Stephen Hawking death: the world's most celebrated scientist dies at 76

Tom Powell14 March 2018

Professor Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.

The world-famous scientist died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a spokesman for his family said.

Professor Hawking's children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement: "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.

Scientist Stephen Hawking - In pictures

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"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."

The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne, tells the story of Stephen Hawking's life
Getty Images

The renowned physicist was born in Oxfordshire in 1942 and went on to study at both the University of Oxford and Cambridge.

But after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease in 1964 at the age of 22, he was given just a few years to live.

Stephen Hawking receives the Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2009
Getty Images

Yet against all odds Professor Hawking celebrated his 70th birthday nearly half a century later as one of the most famous scientists of the modern age.

Despite being wheelchair-bound, almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his trademark voice synthesiser, he wrote a plethora of scientific papers that earned him comparisons with Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton.

He won a string of awards throughout his illustrious career, during which he was best known for his work on black holes and the 1988 book A Brief History of Time.

University of Cambridge vice-chancellor Professor Stephen Toope said today: "Professor Hawking was a unique individual who will be remembered with warmth and affection not only in Cambridge but all over the world.

“His exceptional contributions to scientific knowledge and the popularisation of science and mathematics have left an indelible legacy. His character was an inspiration to millions."

Prof Hawking's crowning achievement was his prediction in the 1970s that black holes can emit energy, despite the classical view that nothing - not even light - can escape their gravity.

With Roger Penrose, he showed 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.

These results indicated that it was necessary to unify general relativity with quantum mechanics, the other great scientific development of the first half of the 20th century.

His book, A Brief History Of Time, has sold more than 10 million copies.

The University of Cambridge, where Professor Hawking studied and worked, will open a book of condolence at Gonville and Caius College.

Professor Hawking with his second wife Elaine Mason in 2005 before they divorced a year later
Getty Images

His rise to fame and relationship with his first wife, Jane, was dramatised in a 2014 film, The Theory Of Everything, in which Eddie Redmayne put in an Oscar-winning performance as the physicist battling with a devastating illness.

He has three children with his first wife of 26 years, who he left in the 1990s to marry Elaine Mason. The couple then divorced in 2006.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson was one of the first to pay tribute to Professor Stephen Hawking following his death aged 76.

Sharing a photo of himself and Prof Hawking on Twitter, he said: "His passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. But it's not empty. Think of it as a kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric of spacetime that defies measure. Stephen Hawking, RIP 1942-2018."

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood said Prof Hawking was "an inspiration to us all, whatever our station in life, to reach for the stars".

He tweeted: "RIP Sir, You epitomised true courage over adversity as you explained the wonders of the universe to the world. Your achievements symbolise the pwr of the human mind.

"An inspiration to us all, whatever our station in life, to reach for the stars-from where you now shine down on us."

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