Approaching disability like a scientist

People with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM. When sociologist and broadcaster Tom Shakespeare was a graduate student at King's College, Cambridge in the early 1990s, he sent a request to a physicist who was on his way to becoming the most famous scientist in modern history. Shakespeare was part of a group organizing a campaign to raise awareness about the need for better access for students with disabilities. And he wanted Stephen Hawking in on it. "We wrote to him and said, 'Would you...