Stephen Hawking, the British mathematician and physicist famed for his work on black holes, is in a comfortable condition in hospital, his university said today.
Prof Hawking (67) was yesterday rushed to Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, the city where he is a professor of applied mathematics and theoretical physics.
"Professor Hawking is being kept in for observation at Addenbrooke's hospital this morning. He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery," the university said in a statement issued today.
Prof Hawking, who is only able to speak through a computer-generated voice synthesiser, had been ill for a couple of weeks, with his condition deteriorating since he returned from a trip to the United States at the weekend, a source said.
He cancelled an appearance at Arizona State University on April 6th due to a chest infection. A pre-recorded lecture was played to a science conference instead.
Prof Hawking is renowned for his work on black holes, cosmology and quantum gravity.
His books have helped to bring complex theories of physics and time to a mass audience. He achieved global recognition with the publication in 1988 of "A Brief History of Time", an account of the origins of the universe.
Prof Hawking began suffering from motor neurone disease in his early 20s but went on to establish himself as one of the world's leading scientific authorities, and is constantly called upon to comment on new discoveries in astronomy and physics.
Agencies