Stephen Hawking has passed away at the age
of 76, the Daily Mail reports. The celebrated
scientist took his last breath today, a spokesman
for his family said.
Hawking was known for one of the most famous
science books of all time, A Brief History
of Time, which was the subject Oscar-winning
film, The Theory of Everything, in 2014.The
theoretical physicist suffered from amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS). Hawking had to spend
his entire adult life paralyzed in a wheelchair.
Despite the challenges he faced, the genius
made extraordinary scientific contributions
to the world.
Stephen William Hawking was born January 8,
1942, in Oxford, England and had two younger
sisters and a brother.
In a statement, Professor Hawking’s children,
Lucy, Robert, and Tim said, “We are deeply
saddened that our beloved father passed away
today.”Hawking defied the standards of medical
science and reached old age despite suffering
from such a rare disease. Nevertheless, the
Englishman was forced to miss a scientific
discussion to mark his 70th birthday in January
2012 because he was released from a hospital
only two days prior to the event.
Hawking was also known for his excellent sense
of humor. In an interview with New Scientist
magazine, Hawking said there was still one
puzzle left for him. When asked what that
was, he replied, “Women. They are a complete
mystery.”The famed scientist was married
and divorced twice. His first life partner
was Jane Wilde, a fellow student at Cambridge
with whom Hawking lived with for 28 years.
After that, he tied the knot with his nurse,
Elaine Mason, with whom Hawking spent his
next 11 years.
Hawking fathered three children from his first
marriage, Robert, Timothy, and Lucy.
Hawking, together with Roger Penrose, united
Einstein’s theory of relativity with quantum
theory to suggest that space and time began
with the Big Bang and will end in black holes.
His major scientific work was also to discover
that black holes are not entirely black while
they emit radiation and they will eventually
evaporate and disappear.Fellow scientists
praised Hawking for his contribution to physics.
“His passing has left an intellectual vacuum
in his wake,” said Neil deGrasse Tyson.
“But it’s not empty. Think of it as a
kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric
of spacetime that defies measure.”
