Professor Stephen Hawking dies at 76: ‘A star just went out’ – world honours renowned British physicist
Professor Stephen Hawking, the renowned British physicist and author of A Brief History of Time, has died at the age of 76.
He died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday morning, his family said.
Prof Hawking, one of the world’s finest scientific minds, was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease in 1964 at the age of 22 and was given just a few years to live.
He eventually became confined to a wheelchair and dependent on a computerised voice system for communication.
Despite this, he continued to travel the world giving lectures and writing scientific papers about the basic laws that govern the universe. Prof Hawking explained the Big Bang and black holes in his best-selling book A Brief History Of Time.
As tributes to the acclaimed physicist poured in from around the world, Prime Minister Theresa May said he was “a brilliant and extraordinary mind – one of the great scientists of his generation” whose “courage, humour and determination to get the most from life was an inspiration”.
The University of Cambridge said he was “an inspiration to millions” and his work will leave “an indelible legacy”.
Eddie Redmayne, who starred as Professor Hawking in The Theory Of Everything, said in a statement: “We have lost a truly beautiful mind, an astonishing scientist and the funniest man I have ever had the pleasure to meet.