Physicist Hawking hospitalized

CAMBRIDGE, England, April 20 (UPI) -- British physicist Stephen Hawking, who has been "very ill," was hospitalized Monday, a Cambridge University statement said.

A spokesman said Hawking, 67, a wheelchair-bound professor best-known as the author of "A Brief History of Time," was undergoing tests at the school's Addenbrooke's Hospital, the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported.

The university did not provide details of Hawking's illness other than saying he was "very ill."

"(Hawking) is undergoing tests. He has been unwell for a couple of weeks," the spokesman said.

Professor Peter Haynes, head of the Cambridge Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, told the Daily Mail, "Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague. We all hope he will be amongst us again soon."

Hawking is widely acknowledged one of the world's foremost experts on the origins of the universe, black holes and gravity. He is also well-known for his use of a voice synthesizer, made necessary by his affliction with motor neurone disease.