Master of the universe - Telegraph The world's most famous scientist turns 70 on Sunday. Professor Stephen Hawking does not believe in God, but even he might admit that this anniversary is something of a miracle. After all, no one expected him to reach 30, following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease at the age of 21. Despite the devastating progression of his illness, Prof Hawking is still trying to find answers to questions which are simultaneously fundamental to our existence and far too complicated for ordinary mortals to understand. His "quantum cosmology" aims to explain the creation of the universe by recasting it as a multitude of creations that are selected by the present. And no, we don't know what that means, either. But we do wish a happy birthday to a very great man who, while suffering in ways we can hardly imagine, none the less declares that it is "glorious to be alive."