Stephen Hawking rushed to hospital

Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world's foremost physicists, has been urgently admitted to hospital, Cambridge University said in a statement Monday.

Hawking, 67, who is wheelchair-bound and almost completely paralysed by a wasting illness, was taken to a local hospital in Cambridge, where he is a professor of applied mathematics.

"Professor Hawking is very ill and has been taken by ambulance to Addenbrooke's Hospital," the statement said.

Hawking is renowned for his work on black holes and quantum gravity. He is considered one of the world's leading scientists having achieved global recognition with the publication of "A Brief History of Time" in 1988.

A spokesman for Cambridge University was unable to confirm what Hawking was suffering from.

The head of the university's applied mathematics department expressed hope that Hawking would recover.

"Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague," said Peter Haynes. "We all hope he will be amongst us again soon."

Update
Professor Hawking is undergoing tests and is now described as "comfortable", but will still be in hospital overnight.
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