Stephen Hawking’s Daughter Lucy Is Continuing His Legacy By Inspiring A New Generation Of Scientists

Mar 07, 2023 by apost team

Stephen Hawking is perhaps one of the biggest minds in the world next to Albert Einstein. The Oxford, England native was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who had authored plenty of books, including "A Brief History of Time," which catapulted him into commercial success and international acclaim from the science community and a lot of people in the world. 

Born in a family of physicians, Hawking began his university education at University College Oxford, where he got his first-class BA Degree in Physics. Years later, he then started doing his graduate studies at Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge; he earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics with a specialization in General Relativity and Cosmology. 

His impact on the scientific community has been credited as eye-opening by many. He introduced the idea of black holes, which won him the Gravity Research Foundation Award in January 1971. He also published his first-ever book in 1973, titled "The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time."

After studying black holes, Hawking then moved forward to study quantum gravity and quantum mechanics. He also coined the term Hawking radiation; back then, it was deemed controversial by many but was eventually accepted to be a significant breakthrough in theoretical physics. 

In 1974, Hawking was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. In the United States, he also became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society in 1984, and the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1992. 

But the roads leading to that point weren't as easy as anyone would think for a gifted mind like Hawking. 

In 1963, a year after he began working on his graduate work, Hawking was diagnosed with an early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neuron disease or – which eventually paralyzed him as the decades went by. 

"When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realize that life is worth living and that there are lots of things you want to do," Hawking told The New York Times.

Back then, when he consulted with his doctor, they only advised him to "lay off the beer" as he got increasingly clumsy and even fell down some flight of stairs. 

The doctor knew that it was not just clumsiness and an increase in Hawking's alcohol intake – he recalled knowing that his doctors expected his condition to worsen and could only do so much at that time. 

Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or most commonly known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. 

As he began experiencing loss of speech, Hawking used a program called Equalizer which helped him communicate while being glued to his automated wheelchair. 

"When I have built up what I want to say, I can send it to a speech synthesizer. One's voice is very important. If you have a slurred voice, people are likely to treat you as mentally deficient," he explained. 

Initially, his doctors gave him an ultimatum of two and a half years to live, but Hawking defied the laws of nature and lived a fulfilling life until he passed away in 2018 at 76 years old. 

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Hawking's death has devastated the entire world – most especially the science and the disabled community because of his significant contributions to both communities. It was reported that the famed scientist died at his home in Cambridge on Mar. 14, 2018. 

It was never publicly revealed how Hawking passed away. However, according to Mirror UK, he was believed to have died from complications due to his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is known to contribute to respiratory failure in ailing patients. 

According to the National Library of Medicine, studies suggest that only 10-20% of diagnosed patients have survived for more than ten years since they were given their respective prognosis; meanwhile, The ALS Association, as quoted by Time Magazine, revealed that 5% of patients with the debilitating disease only survive longer than 20 years. 

For ALS Association Chief Scientist Lucie Bruijn, Hawking's survival was "fairly untypical," as she was not aware of anyone who has survived the fatal condition longer than Hawking did. He was also able to evade the part where dementia also seeps in, another debilitating condition that many ALS-diagnosed patients have at the later phase in their life. 

According to The Mayo Clinic, ALS is a progressive nervous system disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, which causes a loss of muscle control. Up until today, scientists have still not been able to pinpoint exactly what causes this fatal disease. 

"ALS is a complex disorder, and every journey is so incredibly variable," Brujin confessed to the magazine.

"We are working with teams globally on these very big data efforts, trying to understand each person's clinical journey, what their genetics look like and what they were exposed to."

After Hawking's death, several tributes and memorials were mounted all over the world, commemorating his significant impact on various communities and fields. 

The Gonville and Caius College, Hawking's own college in Cambridge, flew half-mast upon the announcement of his death. A book of condolences was even signed by students and visitors on the campus, The Guardian reports. 

At the Closing Ceremony of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, China, the International Paralympics Committee President Andrew Parsons mentioned Hawking, who was a renowned advocate for people living with disabilities.

"In the Paralympic Movement, we always say that Para athletes see challenges as opportunities to do things differently. Although not a Para athlete, Hawking did just that, finding innovative solutions to overcome his disability and continue his ground-breaking work as a world-leading physicist," Parsons said. 

Weeks after his death, Hawking's private funeral was held at Great St. Mary's Church in Cambridge, attended only by select individuals. Notably, "The Theory of Everything" actors Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, who played Hawking and his wife, Jane, in the movie, also attended the intimate ceremony.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who also played Hawking in the movie "Hawking," along with astronaut Tim Peake, Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, and physicist Kip Thorne, were invited to read passages during the service. 

Months after, a thanksgiving service took place at Westminster Abbey, as his ashes were interred in Abbey's nave between the tombstones of other renowned scientists – Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton. 

In the same year, an auction was held of Hawking's 22 personal items – including his doctoral thesis and his wheelchair – which racked up to more than 2 million dollars at the time. Proceeds from the auction went to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the Stephen Hawking Foundation, and his own estate.

In popular media, Hawking is usually portrayed along with his ex-wife, Jane. He met his future wife in 1962 at a party, a year before he was diagnosed with ALS. In 1964, the two became engaged and decided to tie the know, aware of the potential challenges and obstacles that they may face following Hawking's diagnosis. The two wed on Jul. 14, 1965, in their shared hometown in St. Albans in Hertfordshire.

The couple lived decades after their marriage harmoniously; Jane began embarking on her own academic pursuits with a Ph.D. program through Westfield College in medieval Spanish poetry, while Hawking completed his study and worked at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in Cambridge, where they lived. 

They had three children – Robert in 1967, Lucy in 1970, and Timothy in 1979. However, around 1977, Jane developed romantic feelings for organist Jonathan Hellyer Jones, whom she later revealed that Hawking was quite supportive of. But, they were determined not to break their family, leading the both of them to remain platonic friends. 

However, Jane and Hawking's marriage began experiencing some significant turbulence when the intrusion of many nurses and medical professionals began to affect their daily lives to attend to the latter's needs. 

Hawking then developed a relationship with one of his nurses, Elaine Mason, whom he left Jane and his family for in 1990. Hawking then finalized his divorce from Jane in 1995, with tensions surrounding their different faith also becoming an issue. 

According to The Observer, Hawking's family felt excluded from their father's life, with speculations arising that he was even physically abused, which was later ignored by Hawking.

Leaving his family for Mason, the two eventually divorced in 2006 after getting married in the same year he divorced Jane. 

Although Hawking's relationship with his wife was strained, and he was reported to have had a life with his children, her only daughter, Lucy, had fond memories of his father. 

Growing up, Lucy recalled that his father was only well-known among theoretical physicists, so she wasn't really born into a famous family. Lucy, 52, said that during that time when they were still living in Cambridge, it was a very difficult time for people with disabilities. 

"He had an automatic wheelchair that he drove himself, and people found that quite shocking to find a disabled person driving his wheelchair with his children, and so people used to stare a lot, and it was very intrusive, she recounted to The Mint. "It was quite upsetting as a child."

But despite this, Lucy was grateful to be the offspring of someone that is so revered around the world, an inspiration for many around the world – something she considers that is a legacy to be proud of. 

"We were enormously lucky to have so much time with him, so much more time than anybody could have possibly thought," she told Good Morning Britain, as quoted by Mirror UK. "He had extraordinary longevity with his condition and, in many ways, was a medical miracle as well as a scientific one.

Although they were already informed of the idea of his inevitable sudden death, confronting the idea in their young minds has been a challenge for them. 

"But it was difficult because we did think that he could pass away at any time, or he would last forever. And so actually, even thought with someone who has been ill for a very long time, you wouldn't think that their death could shock you, but it did," she furthered. 

Lucy, like her father, is a multi-hyphenated individual. She is a journalist, novelist, science educator, and philanthropist. She is the second child of Hawking and his wife, Jane. 

She followed in the footsteps of her father in pursuit of knowledge; Lucy studied French, Russian, and also theatre. 

The two have shared a close bond with each other that they wrote books to explain the complex world of science to children, starting with "George's Secret Key to the Universe," "George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt," "George and the Big Bang," "George and the Unbreakable Code," and "George and the Blue Moon."

"I have a 9-year–old son, and I thought it would be wonderful if my father and I could write something together that would explain my grandfather's work to my son," Lucy told TODAY in an interview back then. 

At the time when Hawking's health was declining, Lucy was there by his side, ushering to his help. That is why Lucy, like any other child, was heartbroken when her father passed away in 2018. 

"He always said that your legacy was in your children and in the work you left behind," Lucy reflected on Good Morning Britain.

"And so I think it's very, very important that we take the elements of the work he did, which lies in his work in cosmology and physics, but also in his outreach in his work in education, his advocacy for the NHS and for disability rights. And we carry that on."

To date, Lucy is continuing her father's legacy by continuing to educate more children about the wonders of science through the books that she and her father had written before he passed away – making sure that his father's love for knowledge is passed on to the new generation.

Stephen Hawking's journey as a great mind, husband and father is surely a story worth to be told over and over again. Isn't Lucy Hawking brilliant as her father? What can you say about her decision to continue his legacy? Do you think she is in the right to educate younger generations about science? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other loved ones!