Stephen Hawking was born in England in 1942 and is a world famous scientist.

He had a disease called ALS which stopped him controlling his muscles, so he had to use a wheelchair to get around and a speech synthesizer.

He appears in videogames, films and series such as The Simpsons, and has even sung with U2 and Pink Floyd!

But why is he so famous?

Stephen Hawking is a physicist and a cosmologist. He is well-known for his work on space and in particular black holes.

His theories explaining the origin and evolution of the universe made him famous with other scientists.

But he also wanted to make science accessible and attractive to others.

One of his books, in which he explains the universe in a simple way, has sold 9 million copies; a record!