An aide said Hawking spent about 40 hours composing his lecture, which took only an hour to deliver.
Hawking once admitted that his widespread fame among the general public may, in part, have something to do with his disability.
"I'm sure my disability has a bearing on why I'm well known," Hawking has said in an interview with the BBC. "People are fascinated by the contrast between my very limited physical powers, and the vast nature of the universe I deal with."
Listeners found Hawking's voice, as synthesized by his on-board computer, a bit hard to understand at first.
"I had a little trouble, because his inflexion was a bit odd," said David A. Crych '03, "but you get used to it after a while."
Hawking quipped that his synthesized voice has been described as having " a Scandinavian American accent."
In addition to his computer-controlled intonation, the restraints of Hawking's speech system required a pause of several minutes after a student asked a question, so that Hawking could formulate a reply.
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