Physicist Hawking rushed to hospital
Cameron Birch
Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: News
Cambridge University physicist and author of the 1998 bestseller "A Brief History of Time," Stephen Hawking, was rushed to the hospital April 20 to be treated for a chest infection.
The same infection prevented him from attending an April 6 appearance at Arizona State University.
"Professor Hawking is very ill … He is undergoing tests. He has been unwell for a couple of weeks," Gregory Hayman, Cambridge's head of communications, said in a Fox News report.
Hayman also later said Hawkings was "comfortable" and was being kept in the hospital overnight.
Hawking has been paralyzed for a number of years. He was initially diagnosed at age 21 to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease in the United States.
It has been noted that Hawking is one of the people that has lived the longest since being diagnosed with the condition. On his web site, Hawking wrote, "I have been lucky, that my condition has progressed more slowly than is often the case. But it shows that one need not lose hope."
"He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery," Cambridge University released in a statement.
Dave Goldberg, associate professor of physics at Drexel who specializes in astrophysics, said Hawking has had a very large impact on our understanding of general relativity. Goldberg discussed Hawking's theory of "Hawking radiation" as well as a series of papers by Hawking that debated the possibility of time travel.
Goldberg also noted that Hawking was famous for coming up with big ideas and questions.
"One of the most important things about him, besides his impact on the science community, is his popularizing of the field," Goldberg said.
He referenced Hawking's books and asserted that they were sometimes the first exposure today's professors had to science and the big bang.
"In that sense his importance can't be downplayed," Goldberg said.
There have also been many coincidences in Hawking's life that show closeness to his field of research. According to CNN, Hawking's birth date is 300 years after Galileo Galilei death. Hawking also holds the position of Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics, a title once held by Sir Isaac Newton.
The same infection prevented him from attending an April 6 appearance at Arizona State University.
"Professor Hawking is very ill … He is undergoing tests. He has been unwell for a couple of weeks," Gregory Hayman, Cambridge's head of communications, said in a Fox News report.
Hayman also later said Hawkings was "comfortable" and was being kept in the hospital overnight.
Hawking has been paralyzed for a number of years. He was initially diagnosed at age 21 to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease in the United States.
It has been noted that Hawking is one of the people that has lived the longest since being diagnosed with the condition. On his web site, Hawking wrote, "I have been lucky, that my condition has progressed more slowly than is often the case. But it shows that one need not lose hope."
"He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery," Cambridge University released in a statement.
Dave Goldberg, associate professor of physics at Drexel who specializes in astrophysics, said Hawking has had a very large impact on our understanding of general relativity. Goldberg discussed Hawking's theory of "Hawking radiation" as well as a series of papers by Hawking that debated the possibility of time travel.
Goldberg also noted that Hawking was famous for coming up with big ideas and questions.
"One of the most important things about him, besides his impact on the science community, is his popularizing of the field," Goldberg said.
He referenced Hawking's books and asserted that they were sometimes the first exposure today's professors had to science and the big bang.
"In that sense his importance can't be downplayed," Goldberg said.
There have also been many coincidences in Hawking's life that show closeness to his field of research. According to CNN, Hawking's birth date is 300 years after Galileo Galilei death. Hawking also holds the position of Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics, a title once held by Sir Isaac Newton.
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