Scientist STEVEN HAWKING 'Very Ill' In Hospital - UPDATES

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                                                    Scientist Steven Hawking ill in hospital 




 
 BBC NEWS
 April 20, 2009

Prof Hawking has cancelled an appearance in the US.


 
Leading scientist Stephen Hawking is "very ill" in hospital, his employer Cambridge University has said.

A spokesman said Professor Hawking was undergoing tests at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

The spokesman said the 67-year-old, who has motor neurone disease, had "been unwell for a couple of weeks".

Prof Hawking has worked at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University for more than 30 years.

Prof Hawking, who speaks with the aid of a voice synthesiser, has three children and one grandchild.

He became a CBE in 1982 and a Companion of Honour in 1989.

Prof Peter Haynes, head of the University's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, said: "Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague.

"We all hope he will be amongst us again soon."

Prof Hawking called off an appearance at Arizona State University on 6 April because of his illness.

Last year, it was announced he would be stepping down as the university's Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the end of this academic year.

It is policy for holders of the title to retire at 67.

However, Prof Hawking said he intended to continue working as Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Known colloquially in the USA as Lou Gehrig's disease

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                                   Stephen Hawking expected to recover from infection
           





Dean Carson,
Associated Press Writer
– 28 mins ago
April 21, 2009
LONDON

– The family of physicist Stephen Hawking expects him to recover fully from a chest infection that has left him hospitalized, Cambridge University said Tuesday.

Hawking "was being kept in observation" at Addenbrooke's hospital after being admitted Monday.

"He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery," Cambridge said in a statement.

Hawking, 67, gained renown for his work on black holes and has remained active despite being diagnosed at age 21 with ALS, (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), an incurable degenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Hawking has been almost entirely paralyzed for years and communicates through an electronic voice synthesizer activated by his fingers.

Hawking was involved in the search for the great goal of physics — a "unified theory" — which would resolve contradictions between Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which describes the laws of gravity that govern the motion of large objects like planets, and the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, which deals with the world of subatomic particles.

"A complete, consistent unified theory is only the first step: our goal is a complete understanding of the events around us, and of our own existence," he wrote in his best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time," published in 1988.

In the sequel "The Universe in a Nutshell," published in 2001, Hawking ventured into concepts like supergravity, naked singularities and the possibility of a universe with 11 dimensions.

He announced last year that he would step down from his post as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a title once held by the great 18th-century physicist Isaac Newton. However, the university said Monday Hawking intended to continue working as Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

The illness, which Hawking has been fighting for several weeks, had caused him to cancel an appearance at Arizona State University on April 6.

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On the Net: http://www.hawking.org.uk