Stephen Hawking

By Bernard Herlambang

Who was Stephen Hawking?

Stephen Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and the author of several books, including world best-sellers, A Brief History of Time, and The Theory of Everything. He was the director of the Centre of Cosmology at the University of Cambridge and was famous for his research on black holes. He made discoveries that changed scientists’ understanding of black holes and contributed to many other areas of science as well.

With a genius-level IQ of 160, Stephen Hawking was a great scientist and an amazing person; he was also a special inspiration to me and to many.

What made Stephen Hawking so amazing?

Hawking was born on the 8th of January 1942, but at age 21, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” It is known that as this disease progresses, the motor neurons in the brain are interfered with, leading to a loss of control of the body’s muscles. Because of this, Stephen Hawking was expected to live only a couple more years after his diagnosis, but with excellent healthcare and a strong will to live, he managed to live fifty-five more years. He died in 2018 but lived with Lou Gehrig’s disease longer than anyone else ever had.

A great example

A fantastic thing about Stephen Hawking is that he didn’t give up in tough times. Even with huge health problems, he completed deep research, discovered many things about space, wrote several books, and gave lectures using special equipment that helped him breathe and communicate his thoughts and ideas. Even though Hawking was not well, he still worked hard to discover how black holes work, which is very complex and takes incredible concentration.

Stephen Hawking’s example proved that even with major disabilities or problems, we can do anything when we make the right effort. From him, I learned that I can succeed if I put the right effort into it. For example, in aerodynamics: someday I could build a plane or even learn to fly! Because of Stephen Hawking, I know that I can do anything with strong willpower, great effort, good support, and never-give-up thoughts.