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About Stephen. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from http://www.hawking.org.uk/about-stephen.html

Editor, Roger Highfield Science. “Stephen Hawking's Explosive New Theory.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 26 June 2008, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3345641/Stephen-Hawkings-explosive-new-theory.html.

What Discoveries Were Made by Stephen Hawking? (2018, March 14). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://owlcation.com/stem/What-Discoveries-Were-Made-by-Stephen-Hawking

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"The Big Bang theory says that the universe of matter and energy began at a single point, which reached a critical mass, then exploded outward. The universe continues to expand. In a closed universe theory, at some point, the universe is going to 'hit the wall,' when enough energy has been expended from the original big bang, then begin to shrink again. In an open universe theory, the universe will just continue to expand indefinitely as the force of gravity becomes weaker and weaker as objects in space spread further apart." ~ Stephen Hawking.

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Professor Stephen Hawking worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. Alongside Roger Penrose, they showed that Einstein's general theory of relativity implied that space and time have a beginning and an end. They believed it was necessary to unify general relativity with quantum theory. Because of unification, Hawking discovered that black holes should not be completely black, and should emit 'Hawking' radiation.  Hawking radiation is described to be the existence of radiation emitted through a black hole and comes out the other side.  Hawking also thought the universe has no edge or boundary in time. Alongside Thomas Hertog at CERN and Jim Hartle, in 2006 Hawking developed a theory of "top-down cosmology". This states the universe had not one unique initial state but many different ones, therefore it is inaccurate to formulate a theory that predicts the universe's current configuration from just one initial state.  Towards the end of his life, Stephen was working on possible solutions to the black hole information paradox.

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Professor Stephen Hawking received thirteen honorary degrees in his many years of research. He was awarded CBE, Companion of Honour and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the late 1900s and early 2000s. He received numerous awards and prizes including the most recognized,  Fundamental Physics prize in 2013, Copley Medal in 2006 and the Wolf Foundation prize in 1988.

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At a young age, Stephen wanted to study mathematics, although his father wanted him to pursue medicine. Since mathematics was not available at University College, he decided to enter the world of physics instead. In October 1962, Hawking went to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge to do research in cosmology.  After gaining his PhD in 1965 with his thesis titled 'Properties of Expanding Universes', he became, first, a research fellow and in 1966 he won the Adams Prize for his essay 'Singularities and the Geometry of Space-time'.  Stephen moved to the Institute of Astronomy in 1968, employed as a research assistant and published his first academic book, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, with George Ellis. During the next few years, in 1974, Stephen was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at the California Institute of Technology. He then held the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1979 to 2009.

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During his career, Hawking released numerous publications including The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with G F R Ellis, General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey, and 300 Years of Gravitation, with W Israel. He also wrote many popular books including, A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays, The Universe in a Nutshell, and The Grand Design and My Brief History.

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Professor Stephen William Hawking was born on 8th January, 1942 in Oxford, England.  In 1963, Stephen was diagnosed with ALS.  ALS is a form of Motor Neurone Disease, that causes the brain cells in control of movement, to deteriorate. Hawking was forced to be in a wheelchair and depended on a computerized voice system for communication at the young age of 21.  Despite his imitations, Stephen continued to discover the ways of the universe and quickly became the smartest man alive.