made no notes, but could work out theorems and
solutions in a way other students couldn’t.
It was in Cambridge that Stephen Hawking first started to develop symptoms of neuro
muscular problems – a type of motor neuron disease. This quickly affected his physical
ability. His speech became slurred and he become unable to even feed himself. At one
stage, the doctors gave him a life span of three years.
However, the progress of the disease slowed down and he has managed to overcome
his severe disability to continue his research and active public engagements.
Hawking had experienced increasing clumsiness during his final year at Oxford,
including a fall on some stairs and difficulties when rowing.
The problems worsened, and his speech became slightly slurred; his family noticed
the changes when he returned home for Christmas and medical investigations were
begun.
The diagnosis of motor neurone disease came when Hawking was 21, in 1963. At the
time, doctors gave him a life expectancy of two years.
In the late 1960s, Hawking's physical abilities declined: he began to use crutches
and ceased lecturing regularly.
His wife Jane Hawking later noted that "Some people would call it determination,
some obstinacy. I've called it both at one time or another.“
He required much persuasion to accept the use of a wheelchair at the end of the
1960s, but ultimately became notorious for the wildness of his wheelchair driving.
Hawking was a popular and witty colleague, but his illness, as well as his reputation
for brashness, distanced him from some
Hawking's speech deteriorated, and by the late 1970s he could only be understood by
his family and closest friends. To communicate with others, someone who knew him
well would translate his speech into intelligible speech
For his communication, Hawking initially raised his eyebrows to choose letters on a
spelling card. But in 1986 he received a computer program called the "Equalizer"
from Walter Woltosz, CEO of Words Plus.
Hawking could now simply press a switch to select phrases, words or letters
from a bank of about 2,500–3,000 that are scanned.
Hawking gradually lost the use of his hand, and in 2005 he began to control
his communication device with movements of his cheek muscles, with a
rate of about one word per minute.
Stephen Hawking has become one of the most famous scientists of his
generation. He makes frequent public engagements and his portrayed himself in
popular media culture from programmes such as the Simpsons to Star Trek.