Stephen Hawking is a modern genius who wrote A Brief History of Time and formulated a huge number of theories that changed theoretical physics, astrophysics, quantum physics and science in general. Everyone knows about Hawking's contribution to science, but few are aware of the facts that remain hidden behind the monumental genius of this amazing man.
He was diagnosed with a fatal illness at 21
And besides this, the doctors warned that he would not live more than three years.
Before Hawking posed his first challenge to modern science, he defied his disease and won! When Hawking was 21 years old, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (otherwise - Lou Gehrig's disease, the same disease that attracted attention a few years ago, overturning buckets of ice water). The doctors told the young man that he had three years to live.
Hawking, looking death straight in the eye, said "no, thanks" and continued to fight the disease, and so successfully that he is still alive.
The man, whom medicine predicted death at the age of 24, lived to be seventy-four and is in no hurry to leave us.
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He was married twice and has three children
Stephen Hawking is usually portrayed as a kind of single genius, but in fact he was married twice and has three children from his first marriage. Isn't it proof that heated debate and discussion on the topic of the unknown in space is a true aphrodisiac?
Lucy Hawking, one of the three children of the genius, helps her father write books for children interested in science and space.
He drove his wife to suicidal thoughts and then left her
The life of Stephen Hawking is notable for its complexity and a huge number of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the same applies to the personal life of a physicist.
His first wife got the difficult role of not only the mother of three children, on whose shoulders lay the worries about their upbringing, about the preservation of the house and family, but also the main assistant of her brilliant husband, whose health was deteriorating every day.
Jane has taken care of her husband during many operations and rehabilitation periods, coping with his difficult nature and his dedication to science and mental work. It was not easy for her, especially when she began to understand that neither she nor the children are the main thing in the life of Stephen Hawking.
Jane's depression only worsened when her husband dumped her for a nurse who helped him cope with his illness and whom he later married!
Fortunately, Jane managed to cope with suicidal thoughts and come to terms with her husband's act. She still claims that she still loves and will always love Stephen Hawking.
Relationship with his second wife was not much better for Hawking. They also ended in divorce. As the reason for the breakup, Hawking indicated that family relationships distract him from work.
He arranges meetings with disabled children
Stephen Hawking loves to meet with disabled children, proving to them by his example that even the most difficult state is not an obstacle to the fulfillment of dreams. As far as the schedule allows the scientist, he tries to actively participate in the lives of disabled children.
In addition, he is actively involved in charity work and the dissemination of information about Lou Gehrig's disease, collaborates with the Paralympic Committee and promotes the legalization of euthanasia.
He's a big fan of Superman and Lois Lane
Stephen Hawking told the whole world in an interview that he would not refuse Superman's special abilities. And also, when he was younger, he fell madly in love with Lois Lane, namely Lois, played by Margot Kidder.
Of course, while he wouldn't mind becoming Superman in real life, he really wants to appear on screen in a completely different role.
Hawking wants to play the villain
And not just any villain, but a Bond villain! And it fits well with the usual stereotype. Hawking is very smart, he speaks strangely and he is British! He himself mentioned all this in his own proposal to play another enemy of 007.
He speaks using a single moving muscle
Given that Hawking's amyotrophic lateral sclerosis led to complete paralysis, it is not surprising that people often wonder how he speaks if he cannot move at all.
Not quite, it turns out. Stephen Hawking is able to move the only facial muscle of his cheek, which is attached to a sensor that allows him to type. The typed text is then reproduced using a speech synthesizer.
In fact, the computers that Stephen Hawking uses have a complex scientific rationale that has been popularized in several articles. Hawking's glasses have a laser that moves through the letters of the alphabet. Having selected the desired letter, Hawking moves his facial muscles and the letter is printed.
The voice synthesizer, which reproduces what Hawking prints, was created by the first husband of Hawking's second wife, of course, even before the genius stole his beloved from the creator of his "voice."
He took part in the recording of Pink Floyd's music
His amazing intelligence and the ability to think outside the box perfectly explains Stephen Hawking's love for one of the most psychedelic bands in the world.
Oddly enough, Stephen Hawking took part in the recording of the last two albums - The Division Bell and Endless River.
He participated in an ad campaign against obesity
Stephen Hawking is not only a genius who transformed physics and science in general, he is also a person with a keen interest in modern culture. He is also interested in many social phenomena. For example, Hawking is actively fighting obesity as a global social phenomenon.
Considering that he cannot move at all, he does not understand how absolutely healthy and mobile people prefer to sit in one place and absorb a huge amount of unhealthy food.
Hawking despises this phenomenon so much that he took part in the filming of a video aimed at combating obesity. In the video, he calls for active movement, because moving is not at all difficult, at least not more difficult than astrophysics.
He believes aliens are capable of destroying humanity
No one understands the universe as well as Stephen Hawking. The genius is confident in the existence of alien life.
Of course, his confidence differs from Agent Mulder's belief in The X-Files that aliens were on Earth and tried to make contact with humans more than once. Hawking is sure that there are aliens, they are somewhere in the vastness of the universe, and if they ever try to contact us, we should sit quietly and try to hide from their attention.
He is convinced that aliens who have mastered interstellar or intergalactic travel will behave in the same way as white colonists who discovered a new continent and immediately claimed their rights to it, despite the local population.
Moreover, this comparison belongs to Hawking himself. In an interview, the physicist said that the result of the arrival of aliens on Earth would be similar to the "discovery" of America by Christopher Columbus. As we all remember, this discovery turned out not in the best way for the indigenous tribes.