World-Renowned Theoretical Physicist Stephen Hawking Dies at 76

March 14, 2018

Perhaps the most well-known scientist since Albert Einstien, Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. He died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday, according to a University of Cambridge spokesperson.

Biography

Stephen William Hawking was born on the 8th of January, 1942 in Oxford, United Kingdom. In 1959, he earned a place the Oxford University to study natural science, before taking up his PhD at Cambridge. By 1963, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and was given only two years to live. However, he beat the odds and amazed everyone by living with the disease for more than 50 years. Even though he was wheelchair-bound and speech-impaired (after a serious pneumonia attack in 1985), he did not let his disability stop him from doing what he wanted. He communicated through a voice synthesizer, which gave him his distinctive robot-voice. On 14th of March 2018, he passed away peacefully.

Achievements

Stephen Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. He was the first to suggest a theory of cosmology as a union of relativity and quantum mechanics. In 1974, he came up with “Hawking radiation”, which states that black holes leak energy and fade to nothing. He was also an author, and some of his books include:

A Brief History of Time (1988)
The Universe in a Nutshell (2001)
The Theory of Everything (2002)
The Grand Design (2010)

He was also popular outside the academic world and appeared in several TV shows, such as The Simpsons, Star Trek and The Big Bang Theory.

A Brief History of Time — Image Credit: jombacaphs.wordpress.com

“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years,” his children Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement. “His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. He once said, ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him forever.”