Stephen Hawking, (born 1942) British theoretical physicist, in freefall flight, 26 April 2007. He is on board a modified Boeing 727 jet owned by the Zero Gravity Corporation. The jet completes a series of steep ascents and dives that create short periods of weightlessness due to freefall. During this flight Hawking experienced 8 such periods. In 1963 Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease, which has left him wheelchair-bound. Hawking is best known for his work on cosmology and black holes, and writing the popular science book A Brief History of Time (1988).