I was not good at ball games, and my handwriting was the despair of my teachers.
In 1959, at age 17, he received a scholarship and attended University College, Oxford, his father's alma mater, where he studied physics and received a degree in natural sciences. His tutor is reported to have said, "I taught Stephen for 6 months and he taught me for 2 1/2 years."
In 1962, Hawking decided on graduate work at Cambridge. He was interested in cosmology and general relativity. He coxed Univ Men's 1st VIII but began to notice that his coordination was deteriorating. In early 1963 doctors diagnosed him with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The doctors told him he would not live another two years.
He had a recurring dream about being executed and longing for all the things he might accomplish if he were granted a reprieve. He began to focus on his studies and research. He met a girl, Jane Wilde, fell in love and got engaged. His life was in the present and he was enjoying himself.
Hawking completed his doctorate in 1966 and accepted a position as a Research Fellow in the Institute of Astronomy at Gonville and Caius College. He was later named a Professorial Fellow.
During the years 1965 through 1970 Hawking did research on singularities and created new modeling techniques. He became interested in black holes. In 1970 Hawking showed that black holes emit radiation, sometimes called the Hawking Radiation. After this point, he concentrated in research on general relativity and quantum theory.
In 1971 Hawking posited that after the Big Bang extremely small particles would weigh as much as 109 tons, would have gravitational attraction described by general relativity and follow the laws of quantum physics related to small objects. Today, Hawking believes the universe did not begin with a single big bang.
In 1973 he joined the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge. He was named Professor Gravitational Physics in 1977 and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in 1979. As Hawking's reputation grew, it was
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