Stephen Hawking is perhaps the worlds most famous living physicist. A specialist in cosmology and

quantum gravity and a devotee of black holes, his work has probed the origins of the cosmos, the

nature of time and the universes ultimate fate earning him accolades including induction into the

Order of the British Empire. To the public, hes best known as an author of bestsellers such as The

Universe in a Nutshell and A Brief History of Time, which have brought an appreciation of theoretical

physics to millions.

Though the motor neuron disorder ALS has confined Hawking to a wheelchair, it hasnt stopped him

from lecturing widely, making appearances on television shows such as Star Trek: The Next

Generation and The Simpsons and planning a trip into orbit with Richard Bransons Virgin

Galactic. (He recently experienced weightlessness aboard Zero Gravity Corporations Vomit

Comet.) A true academic celebrity, he uses his public appearances to raise awareness about

potential global disasters such as global warming and to speak out for the future of humanity:

Getting a portion of the human race permanently off the planet is imperative for our future as a

species, he says.

Hawking serves as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, where he

continues to contribute to both high-level physics and the popular understanding of our universe.

We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can

understand the Universe. That makes us something very special. Stephen Hawking.