Legendary scientist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76, a spokesman for the family said early Wednesday.
Hawking, whose work in the field of physics was celebrated around the globe, died at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday morning, his family said.
His children released a statement following his death.
“We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today,” read the statement from children Lucy, Robert and Tim.
“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.”
Hawking probed the mysteries of the universe explaining the complex theories space, time and black holes.
He suffered from a rare neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which kept him bound to a wheelchair.
Despite his ailment, Hawking went on to become the Lucasian Professor at Cambridge in 1979 — the chair once held by Isaac Newton in 1663.
He sought to bring advanced scientific theories to a general audience with “A Brief History of Time,” the book which became an international best seller, making him one of science’s biggest celebrities since Albert Einstein.
Hawking was involved in a mythical quest to find a “unified theory.”
Such a theory would resolve the contradictions between Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which describes the laws of gravity that govern the motion of large objects like planets, and the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, which deals with the world of subatomic particles.
Hawking said finding a “theory of everything” would allow mankind to “know the mind of God.”
He followed up “A Brief History of Time” in 2001 with the more accessible sequel “The Universe in a Nutshell,” updating readers on concepts like super gravity, naked singularities and the possibility of an 11-dimensional universe.
Hawking said belief in a God who intervenes in the universe “to make sure the good guys win or get rewarded in the next life” was wishful thinking.
“But one can’t help asking the question: Why does the universe exist?” he said in 1991. “I don’t know an operational way to give the question or the answer, if there is one, a meaning. But it bothers me.”
The combination of his best-selling book and his almost total disability — for a while he could use a few fingers, later he could only tighten the muscles on his face — made him one of science’s most recognizable faces.
He made cameo television appearances in “The Simpsons” and “Star Trek” and counted among his fans U2 guitarist The Edge, who attended a January 2002 celebration of Hawking’s 60th birthday.
His early life was chronicled in the 2014 film “The Theory of Everything,” with Eddie Redmayne winning the best actor Academy Award for his portrayal of the scientist. The film focused still more attention on Hawking’s remarkable achievements.
Some colleagues credited that celebrity with generating new enthusiasm for science.
His achievements, and his longevity, also helped prove to many that even the most severe disabilities need not stop patients from living.
With Wires
