Hawking achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discussed his theories and cosmology in general. His book A Brief History of Time appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Hawking was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2002, Hawking was ranked number 25 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He died on 14 March 2018 at the age of 76, after living with motor neurone disease for more than 50 years.
Early life
Family
Hawking was born on 8 January 1942[24][25] in Oxford to Frank (1905–1986)[26] and Isobel Eileen Hawking (née Walker; 1915–2013). [27][28][29] Hawking's mother was born into a family of doctors in Glasgow, Scotland. [30][31] His wealthy paternal great-grandfather, from Yorkshire, over-extended himself buying farm land and then went bankrupt in the great agricultural depression during the early 20th century. [31] His paternal great-grandmother saved the family from financial ruin by opening a school in their home. [31] Despite their families' financial constraints, both parents attended the University of Oxford, where Frank read medicine and Isobel read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. [28] Isobel worked as a secretary for a medical research institute, and Frank was a medical researcher. [28][32] Hawking had two younger sisters, Philippa and Mary, and an adopted brother, Edward Frank David (1955–2003). [33][34]
In 1950, when Hawking's father became head of the division of parasitology at the National Institute for Medical Research, the family moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire. [35][36] In St Albans, the family was considered highly intelligent and somewhat eccentric; [35][37] meals were often spent with each person silently reading a book. [35] They lived a frugal existence in a large, cluttered, and poorly maintained house and travelled in a converted London taxicab. [38][39] During one of Hawking's father's frequent absences working in Africa, [40] the rest of the family spent four months in Mallorca visiting his mother's friend Beryl and her husband, the poet Robert Graves. [41]
Primary and secondary school years
Hawking began his schooling at the Byron House School in Highgate, London. He later blamed its "progressive methods" for his failure to learn to read while at the school. [42][35] In St Albans, the eight-year-old Hawking attended St Albans High School for Girls for a few months. At that time, younger boys could attend one of the houses. [41][43]
Hawking attended two independent (i. e. fee-paying) schools, first Radlett School[43] and from September 1952, St Albans School, [25][44] after passing the eleven-plus a year early. [45] The family placed a high value on education. [35] Hawking's father wanted his son to attend the well-regarded Westminster School, but the 13-year-old Hawking was ill on the day of the scholarship examination. His family could not afford the school fees without the financial aid of a scholarship, so Hawking remained at St Albans. [46][47] A positive consequence was that Hawking remained close to a group of friends with whom he enjoyed board games, the manufacture of fireworks, model aeroplanes and boats, [48] and long discussions about Christianity and extrasensory perception. [49] From 1958 on, with the help of the mathematics teacher Dikran Tahta, they built a computer from clock parts, an old telephone switchboard and other recycled components. [50][51]
Although known at school as "Einstein", Hawking was not initially successful academically. [52] With time, he began to show considerable aptitude for scientific subjects and, inspired by Tahta, decided to read mathematics at university. [53][54][55] Hawking's father advised him to study medicine, concerned that there were few jobs for mathematics graduates. [56] He also wanted his son to attend University College, Oxford, his own alma mater. As it was not possible to
Hawking
achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discussed his theories and cosmology
in general
. His book A Brief History of Time appeared on
the Sunday Times
bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.
Hawking
was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2002,
Hawking
was ranked
number 25 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He
died
on 14 March 2018 at the age of 76, after living with motor
neurone
disease for more than 50 years.
Early life
Family
Hawking
was born
on 8 January 1942[24][25] in Oxford to Frank (1905–1986)[26] and
Isobel
Eileen
Hawking
(née Walker; 1915–2013).
[27][28][29] Hawking's
mother
was born
into a
family
of doctors in Glasgow, Scotland. [30][31] His wealthy paternal great-grandfather, from Yorkshire, over-extended himself buying farm land and then went bankrupt in the great agricultural depression during the early 20th century. [31] His paternal great-grandmother saved the
family
from financial ruin by opening a
school
in their home. [31] Despite their families' financial constraints, both parents attended the University of Oxford, where Frank read medicine and
Isobel
read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. [28]
Isobel
worked as a secretary for a medical research institute, and Frank was a medical researcher.
[28][32] Hawking
had two younger sisters,
Philippa
and Mary, and an adopted brother, Edward Frank David (1955–2003). [33][34]
In 1950, when
Hawking's
father became head of the division of
parasitology
at the National Institute for Medical Research, the
family
moved
to St
Albans
,
Hertfordshire
. [35][36] In St
Albans
, the
family
was considered
highly
intelligent and somewhat eccentric; [35][37] meals were
often
spent with each person
silently
reading a book. [35] They
lived
a frugal existence in a large, cluttered, and
poorly
maintained
house
and travelled in a converted London taxicab. [38][39] During one of
Hawking's
father's frequent absences working in Africa, [40] the rest of the
family
spent four months in Mallorca visiting his mother's friend Beryl and her husband, the poet Robert Graves. [41]
Primary and secondary
school
years
Hawking began his schooling at the Byron
House
School in
Highgate
, London. He later blamed its
"
progressive methods
"
for his failure to learn to read while at the
school
. [42][35] In St
Albans
, the eight-year-
old
Hawking
attended St
Albans
High
School
for Girls for a few months. At that time, younger boys could attend one of the
houses
.
[41][43]
Hawking
attended two independent (
i. e.
fee-paying)
schools
,
first
Radlett
School[43] and from September 1952,
St
Albans
School
, [25][44] after passing the eleven-plus a year early. [45] The
family
placed a high value on education.
[35] Hawking's
father wanted his son to attend the well-regarded Westminster
School
,
but
the 13-year-
old
Hawking
was ill on the day of the scholarship examination. His
family
could not afford the
school
fees without the financial aid of a scholarship,
so
Hawking
remained at St
Albans
. [46][47] A
positive
consequence was that
Hawking
remained close to a group of friends with whom he enjoyed board games, the manufacture of fireworks, model
aeroplanes
and boats, [48] and long discussions about Christianity and extrasensory perception. [49] From 1958 on, with the
help
of the mathematics teacher
Dikran
Tahta
, they built a computer from clock parts, an
old
telephone switchboard and other recycled components. [50][51]
Although known at
school
as
"
Einstein
"
,
Hawking
was not
initially
successful
academically
. [52] With time, he began to
show
considerable aptitude for scientific subjects and, inspired by
Tahta
, decided to read mathematics at university.
[53][54][55] Hawking's
father advised him to study medicine, concerned that there were few jobs for mathematics graduates. [56] He
also
wanted his son to attend University College, Oxford, his
own
alma mater. As it was not possible
to