AboutStephen-ABriefHistoryofMine

　　StephenWilliamHawkingwasbornon8January1942(300yearsafterthedeathofGalileo)inOxford,England.Hisparents'housewasinnorthLondon,butduringthesecondworldwarOxfordwasconsideredasaferplacetohavebabies.Whenhewaseight,hisfamilymovedtoStAlbans,atownabout20milesnorthofLondon.AtelevenStephenwenttoStAlbansSchool,andthenontoUniversityCollege,Oxford,hisfather'soldcollege.StephenwantedtodoMathematics,althoughhisfatherwouldhavepreferredmedicine.MathematicswasnotavailableatUniversityCollege,sohedidPhysicsinstead.AfterthreeyearsandnotverymuchworkhewasawardedafirstclasshonoursdegreeinNaturalScience.

　　StephenthenwentontoCambridgetodoresearchinCosmology,therebeingno-oneworkinginthatareainOxfordatthetime.HissupervisorwasDenisSciama,althoughhehadhopedtogetFredHoylewhowasworkinginCambridge.AftergaininghisPh.D.hebecamefirstaResearchFellow,andlateronaProfessorialFellowatGonvilleandCaiusCollege.AfterleavingtheInstituteofAstronomyin1973StephencametotheDepartmentofAppliedMathematicsandTheoreticalPhysics,andsince1979hasheldthepostofLucasianProfessorofMathematics.Thechairwasfoundedin1663withmoneyleftinthewilloftheReverendHenryLucas,whohadbeentheMemberofParliamentfortheUniversity.ItwasfirstheldbyIsaacBarrow,andthenin1663byIsaacNewton.

　　StephenHawkinghasworkedonthebasiclawswhichgoverntheuniverse.WithRogerPenroseheshowedthatEinstein'sGeneralTheoryofRelativityimpliedspaceandtimewouldhaveabeginningintheBigBangandanendinblackholes.TheseresultsindicateditwasnecessarytounifyGeneralRelativitywithQuantumTheory,theothergreatScientificdevelopmentofthefirsthalfofthe20thCentury.Oneconsequenceofsuchaunificationthathediscoveredwasthatblackholesshouldnotbecompletelyblack,butshouldemitradiationandeventuallyevaporateanddisappear.Anotherconjectureisthattheuniversehasnoedgeorboundaryinimaginarytime.Thiswouldimplythatthewaytheuniversebeganwascompletelydeterminedbythelawsofscience.

　　HismanypublicationsincludeTheLargeScaleStructureofSpacetimewithGFREllis,GeneralRelativity:AnEinsteinCentenarySurvey,withWIsrael,and300YearsofGravity,withWIsrael.StephenHawkinghastwopopularbookspublished;hisbestsellerABriefHistoryofTime,andhislaterbook,BlackHolesandBabyUniversesandOtherEssays.

　　ProfessorHawkinghastwelvehonorarydegrees,wasawardedtheCBEin1982,andwasmadeaCompanionofHonourin1989.Heistherecipientofmanyawards,medalsandprizesandisaFellowofTheRoyalSocietyandaMemberoftheUSNationalAcademyofSciences.

　　StephenHawkingcontinuestocombinefamilylife(hehasthreechildrenandonegrandchild),andhisresearchintotheoreticalphysicstogetherwithanextensiveprogrammeoftravelandpubliclectures.