Hawking set for full recovery from chest infection

STEPHEN HAWKING is expected to make a "full recovery" after being taken to hospital with what is believed to be a chest infection, his colleagues said today.

The 67-year-old scientist, who is based at Cambridge University, was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in the Cambridge yesterday after falling ill.

"Professor Hawking remains in hospital," a university spokesman said today. "He is in a comfortable condition and is expected to make a full recovery."

The university described him as being "very ill" when he was first taken to hospital.

Professor Hawking, a grandfather and father-of-three, suffers from Motor Neurone Disease, and is wheelchair bound and speaks with the aid of a voice synthesizer.

He developed the disease while studying in the Sixties and is one of its longest surviving sufferers.

Professor Hawking has worked at Cambridge's applied mathematics and theoretical physics department for more than 30 years.

One of the world's leading cosmologists, he earned worldwide fame with his best-known book, A  Brief History Of Time, which even led to an appearance in The Simpsons.

He was awarded the CBE in 1982, made a Companion of Honour in 1989 and is a Fellow of The  Royal Society.

Professor Hawking had been ill for a couple of weeks, his condition deteriorating since he returned from a trip to America at the weekend, a source said.

He cancelled an appearance at Arizona State University on 6 April due to a chest infection.

His department head Peter Haynes described him as a "remarkable colleague", adding: "We hope he will be amongst us again soon."