April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Stephen Hawking, the British theoretical physicist most famous for his best-selling book “A Brief History of Time,” has been hospitalized and is “very ill,” the University of Cambridge said.

The professor, 67, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and has used an electric wheelchair for most of his adult life, was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge by ambulance today, the university said in an e-mailed statement.

“Professor Hawking is very ill,” Greg Hayman, a university spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “He has been suffering from a chest infection for a number of weeks, which has meant he has had to cancel a number of appointments.”

The physicist was “comfortable” in the hospital, Hayman said at about 5 p.m. local time, and will be kept overnight. Hawking, who was taken to the hospital at about midday, was flown back to the U.K. from the U.S. over the weekend, Hayman said.

Hawking canceled an appearance at a symposium at Arizona State University on April 6 and sent a digitally recorded version of the lecture he intended to deliver, according to a statement on the university’s Web site. His daughter Lucy, with whom Hawking wrote a book for children, attended to take part in a panel discussion.

“Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague, we all hope he will be amongst us again soon,” Peter Haynes, head of Cambridge’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, said in the university’s statement.

Hawking, whose theories on black holes and the universe brought science to a mass audience with the 1988 publication of “A Brief History of Time,” holds the post of Lucasian professor of mathematics at the university.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 20, 2009 13:27 EDT