Stephen Hawking, the British theoretical physicist, author, and director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, has passed away at age 76.
Hawking was the world’s most famous living physicist, and highly decorated, too: He was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and honored with such awards as the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Paul Dirac Medal, the Wolf Prize, the Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, the Copley Medal, the Fundamental Physics Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the citation for which concluded that “his persistence and dedication has unlocked new pathways of discovery and inspired everyday citizens”).
Hawking’s diagnosis, at age 21, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was depicted in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything (for which Eddie Redmayne, who portrayed Hawking, won an Academy Award), and he spent nearly all of his adult life bound to a wheelchair, dependent on a computerized voice system for communication. He said that he wanted “to show that people need not be limited by physical handicaps as long as they are not disabled in spirit,” and he kept a busy schedule with frequent public appearances, which he largely used to raise awareness about issues like global warming, the imperiled future of the planet, and our purpose on it—which in his view, was a lot less grand than you might think. “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star,” he said. “But we can understand the universe. That makes us something very special.” In 2008, Hawking gave a TED talk titled “Questioning the Universe,” in which he stated his belief that in order for humanity (and its “selfish and aggressive instincts”) to survive, it would need to expand beyond earth; that same year he spoke to NASA on the same topic, saying that “spreading out into space will . . . completely change the future of the human race, and maybe determine whether we have any future at all.”
In physics, Hawking’s name will forever be connected with black holes, but in common use, Hawking will likely be remembered best for refusing to let his disease interfere with his fierce intellectual power. (When asked about the study of physics taking him “beyond physical limitations,” Hawking famously answered, “The human race is so puny compared to the universe, that being disabled is not of much cosmic significance.”) He was not terribly interested in slowing down: In 2007, at 65, Hawking experienced zero gravity; he was also offered a seat with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to ride on a suborbital flight.
“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,” they said.