Stephen Hawking by Kenneth S.

Everyone has someone they admire, but did you know most of them had a difficult challenge to overcome to reach fame? Facing challenges is normal, but Stephen Hawking had one of the worst challenges because his ALS disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). He was awarded 15 big awards, he discovered the black holes, and he was the smartest man alive at his time.

To start this topic off, in Stephen Hawking’s young age he studied theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge. Then one day he started having trouble walking, so his doctor said he had a very bad disease and would only live for 2 years according to acessibe.com, “Ten Stories Of People Who Overcame There Disabilities.” This disease was ALS, which had him in a wheelchair and on a speaking device. Yet, he lived for 50 more years and in his life after this he earned more than 15 major awards. Stephen Hawking had a challenging life, but pushed through.

The second reason making him a successful person who faced adversity is that even with his disease he was able to do one of the biggest discoveries. This discovery is black holes (biography.com), an event in astronomy. “In 1974, Hawking’s research turned him into a celebrity within the scientific world when he showed black holes.” If you love doing something, don’t let a challenge stop you. Stephen Hawking just proved this. Even in a wheelchair, not being able to move a muscle, he found one huge discovery because his disability didn’t stop him.

The final reason is that he was as smart or smarter than Albert Einstein. What would you expect from a guy with such a huge amount of adversity? Well, you wouldn’t expect him to be the smartest man in history would you? In enhancingbrain.com, Stephen Hawking never revealed his IQ, but it was believed to have been 160. “Only 0.0003% of people can score that high.” Even after everything he when through, he beat 99.997% of people.

Overall, Stephen Hawking had a bad life but that didn’t let them stop him. He won 15 awards in the scientific field. He may be the smartest person in the world, and he made the discovery of black holes even with ALS. And it all happened after this disease entered his life.