NASA StarChild image of Stephen Hawking, the cosmologist and divulging scientist, who was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1974.

Starmus 2016. Tenerife, Canary Islands.

United States President Barack Obama talks with Stephen Hawking in the Blue Room of the White House before a ceremony presenting him and 15 others the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 12 August 2009. The Medal of Freedom is America's highest civilian honor. To Stephen's right is his daughter Lucy Hawking.

Starmus 2016. Tenerife, Canary Islands.

Professor Stephen Hawking in Cambridge, UK. Cropped version of original photo with slight correction of the light so that it renders better in small size

Noted physicist Stephen Hawking (center) enjoys zero gravity during a flight aboard a modified Boeing 727 aircraft owned by Zero Gravity Corp. (Zero G). Hawking, who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) is being rotated in air by (right) Peter Diamandis, founder of the Zero G Corp., and (left) Byron Lichtenberg, former shuttle payload specialist and now president of Zero G. Kneeling below Hawking is Nicola O'Brien, a nurse practitioner who was Hawking's aide. At the celebration of his 65th birthday on January 8, 2007, Hawking announced his plans for a zero-gravity flight to prepare for a sub-orbital space flight in 2009 on Virgin Galactic's space service.

Dr. Stephen Hawking in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Stephen Hawking with New Computer

Stephen Hawking being presented by his daughter Lucy Hawking at the lecture he gave for NASA's 50th anniversary

Starmus 2016. Tenerife, Canary Islands.