Stephen Hawking is a hero

Waiting slowly for your body to become useless beyond three fingers, permanently becoming your prison; unable to move as you watch your life pass by. This is what Stephen Hawking had to endure throughout his life. Despite his disability, he chose to be determined and make a difference. Hawking grew up in London, went to Cambridge university, and was later a professor of mathematics there. He met Jane Wilde, his wife name Jane of 30 years at a party and later had three children with her named Robert, Lucy, and Timothy. When he was not with his family he worked tirelessly in the field of quantum mechanics to make a theory of everything among his other work. Stephen Hawking had always liked space and wanted to understand more about it since he was a child. Over the next years of his life he would work to solve issues and mysteries of the universe. Among his work, Hawking also fought valiantly for the education of the public, and wrought to be able to explain his complex ideas in a simplistic way. Stephen Hawking due to his amazing accomplishments in the scientific world fueled by his selflessness and determination certainly defines him as a hero.

Heros could not manage their impressive feats if they weren’t determined. Stephen Hawking sent a message when he began to work harder. “Characteristically, he turned this handicap into a strength, gathering his energies for daring leaps of thought.” (Overbye). Hawking did not let his new disability slow him down and kept pushing forward, fixated on his goals. He desperately wanted to understand where the universe came from and had been studying it nearly immediately after departing from Cambridge. Hawking’s main focus was on the idea the that universe was once much more condensed into a smaller area. He had hypothesized that this may have been to the extent of a singularity; a thing so small that it is considered to be a single point  (Overbye). Ultimately this brought him to study gravity and later black holes. He was determined to find answers and wouldn’t stop until he did. Stephen Hawking went far past his first few hypothesis when he began producing real scientific theories. He earned instant recognition when he solved pre-existing difficult questions so easily: "I started working hard for the first time in my life” (Overview of Stephen W(illiam) Hawking). Hawking working hard opened a world of opportunity that he would take full advantage of. One of the first discoveries it lead him to discover Hawking radiation. This discovery was so impressive that it qualified him as an influential and important person in the scientific community. Hawking later then faced the biggest challenge of his career, working on the “theory of everything”. Though Hawking never finished a complete “Theory of Everything” he made large contributions to the world of quantum physics and towards the progress of his goal. Though Hawking never gave up trying to make a complete one, and instead stayed determined. Hawking like many heros accomplished his achievements with extreme effort and dedication. Other than managing his main job, Hawking also was a writer. In his life Hawking wrote books and even saw a film made in his name: “He traveled the globe to scientific meetings, visiting every continent, including Antarctica; wrote best-selling books about his work; married twice; fathered three children” (Overbye). The three books Hawking wrote were mainly on his ideas and explanations of the universe, which all won a form of an award. Writing the books in his physical state took an enormous amount of time, dedication, and determination, yet Hawking believed it was worth the time he spent to inspire and educate people. Hawking never stopped, immediately working tremendously when he was first given the opportunity; He developed complex theories and found answers to long exiting questions swiftly and easily. He continued to work hard and became instantly recognized for his impressive works. Though Hawking still didn’t stop, and chose to add more to his list of accomplishments.

Stephen Hawking cared about public education and people being able to understand his work, so he selflessly spent time to educate people. He firmly believed that complex theories about the nature of the universe were useless if they could only be understood by a few people. One of Hawking’s most valued goals was to be able to educate people about his ideas: “His decision to write ''A Brief History of Time'' was prompted, he said, by a desire to share his excitement about 'the discoveries that have been made about the universe' with ‘the public that paid for the research’''(Overbye). Hawking was not only excited about his scientific discoveries, but also sharing them with people. When the book was released in 1988 it was an instant success, instantaneously flying off of the shelves as a best seller. His attempt at sharing his ideas worked astoundingly well, and soon people were clamoring about the up and coming theoretical physicist. The success soon helped inspire Hawking to write two more books, which although weren’t singley for the purpose of education, focused on conveying the ideas in a simplistic way for the public too. This method changed the way people thought about and experience complex science. While not all of the math was being understood, people were able to think the ideas of scientists without the need of years of education, and get an understanding of the universe. Hawking didn’t have to help make his work understandable, and at the time not many scientists did, but he instead took the time to help people learn. Hawking’s work was revolutionary because of this dual purpose of understanding and education, and it caused a lasting effect on scientific literature. In the pursuit of public education Hawking also put effort to educating children.  “In 1982, he was appointed to the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge, a post once held by Isaac Newton”(Overbye, Dennis). He cared so deeply about education that he was willing to teach the complex mathematics he used to figure out the universe to students. By being appointed to such a position Hawking was figuratively and literally following in the footsteps of greatness, and took his seat among the ranks of it. He acted as a massive inspiration in addition to being a teacher, and indirectly helped many others work more towards education.   Hawking spent hours of work in the pursuit of helping people in the form of learning. Due to his selfless work, many people received education in some form, and people continue to get education of his ideas. Even in death Hawking continues to inspire people today to do better.

Stephen Hawking was an amazing scientist the second he left collage, he never quit, and always cared about helping educate the public. He made the world a better place with his work and because of his determination and selflessness is a true hero. He came up with many theories and answers to hard questions faster than any scientist had made progress on. He wrote books that helped educate people, then used the money to help even more people because he valued public education so immensely. Hawking worked to understand the universe much more and was able to gather than knowledge for everyone in the pursuit of science and technology. He inspires me because he took the horrible situation he was in and excelled. Many people were shown what determination can do if you truly want to change the world for the better. Stephen Hawking inspired people with how much he was able to do even with only three functioning fingers, and how smart he was because of how hard he had worked.  Stephen Hawking truly showed his selflessness when he helped people, and could do so because of his determination to help everyone and understand the universe. Hawking grabbed the universe and soared with it, then when he could no longer move himself, he chose to move the world instead.

Works Cited

Overbye, Dennis. "Stephen Hawking, Who Examined the Universe and Explained Black Holes, Dies at 76."
New York Times, 14 Mar. 2018, p. NA(L). Student Resources In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530894889/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=97e5b41a. Accessed 28 Jan. 2019.

"Overview of Stephen W(illiam) Hawking." DISCovering Authors, Gale, 2003. Research in Context,
https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2101200232/MSIC?u=powa9245&sid=MSIC&xid=b5d1ea0a. Accessed 28 Jan. 2019.