RIP: Stephen Hawking at age 76: 1942 - 2018

News came just a few hours ago that Stephen Hawking had passed away in his home in Cambridge, England.

Considered by many to be the world's greatest living scientist, Hawking was also a cosmologist, astronomer, mathematician and author of numerous books including the landmark "A Brief History of Time," which has sold more than 10 million copies.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/14/health/stephen-hawking-dead/index.html

Get this...at the age of 22, Stephen Hawking was given only a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease. Ohhh he only lived for 54 more years and influenced a generation of scientists and those interested in the depths of the Universe.

Here's a short bio from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking

English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His scientific works include a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He was a vigorous supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum >mechanics.

Factfile: Stephen Hawking

• Born 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England
• Earned place at Oxford University to read natural science in 1959, before studying for his PhD at Cambridge
• By 1963, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and given two years to live
• Outlined his theory that black holes emit "Hawking radiation" in 1974
• Published his book A Brief History of Time in 1988, which has sold more than 10 million copies
• His life story was the subject of the 2014 film The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43396008

Of course, Neil deGrasse Tyson immediately posted on his Twitter account with his condolences.

Here are a few pictures of Stephen Hawking through various stages of his life.

I found it particularly fun that even though he had a terrible disease that caused a loss of control of most of his body, he still retained a sharp since of humor. He was known to run over people's toes on the campus of Cambridge. LOL!

He was even featured once in the popular cartoon The Simpsons:

You probably don't remember, but he was featured in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, playing poker with Einstein and Newton. Pretty smart company. I like to think that I'd hold my own. I got a mean poker face.

Here are some of his notable quotes:

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.

I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.

Now, every hero has his faults and Stephen Hawkings once said that "we should be more frightened of capitalism than robots." Please. Why be scared of the system that has created more wealth and brought more people out of poverty than anything else. Can I give him a pass on this? Actually, no I can't. Understanding the Free Market and Capitalism is far more important than the origin of the universe and black holes.

https://www.cnet.com/news/stephen-hawking-says-we-should-be-more-frightened-of-capitalism-than-robots/

Still, it's hard to argue that Hawking wasn't one of the most notable scientists ever and I'm sure glad that someone is interested in understanding how the universe was created. I'm a simple man. I'm just trying to figure out how to create Steem tagging algorithms and better understand the economics incentives of this community so that we build a successful reporting bot. To each his own.

Thanks Mr. Hawkings for proving the doctors wrong and for sticking it out. Thanks for having that cool cheek twitching thing that allowed you to talk and for being such a good sport with a sense of humor. Thanks for showing the world how powerful the mind can be even when the body fails you.

I hope they send your body to outer space. That's where you belong, after all.

Thanks for reading,
Ashe