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Submitted By Ryansmars
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There are many people who could be nominated for their artistic contributions, advances in technology, medical contributions and scientific advances. But one person sticks out in my mind as a genius of the Western culture. Through his disability I believe Stephen Hawking has stood out as a genius of our Western culture. Even with being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, he has provided ground breaking work in cosmology and physics. He has written several different books to allow science more attainable to the average person. Stephen Hawking was the oldest of four children, born to Frank and Isobel Hawking on the 8th of January, 1942 in Oxford England. He was born on the 300th anniversary of the death of Galileo. This has been a large source of pride for Hawking. He was born into a smart family his mother was one of the first female students at Oxford University. His father was also a graduate of Oxford, being a well known researcher of medicine, his specialty in tropical diseases. The birth of Stephen came at a bad time to his parents, for they had little money and was during World War II. Stephen’s father was hoping he would follow his steps and research medicine, but from an early age Stephen showed more interest in the sky and science. In his early academic life, Stephen was seen as a bright child but was not an exceptional student. He was more interested in things outside of school. He enjoyed board games and even constructed a computer out of recycled parts to solve rudimentary mathematical equations. At the age of 17 he enrolled into Oxford University. Stephen finally told his father he did not want to study medicine and instead expressed his desire to study mathematics. Oxford did not off a degree in mathematics so Stephen decided to study physics and more intently cosmology. Stephen did not put that much time into his school

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