" Stephen Hawking ` ` comfortable '' in Cambridge , Cambridge University says . He was hospitalized Monday in ` ` very ill '' condition . 67-year - old suffers from degenerative condition known as Lou ##don 's Disease . At Cambridge , he holds the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics -- one of the world 's most prestigious academic posts which was held from 1669 to 1702 by Isaac Newton , who laid the foundations of modern physics by discovering the universal law of gravity . He is considered by many to be world 's greatest computer scientist .
" Stephen Hawking ` ` comfortable '' in Cambridge , Cambridge University says . He was hospitalized Monday in ` ` very ill '' condition . 67-year - old suffers from degenerative condition known as Lou ##don 's Disease . He is considered by many to be world 's greatest computer scientist .