Stephen Hawking, the groundbreaking theoretical physicist, passed away peacefully at his home in Cambridge early Wednesday at the age of 76. Although I suspect many of our children know him only through the TV show “Big Bang Theory,” he was truly one of the great minds of our time.
Hawking had a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s that gradually paralyzed him over the decades, but he fought every day to stay alive and working. Even after the loss of his speech, he was still able to communicate through a speech-generating device, initially through use of a hand-held switch, and eventually by using a single cheek muscle. His grit and tenacity inspired people all over the world, and as the European Space Agency wrote, he “showed us there are no limits to achieving our dreams”
One of his greatest impacts was bringing his complex theories to the general public through his bestselling book, “A Brief History of Time.”
His contributions to his field were enormous: the existence of singularities and the theory that the universe might have started as a singularity, the second law of black hole dynamic, new ideas in quantum gravity and quantum mechanics, and the concept that the universe had no boundary in space-time – before the Big Bang, time did not exist and the concept of the beginning of the universe was meaningless. You physicists out there will understand this better than I.
Someone said that with his death, a star on earth blinked out. I would like to think another one blinked in, out there, in our heavens. I hope Hawking is finding the answers to his questions.
A lovely thought, Noelle. There is much to admire in this man.
Thank you, Sue. I was in awe of his mind!
I think we all were, Noelle. And his humour.
A truly amazing person, Noelle. I hope he finds those answers too… but the most important thing is that he asked those questions. So many people don’t bother to question anything. Hugs.
What a prefect comment, Teagan!
My favourite Hawking “thing” was when he sent his students to repeat Ernest Rutherford’s splitting of the atom experiment, using nothing other than what they could find at their local rubbish/trash pit! A lovely tribute, thanks Noelle.
Didn’t know about that – how did they do it?
Not sure how they did it, but apparently they did! The point I think he was making was that Rutherford was an eminently practical person and he made do even when resources ran out!
A truly great mind. 💜
One in a million or more!
Yes indeed 💜
What a great tribute to a great man.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
Wonderful tribute. Excellent closing thought!
Thank you so much!
great article about Stephen!
Thank you! He’s always been an inspiration!
What an amazing mind, and such a coincidence that he passed on Pi Day. I enjoyed his books and videos immensely. So much to learn, and even more to comprehend.
Absolutely, Norah, and I hadn’t realized he died on Pi Day! True serendipity! I loved his appearances on various TV shows – he had a great sense of humor and clearly loved to play!
A legend whose memory will live with the stars with a legacy that will grow like a supernova.
Beautiful and a perfect comment!
Ohhh, I agree with you. Definitely, a nearby star just grew brighter. Thanks for this summary of Hawking’s amazing life.
I just listened to a program on the origin of the universe, written by him and partially narrated by him – gave me goosebumps! Thanks for stopping by!
Wow – sounds wonderful.
A great tribute to an incredible man, Noelle.
Thanks, Robbie. My favorite picture of Hawking is when he was weightless on what they call the ‘Vomit Comet,” a plane that takes you way up and then plummets down, allowing the passengers a minute or so of weightlessness.The expression on his face was pure joy!
An amazing person. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by! And yes, he was one in many million!
He was a truly great man and anyone told they had 2 years to live in 1963 who managed to reach 2018 had tremendous fighting spirit.
Absolutely – I can;t imagine how devastating that diagnosis was (although the movie with Eddie Redmayne was pretty good showing it). What a outstanding example of the strength of the human spirit.
A beautiful post honouring a remarkable man. His cameo’s in “The Big Bang Theory” sitcom showed yet another beautiful side to him.
I think he had a blast doing those shows, Christoph. There was a mischievous side to him – the expression on his face when he was weightless in the ‘vomit comet’ was priceless!
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