Stephen Hawking's Unwavering Determination and Contributions to Astrophysics

Before he became the leading voice of the cosmos, Hawking was just another curious boy born in World War 2 Era Oxford. He grew up in a family of a medical researcher Frank Hawking and philosopher Isobel Hawking.

Although his future self’s achievements would end up speaking for themselves, Stephen was not considered exceptionally talented by his classmates at St. Albans School. He often struggled academically, largely because of him prioritizing extracurriculars including creating board games and creating calculators from recycled materials.

Despite not initially being revered by his peers, he went on to pursue physics at Oxford University at the age of 17 and received a first degree (equivalent to a Bachelor’s) in the field. There, he focused on thermodynamics (the study of energy) and electromagnetism (the study of electric currents and magnetic fields).

Although he did show interest in these subtopics of physics, he was truly interested in theoretical physics. Theoretical physicists generally use mathematical models to predict and explain interactions between matter, while practical physicists conduct experiments on physical phenomena to come to conclusions.

Oxford University was where Hawking’s brilliance became undeniable, which resulted in his first experiences with notoriety. How he would come to handle attention and use it to spread knowledge would come to be one of the defining aspects of his career.

Unfortunately, after completing his studies at Oxford, he began to notice problems with his health, like frequently tripping and falling as well as slurring his speech. After observing his symptoms, his father took him to a medical clinic where after two weeks of testing, Stephen was diagnosed with an early stage of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).

It was a devastating blow for him and his family, as the condition is incurable and degenerative, meaning that it becomes increasingly serious over time. 

Many people in this situation would question the point of even living and completely lose any of their motivation. Hawking, however, used his diagnosis to further fuel his ambition, as he realized that there was more that he wanted to do in life. Although not particularly studious early on in his life, the idea that he might not have much time left accelerated the pace at which he aimed to earn his PhD.

In the same year of his diagnosis, Stephen enrolled as a graduate student at Cambridge University and majored in cosmology (the study of the origin and development of the universe). At the time of his admission, a new era of general relativity (Einstein’s Theory of Gravity [more on this in the Glossary]) had begun, with Roger Penrose from Birbreck College at its forefront. 

Penrose was responsible for mathematically proving how gravitational collapse would lead to the creation of singularities or infinitely dense points. These discoveries beckoned for “a new physics” because of prior theories inability to explain their existence. This was a task that a young and newly motivated Stephen was up to.

He began his studies at the prestigious university under the mentorship of Dennis Sciama, a renowned physicist who earned the esteemed Guthrie Medal for his contributions to the fields of gravitation and cosmology. 

In 1973, Stephen and George Ellis, another student under Sciama’s supervision, published the monograph (detailed study) The Large Scale Structure of Space. It investigated how Einstein’s Field Equations (those that explored how space and time’s geometry is impacted by the matter and energy they contain) shaped the structure of the universe and importantly created a more specific definition for a singularity, elaborating on the notion that they were solely a point with infinite mass. 

Hawking and Ellis helped develop precisely what Penrose’s discoveries had required, a foundation for four-dimensional spacetime (spacetime being the concept of time and three-dimensional space being fused together in a continuum).

It was at this time when ALS began taking significant tolls on Stephen’s body. He became largely unable to move or speak without assistance. This was what many thought was the end of his role as a pioneering researcher.

Fortunately for Hawking, companies like SwiftKey and Speech+ were able to create a speech generating device that allowed him to communicate despite his worsening physical condition. 

This second chance to continue advancing the field of astrophysics was not wasted. Hawking went on to coauthor The Grand Design with Leonard Mlodinow (a book that sought to explain why a creator is not necessary to explain the existence of the universe) and continued his research about black holes and the expansion of the universe.

On a personal level, seeing how Stephen Hawking used his cancer diagnosis as a catalyst for his ambition rather than a limitation made me realize that what we believe to be our restraints is completely in our minds, and the belief of not being able to surmount them is really what is holding us back.

The importance and scope of his contributions only increase the amount of respect I have for him.

He's shown me that the natural desire to learn more about the world we live in can remain unaffected even in the worst circumstances and that anything is possible if we put our minds to it.