Stephen Hawking had which disease, diagnosed when he was 21?

Motor neurone disease, also called ALS

What is the title of Hawking's best-selling 1988 book about the universe?

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Future

What is Hawking radiation?

Radiation that black holes give off

Heat left over from the Big Bang

Which famous professorship did Hawking hold at Cambridge from 1979 to 2009?

Lucasian Professor of Mathematics

How did Hawking control his speech computer in his later years?

With a joystick held in his hand

What did Hawking experience during a special flight in 2007?

A trip to the International Space Station

Stephen Hawking Quiz: Black Holes and A Brief History of Time

This Stephen Hawking quiz covers the British physicist from his birth in Oxford and his diagnosis with ALS to his discoveries about black holes, Hawking radiation, his work with Roger Penrose, his best-selling book A Brief History of Time, his post as Lucasian Professor at Cambridge and the film The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne. Fifteen questions.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 15 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 15 Time: 150s

Early life
In which English city was Stephen Hawking born in 1942?
Dates
Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after the death of which scientist?
Health
Stephen Hawking had which disease, diagnosed when he was 21?
Books
What is the title of Hawking's best-selling 1988 book about the universe?
Black holes
What is Hawking radiation?
Cambridge
Which famous professorship did Hawking hold at Cambridge from 1979 to 2009?
Film
Which actor won an Oscar for playing Hawking in The Theory of Everything?
Study
At which university did Hawking study as an undergraduate?
Communication
How did Hawking control his speech computer in his later years?
Death
On which day, also Albert Einstein's birthday, did Hawking die in 2018?
Burial
Where were Hawking's ashes placed, near Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin?
Space
What did Hawking experience during a special flight in 2007?
Research
With which mathematician did Hawking develop theorems about singularities in the 1960s and 1970s?
TV
On which Star Trek series did Hawking play himself in a poker game with Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein?
Books
Hawking wrote a series of children's books about George with which family member?

Explanations: answer key for all 15 questions

Q1: In which English city was Stephen Hawking born in 1942?
Answer: Oxford
He was born in Oxford on January 8, 1942. His parents had moved there from London to escape the bombing of World War II.
Q2: Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after the death of which scientist?
Answer: Galileo Galilei
Galileo died on January 8, 1642. Hawking enjoyed pointing out the coincidence, while noting that thousands of other babies were born that day too.
Q3: Stephen Hawking had which disease, diagnosed when he was 21?
Answer: Motor neurone disease, also called ALS
Doctors expected him to live only a few more years. Instead he lived for more than five decades after the diagnosis, which is extremely rare.
Q4: What is the title of Hawking's best-selling 1988 book about the universe?
Answer: A Brief History of Time
The book stayed on the Sunday Times best-seller list for more than four years. It has sold millions of copies around the world.
Q5: What is Hawking radiation?
Answer: Radiation that black holes give off
In 1974, Hawking showed that black holes should slowly leak radiation and lose mass. It was a surprising mix of relativity and quantum physics.
Q6: Which famous professorship did Hawking hold at Cambridge from 1979 to 2009?
Answer: Lucasian Professor of Mathematics
The Lucasian chair was once held by Isaac Newton. It is one of the most famous academic posts in the world.
Q7: Which actor won an Oscar for playing Hawking in The Theory of Everything?
Answer: Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor in 2015. Benedict Cumberbatch had also played Hawking, in a 2004 TV film.
Q8: At which university did Hawking study as an undergraduate?
Answer: Oxford
He studied physics at University College, Oxford, and then moved to Cambridge for his PhD. He later joked that he worked about an hour a day as a student.
Q9: How did Hawking control his speech computer in his later years?
Answer: With a muscle in his cheek
A sensor on his glasses detected small movements of his cheek. His robotic voice became one of the most recognizable sounds in the world.
Q10: On which day, also Albert Einstein's birthday, did Hawking die in 2018?
Answer: March 14
March 14 is also celebrated as Pi Day because the date is written 3/14 in the United States. Hawking died at his home in Cambridge.
Q11: Where were Hawking's ashes placed, near Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin?
Answer: Westminster Abbey
His ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey in London in June 2018. His words were also broadcast toward a black hole as a tribute.
Q12: What did Hawking experience during a special flight in 2007?
Answer: Weightlessness
He flew on a modified aircraft that makes steep dives to create zero gravity. Freed from his wheelchair, he floated and even did somersaults.
Q13: With which mathematician did Hawking develop theorems about singularities in the 1960s and 1970s?
Answer: Roger Penrose
The Penrose-Hawking theorems showed that singularities, points of infinite density, are hard to avoid in general relativity. Penrose won a Nobel Prize in 2020.
Q14: On which Star Trek series did Hawking play himself in a poker game with Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein?
Answer: The Next Generation
He appeared in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is believed to be the only person to have played himself on Star Trek.
Q15: Hawking wrote a series of children's books about George with which family member?
Answer: His daughter Lucy
The first book, George's Secret Key to the Universe, came out in 2007. The series mixes adventure stories with real science.

Stephen Hawking Quiz – A Mind Among the Stars

Stephen Hawking was one of the best-known scientists of the past century. Born in Oxford in 1942, he studied physics at Oxford University before moving to Cambridge to research the origins of the universe. At 21 he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, also known as ALS, and was told he might have only a few years to live.

Instead, Hawking lived and worked for more than 50 years. With the mathematician Roger Penrose, he showed that the universe likely began in a singularity, a point of infinite density. In 1974 he made his most famous discovery: black holes are not completely black, but slowly give off energy now called Hawking radiation.

From 1979 to 2009 he held the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics at Cambridge, the post once held by Isaac Newton. As his illness progressed he lost the ability to speak, and he used a computer voice controlled by a muscle in his cheek. That voice became famous worldwide.

Hawking had a gift for explaining science to the public. His 1988 book A Brief History of Time sold millions of copies, and he wrote children's books with his daughter Lucy. He appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Simpsons, and his life story was told in the film The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne.

He died in Cambridge on March 14, 2018, and his ashes rest in Westminster Abbey near Newton and Charles Darwin.

This quiz covers his life, science, books and popular legacy, with explanations after every answer.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz is perfect for science fans, students and space lovers.

His early life in Oxford
Living with ALS
Black holes and Hawking radiation
A Brief History of Time
His Cambridge professorship
Films, TV appearances and honors

Quick Facts About Stephen Hawking

Born January 8, 1942, in Oxford.
He received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
He also appeared as himself on The Big Bang Theory.
His first wife, Jane Hawking, wrote a memoir about their life.
He was a fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
He supported the search for life beyond Earth.