Stephen Hawking, Who Examined the Universe and Explained Black Holes, Dies at 76
World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.
He died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday, his family said.
The
Briton was known for his work with black holes and relativity, and
wrote several popular science books including A Brief History of Time.
At
the age of 22 Prof Hawking was given only a few years to live after
being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease.
The illness left him in a wheelchair and largely unable to speak except through a voice synthesiser.
In a statement his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said: "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today.
"He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years."
They praised his "courage and persistence" and said 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."
Prof Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology as a union of relativity and quantum mechanics.
He
also discovered that black holes leak energy and fade to nothing - a
phenomenon that would later become known as Hawking radiation.
Through his work with mathematician Sir Roger Penrose he demonstrated that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implies space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes.
The
scientist gained popularity outside the academic world and appeared in
several TV shows including The Simpsons, Red Dwarf and The Big Bang
Theory.
In loving memory of Stephen Hawking. It was an honor to have him on The #BigBangTheory. Thank you for inspiring us and the world. pic.twitter.com/9rWoYqIToy— The Big Bang Theory (@bigbangtheory) March 14, 2018
He was portrayed in both TV and film - recently by Oscar winner Eddie
Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, which charted his rise to fame and
relationship with his first wife, Jane.
BBC
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