Stephen Hawking completes 73 years of his life on Thursday, 8 January.
Born in 1942, the famous theoretical physicist, who is the director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology in the University of Cambridge, led a normal life until he turned 21. His struggles began with the progressive neurodegenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
One of the most interesting facts about Hawkings is that he was born on Galileo Galilei's 300th death anniversary.
Here are some of the things to know about the British scientist and his biopic "The Theory of Everything":
The British Astrophysicist was an Average Student in School: Hawking was nick named Einstein by his teachers and friends since he loved disassembling radios and clocks. But the scientist always received mediocre marks in his school days.
The Cosmologist was Never Interested in Descriptive Science: The man behind "My Brief History" is of the opinion that science should be more precise and must have well-defined concepts rather than being too descriptive. So, he opted out of Biology and Particle Physics as his subjects during his graduation course at Oxford.
Hawking's Biopic: "The Theory of Everything" focuses on early years of his life and his romance with Jane Hawking. The film based on the memoirs "My Brief History" and "Travelling to Infinity", have tried to be faithful to the real source but portray a more sympathetic version of Hawking.
The British Scientist Does Not Support Development of Artificial Intelligence: Author of "The Grand Design" believes that invention of thinking machines could lead to "the end of human race", reported BBC.
Hawking is an Atheist: The famous theoretical physicist recently confirmed that he is an atheist and he believes that science "offers a more convincing explanations" about the universe than God, if there is one. The British Astrophysicist made the revelation while chatting with Spanish journalist Pablo Jáuregui of El Mundo, according to The Jerusalem Post.
When Jáuregui asked Hawking to explain the phrase "we would know the mind of God" from his book "A Brief History", he said, "We would know everything that God would know if there was a God, but there isn't. I'm an atheist."
