Renowned physicist Hawking 'very ill'
Updated on 20 April 2009
Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most famous scientists, is "very ill" in hospital, Cambridge University has said.
The 67-year-old physicist was taken by ambulance to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. The world-renowned cosmologist has been unwell for a couple of weeks.
A university spokesman later said Prof Hawking is in a "comfortable" condition and will spend the night in hospital.
Prof Hawking, who is best known for his book A Brief History of Time, suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease, and is wheelchair bound. He speaks with the help of a voice synthesiser.
He has described receiving a diagnosis of ALS in his early 20s as a "great shock".
People with ALS experience weakness and "wasting" of the muscles in their limbs and early symptoms include tripping up when walking or dropping things. The average life expectancy for somebody with ALS is two to five years from the time symptoms appear.
Prof Peter Haynes, Head of the University's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, added: "Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague. We all hope he will be amongst us again soon."
Prof Hawking was born in Oxford but his family moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire, when he was eight. He studied at St Albans School before reading physics at University College, Oxford then moved to Cambridge to carry out research in cosmology.
He has worked at the university's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics for more than 30 years and since 1979 has been the University's Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.
He was awarded a CBE in 1982, became a Companion of Honour in 1989 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Prof Hawking lives in Cambridge and has three children and one grandchild.
One of his last public appearances was in September 2008 when he unveiled a £1 million clock erected at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
