Stephen Hawking Has Joined Facebook

Hawking Simpsons
Stephen Hawking, probably the most famous physicist on Earth, has become an active member of the Facebook community.

Hawking first joined the ubiquitous social networking site on October 7, a few weeks in advance of the upcoming release of The Theory of Everything; a biopic chronicling Hawking’s relationship with his first wife Jane.

Hawking, who suffers from a motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is best known for his groundbreaking work in cosmology and quantum physics; especially his work relating to black holes.

The legendary astrophysicist’s first Facebook post reads as follows:

Hawking Facebook
Hawking’s team manages the profile, and posts from Hawking himself are signed “SH,” according to the page’s description.

Also featured on the profile are photos of Hawking attending various events and visiting assorted institutions, including a picture taken inside the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN particle physics laboratory, on the French-Swiss border:

Hawking Accelerator
Hawking — perhaps the most famous, living person to be suffering from an ALS-related illness — also shares his ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on the page. The astrophysicist did not take part in the challenge himself, “Because I had pneumonia last year, it would not be wise for me to have a bucket of cold water poured over me.” His children, as you can see below, rose to the challenge in his stead.

Clicking Hawking’s highlighted name above will lead you to his PeekYou profile, from where you can access mountains of media strewn across the digital landscape, relating to this brilliant man and his extraordinary life and work.