There are some people that have had such a profound impact on the world that we live in that categorizing their achievements can be difficult. Stephen Hawking is one of those rare individuals that is known for more than one thing. Not only was he an accomplished professor and scientists, but he also made the most of his life while being confined to a wheelchair. He never let anything set him back and was always ready to persevere. It was this type of mindset that allowed him to accomplish so much during his life. You might know him as a scientist that made huge discoveries, but he is also known as a huge inspiration to others. It is important to be fully aware of all the accomplishments that Hawking amassed during his life. Here are some of the major accomplishments of Stephen Hawking.
1. Mysteries of Nature
There are many people that are fine with just seeing the world around them and not fully understanding how things work. However, Stephen Hawking is not one of these people. He has always been interested in having a deeper understanding of the world around him and wanted to finally uncover some of the biggest mysteries of nature. His quest for knowledge and understanding led him to pursue a career as a theoretical physicist. He never stopped trying to get a better handle on the world that was around him, which is most likely one of his biggest contributions. Through his work and research he was able to shed some light on topics that had little understanding before he brought them to light.
2. Newton and Einstein
Another one of the biggest accomplishments that Hawking had at a young age was the comparison to Einstein and Newton. Both of these genius minds were who Hawking was compared to as he was pursuing his education at Cambridge. He was not able to pursue a degree in mathematics, so he instead chose physics. He obtained his PH. D by the age of 23 and was known as a brilliant researcher when he achieved the Lucasian Professorship, which is a title that Newton held before him. Being compared to Newton and Einstein is not something that Hawking took lightly. It helped to motivate and push him further.
3. Lou Gehrig’s Disease
This might be seen as something that could have held Hawking back, but this diagnosis of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease was actually something that pushed him forward. This was known as a fatal disease that attacks the nerve cells within the body. Being diagnosed with this condition was a horrible fate, but Hawking never saw it as such. He was always looking to learn more about the disease. Him being diagnosed with this condition actually led to a lot more understanding about ALS and many more treatment options that were not available before Hawking was diagnosed with it. This disease took many things away from him like his independence. He became confined to his wheelchair and at one point was no longer able to feed himself. Even though this disease took away some of his physical abilities, it did not take away his mind. He was still committed to his research and his quest for knowledge. When he was first diagnosed with ALS he was only given a few years to live, but he has been able to live close to 40 years with this condition.
4. Singularity Theorem
This is one of the first theories that Hawking published and it ended up being one of his most notable. It was a theory that he published alongside Roger Penrose. It was in this theory that they were able to show that general relativity demonstrates that a singular boundary exists for space and time in the past. This was a finding that was hugely important and a discovery that was truly groundbreaking at the time.
5. Hawking Radiation
Not only did he complete research and make discoveries, but he also published books that recounted his findings. All of his research done on black holes led him to write his book known as Hawking Radiation. This was a book that was incredibly popular and the findings that were laid out in it were also known as groundbreaking. It was in this book that he proved once and for all that black holes were not vacuums.
6. Honors
Even though he started to lose his speaking abilities due to his illness, this did not stop him from collecting awards. He was given the Plus XI Gold Medal for Science for his black hole discoveries and was also given the Hughes Medal for his original thoughts in science. It was in 1978 that he was awarded the Albert Einstein award that he saw as a huge honor. He was given this award for the way in which he took many of Albert’s theories and expanded on them.