(FILES) World famous British scientist S

(FILES) World famous British scientist Stephen Hawking gives a lecture at the Bloomfield Museum of Science in Jerusalem on December 10, 2006. Hawking, the wheelchair-bound British physicist whose book "A Brief History Of Time" became an international best-seller, is "very ill" in hospital, Cambridge University said on April 20, 2009. Hawking, 67, achieved worldwide fame for his research, writing and television documentaries despite suffering from a form of motor neurone disease that left him disabled and dependent on a voice synthesiser to communicate. AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)