I am, of course, referring to the recent death of Stephen Hawking.
There’s no way that I can add anything to the widespread reporting of the very sad death of the theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author Professor Stephen Hawking.
Except, possibly, this interesting quirk of fate.
For this great man died yesterday: March 14th.
The very same day that another very famous man, the German-born Albert Einstein, was born. As in March 14th. Albeit, Stephen Hawking’s death being 139 years after the birth of the 1921 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Did you also know that Professor Hawking was a great dog lover!
I was very pleased that The Conversation blog site released a wonderful tribute to Stephen Hawking. The item opens, thus:
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Acclaimed British theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author Stephen Hawking has died aged 76. Hawking is best known for his work on black holes, which revolutionised our understanding of the universe.
Hawking passed away today peacefully at his home in Cambridge, his family confirmed 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.
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.
Read more: A timeline of Stephen Hawking’s remarkable life
Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. In 1963 he was diagnosed with ALS, a form of Motor Neurone Disease, and later confined to a wheelchair and forced to communicate via a computerised voice. But he continued his theoretical work and was outspoken on many things over much of his life.
Tributes have been pouring in on social media for the scientist, who made complex science accessible to everyone in his 1988 bestselling book A Brief History of Time.
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Do read the rest of that article. I will take the tribute from Alice Gorman that closes The Conversation article to close today’s post.
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Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in archaeology and space studies, Flinders University
There are few scientists who reach as far into popular culture as Stephen Hawking did. His research tackled the biggest of big questions – the nature of time, space and the universe we live in.
Sometimes it feels like science is losing ground in the modern world, but people still look to the stars for answers about who we are and how we come to be here.
Hawking’s bestselling A Brief History of Time made cosmology accessible to people and brought black holes out of the shadows and into the public imagination.
Personally I’ll miss his appearances on The Big Bang Theory, where he could out-nerd the nerds, and also provide some often necessary common sense. It was always great to see a world-class scientist just having fun.
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What a very great man he was!
Learning from Dogs 
I loved his sense of humor. The fact that he worked in area of science that is particularly fascinating to me. The Theory of Everything gave me a deeper insight into his world. His work will live on…..I didn’t know he loved dogs! Great share!
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Have you read his book? No question about his work living on! His legacy will be a permanent fixture in the field of cosmology!
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A very silly video! Stephen Hawkins was a great man who campaigned for the NHS and spoke out about what was happening to it under the current government. He will be greatly missed.
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Now that’s something I wasn’t aware of. Been away from the old country for too many years!
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And wanted to share this video with you that we just watched, courtesy of The Conversation blog:
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It was quite a recent development – the NHS was a large part of the reason why he lived so long with an illness that shortens many people’s lives considerably.
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I was unaware of that. But I certainly side with those that think the funding of the NHS should be on of the UK’s top priorities. I am not saying that the healthcare services offered here in Oregon are poor, not by a long shot, but they are far from being free!!
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I quite agree Paul. NHS isn’t free – we all pay for it through our taxes. It’s worth it.
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