History Creator / StephenHawking

* NoBackwardsCompatibilityInTheFuture: In TheNewTens, the hardware voice synthesizer that provided his voice started showing signs of failure with no way to replace it, threatening to erase his iconic voice forever. As a solution to this problem, he ended up bringing back together the team of engineers who designed the synthesizer to create an emulator of the device (based on the preexisting UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem emulator higan, since the speech synthesizer and video game console shared an 8MHz NEC [=µPD77C25=] math co-processor) that could run on a modern computer.

He technically has his own VideoGame/TouhouProject theme music. [[https://youtu.be/7g_8c4SaLaQ No, seriously.]]

* NoBackwardsCompatibilityInTheFuture: In TheNewTens, the hardware voice synthesizer that provided his voice started showing signs of failure with no way to replace it, threatening to erase his iconic voice forever. As a solution to this problem, he ended up bringing back together the team of engineers who designed the synthesizer to create an emulator of the device (based on the preexisting UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem emulator higan, since the speech synthesizer and video game console shared a 8MHz NEC [=µPD77C25=] math co-processor) that could run on a modern computer.

* NoBackwardsCompatibilityInTheFuture: In TheNewTens, the hardware voice synthesizer that provided his voice started showing signs of failure with no way to replace it, threatening to erase his iconic voice forever. As a solution to this problem, he ended up bringing back together the team of engineers who designed the synthesizer to create an emulator of the device that could run on a modern computer.

** In the Creator/{{PBS}} miniseries ''[[http://www.pbs.org/genius-by-stephen-hawking/home/ Genius by Stephen Hawking]]'', he uses a simulation [[Film/BackToTheFuture with three DeLoreans]] to demonstrate that time travel to the past would require you (or at least whatever particles make up your body) to be duplicated, a violation of conservation of mass.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: His voice synthesizer caused him to be mistaken for an American. He would have preferred to replace it with a synthesizer with a British accent, but it became so synonymous with his public image that he felt couldn't.

The reason this was necessary is that he had been left almost paralyzed and in need of a wheelchair, [[MachineMonotone "speaking" through a specially-designed computer]] (the voice of which is also very well-known), due to his having motor neuron disease (MND). This is the collective name for a group of five related degenerative neural disorders, of which best-known to the general public is ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), better known to Americans as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's not definitively known which form of MND he had, although it was believed he had ALS. (He was rather famous for his affliction, as well; if it was ALS, it was the most protracted case ever recorded -- it didn't progress the way ALS normally does, which stymied a definitive diagnosis, which can only be confirmed by post-mortem dissection of the brain.)

* TranslatorBuddy: Before his tracheotomy, he could speak but was extremely difficult to understand, leaving his family and colleagues to interpret his words into coherent English.

[[caption-width-right:250:"[[GeniusCripple Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free]]."]]

Stephen William Hawking [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA]] (January 8, 1942 - March 14, 2018) was an English theoretical astrophysicist known for his world-recognised work on black holes, theoretical cosmology, and quantum gravity. The ability to do most of this work entirely in his head led him to be generally recognized as the most brilliant scientist since UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein (Hawking himself disputed that title, however, arguing himself to be, at best, the greatest scientist since UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman, whom he considered the best since Einstein). The reason this was necessary is that he had been left almost paralyzed and in need of a wheelchair, [[MachineMonotone "speaking" through a specially-designed computer]] (the voice of which is also very well-known), due to his having motor neuron disease (MND). This is the collective name for a group of five related degenerative neural disorders, of which best-known to the general public is ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), better known to Americans as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's not definitively known which form of MND he had, although it was believed he had ALS. (He was rather famous for his affliction, as well: if it was ALS, it was the most protracted case ever recorded -- it didn't progress the way ALS normally does, which stymied a definitive diagnosis, which can only be confirmed by post-mortem dissection of the brain.)

In fact, Hawking was one of the many celebrities challenged to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge of 2015--which he did--but due to a then-recent bout of pneumonia he could not safely have ice water dumped on him. His children took his place in the challenge.

Hawking was at one point offered a [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever knighthood]], but turned it down in protest of the state of science education in Britain. He ended at #25 in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons''.

He's been played in ''Film/{{Hawking}}'' by Creator/BenedictCumberbatch, who also provides voiceover narration in Hawking's documentaries, and Creator/EddieRedmayne in the 2014 biopic ''Film/TheTheoryOfEverything'', who ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Also, it should be noted ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' was actually correct when they said he's got 12 inch rims on his chair.

As a celebrated physicist, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' guest star, and Music/PinkFloyd guest vocalist, he possesses the world's smallest known Sabbath-Bacon-Erdős number at only 8.

He also co-wrote ''Literature/GeorgesSecretKeyToTheUniverse'' with his daughter Lucy.

Hawking passed away on the 14th of March, 2018 at the age of 76. For the record, this means he lived 55 years past his initial diagnosis.

* SilentSnarker: A variation. Since Hawking's voice computer couldn't really do inflection, Hawking himself would indicate sarcasm or slyness through use of the occasional AsideGlance and eyeroll.

[[WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory He's got 12 inch rims on his chair, that's how he rolls, y'all.]] [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer No, he actually]] ''[[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer did]]''. [[AluminumChristmasTrees You thought they were joking?]]

Hawking passed away on the 14th of March, 2018 at the age of 76. For the record, this means he lived ''55'' years past his initial diagnosis.

* AdamWesting: He tended to be portrayed as an InsufferableGenius whenever he made an appearance as himself on a TV show. Anytime he appeared in animated form, you could usually expect his wheelchair to be a SuperWheelchair taken UpToEleven, with gadgets to put WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget or [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} the Transformers]] to shame.

-->'''Hawking:''' Hello. I am Stephen Hawking. Physicist, cosmologist, and something of a dreamer. Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free.

Stephen William Hawking [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA]] (January 8, 1942 - March 14, 2018) was an English theoretical astrophysicist known for his world-recognised work on black holes, theoretical cosmology, and quantum gravity. The ability to do most of this work entirely in his head led him to be generally recognized as the most brilliant scientist since UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein (Hawking himself disputed that title, however, arguing himself to be, at best, the greatest scientist since UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman, whom he considered the best since Einstein). The reason this was necessary is that he had been left almost paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, [[MachineMonotone "speaking" through a specially-designed computer]] (the voice of which is also very well-known), due to his having motor neuron disease (MND). This is the collective name for a group of five related degenerative neural disorders, of which best-known to the general public is ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), better known to Americans as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's not definitively known which form of MND he had, although it was believed he had ALS. (He was rather famous for his affliction, as well: if it was ALS, it was the most protracted case ever recorded -- it didn't progress the way ALS normally does, which stymied a definitive diagnosis, which can only be confirmed by post-mortem dissection of the brain.)

* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: Astonishingly, he was born on the death date of Galileo Galilei (January 8th) three hundred years to the day and died on the same day Albert Einstein was born (March 14) and at the same age (76).

* CoolOldGuy: Was still studying and reivising theories about black holes up until his passing at age 76.

Stephen William Hawking [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA]] (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical astrophysicist known for his world-recognised work on black holes, theoretical cosmology, and quantum gravity. The ability to do most of this work entirely in his head led him to be generally recognized as the most brilliant scientist since UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein (Hawking himself disputed that title, however, arguing himself to be, at best, the greatest scientist since UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman, whom he considered the best since Einstein). The reason this was necessary is that he had been left almost paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, [[MachineMonotone "speaking" through a specially-designed computer]] (the voice of which is also very well-known), due to his having motor neuron disease (MND). This is the collective name for a group of five related degenerative neural disorders, of which best-known to the general public is ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), better known to Americans as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's not definitively known which form of MND he had, although it was believed he had ALS. (He was rather famous for his affliction, as well: if it was ALS, it was the most protracted case ever recorded -- it didn't progress the way ALS normally does, which stymied a definitive diagnosis, which can only be confirmed by post-mortem dissection of the brain.)

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: His voice synthesizer caused him to be mistaken for an American. He would have preferred to replace it with a synthesizer with a British accent, but it became so synonymous with himself that he couldn't.

* TheArtifact[=/=]GrandfatherClause: He used the same voice synthesizer for decades, even as it got increasingly out of date. It would have been easy for him to attain a more advanced one, or even just one that actually has an English accent, but he realized that the particular voice he had all these years was an iconic part of his public image, so he didn't bother to upgrade. Even when the 30-year old hardware voice synthesizer began to fail in 2017, Hawking still wanted to keep his iconic voice, necessitating that the band of engineers who built the device in the first place be [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether Put Back Together]] to create an [[{{UsefulNotes/Emulation}} emulator]] of the device in order to preserve his voice.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Asked how he had fathered children despite his condition, he replied that Lou Gehrig's Disease only affects voluntary muscles.[[note]]In case you are wondering, ALS does not affect nerves which control the reproductive system, so getting and maintaining an erection is not a problem nor is producing sperm and fathering children. Secondly, and much more importantly, ALS is a progressive disease. It gets worse over the years. A person does not start as healthy and end up paralysed the next day when afflicted. Neither did Hawking. Hawking's first two children were born when he was still in the early stages of the disease, he was walking and functioning more or less normally at the time. His third was born when he was wheelchair bound, but still much more ambulatory and mobile than he was later in life.[[/note]]

* MachineMonotone: His synthesiser was actually quite antiquated (over thirty years old by the time of his death), yet he continued using it ''because'' the synthesiser's monotone was so universally associated with him and was, in effect, his actual voice as far as most everyone was concerned.

Hawking was also quite famous for his sense of humour. He appeared several times on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''[[note]]Although Hawking stated that he enjoyed guest-starring on ''The Simpsons'', he also hated the attention it got him as most people now knew Hawking from his appearance on the show, rather than his intellectual pursuits.[[/note]], ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', and ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' AsHimself, each time bordering on the line of AdamWesting. (And yes, that's him reciting one of the "Boom-de-yadas" in the Creator/DiscoveryChannel's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0 I Love The Whole World]]" promo.) {{Expy}}s of him appeared in parody form (''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'') and in CharlieAndTheChocolateParody form (''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty''). He appeared as a character, but not on camera (perhaps he couldn't make the shoot fit his schedule, or just didn't like the show), in an episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. Finally, he was the only person to appear in any ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series AsHimself (obviously, as a holodeck recreation of himself). Hawking was also known to be a fan of ''Series/RedDwarf''. And while he was not involved in the production of the nerdcore rapper M.C. Hawking (which uses a VERY similar text-to-speech voice program), he gave his full approval of the parody act.

Stephen William Hawking [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA]] (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical astrophysicist known for his world-recognised work on black holes, theoretical cosmology, and quantum gravity. The ability to do most of this work entirely in his head led him to be generally recognised as the most brilliant scientist since UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein (Hawking himself disputed that title, however, arguing himself to be, at best, the greatest scientist since UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman, whom he considered the best since Einstein). The reason this was necessary is that he had been left almost paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, [[MachineMonotone "speaking" through a specially-designed computer]] (the voice of which is also very well-known), due to his having motor neuron disease (MND). This is the collective name for a group of five related degenerative neural disorders, of which best-known to the general public is ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), better known to Americans as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's not definitively known which form of MND he had, although it was believed he had ALS. (He was rather famous for his affliction, as well: if it was ALS, it was the most protracted case ever recorded -- it didn't progress the way ALS normally does, which stymied a definitive diagnosis, which can only be confirmed by post-mortem dissection of the brain.)

He also co-wrote ''Literature/GeorgesSecretKeyToTheUniverse'' with his daughter Lucy

* CoolOldGuy: 76 years doing that science thing.

* MachineMonotone: Famously so. As he was unable to speak on his own he required a special computer to assist him.

* RoboSpeak: He spoke using a MachineMonotone computer, what did you expect?

Hawking was also quite famous for his sense of humour. He appeared several times on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''[[note]]Although Hawking stated that he enjoyed guest-starring on ''The Simpsons'', he also hated the attention it got him as most people now knew Hawking from his appearance on the show, rather than his intellectual pursuits.[[/note]], ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', and ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' AsHimself, each time bordering on the line of AdamWesting. (And yes, that's him reciting one of the "Boom-de-yadas" in the Creator/DiscoveryChannel's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0 I Love The Whole World]]" promo.) {{Expy}}s of him appeared in parody form (''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'') and in CharlieAndTheChocolateParody form (''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty''). He appeared as a character, but not on camera (perhaps he couldn't make the shoot fit his schedule, or just didn't like the show), in an episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. Finally, he was the only person to appear in any ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series AsHimself (obviously, as a holodeck recreation of himself). Hawking was also known to be a fan of ''Series/RedDwarf''. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', where he and Crocker knew each other from their days as college students. And while he was not involved in the production of the nerdcore rapper M.C. Hawking (which uses a VERY similar text-to-speech voice program, albeit not identical), he gave his full approval of the parody act.