Extraordinary physicist Stephen Hawking, a man synonymous with the mysteries of the cosmos, died at home in Cambridge this morning at the age of 76. pops.ci/p5Xyci
Even if you weren’t a physicist, you knew Stephen Hawking. You knew he was a genius whose mind grappled with cosmological conundrums as massive as black holes and the existence of the Universe. pops.ci/p5Xyci
His children said in a statement: "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."
In 2010, Hawking said of life: “One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away.”
Hawking first appeared in @PopSci in December 1980. He was just 38 years old and already making a name for himself in the world of astrophysics pops.ci/215cXF
A Stephen Hawking quote from this @PopSci piece, written more than 37 years ago: “One of the most amazing things is that the universe should be so close to the dividing line between collapsing and expanding.” pops.ci/215cXF
In that 1980 article, Hawking talked about an “astonishing result” of his study of black holes: that they are not entirely black and that they actually leak a little. At the time, Hawking admitted, he was “rather annoyed” by the find, because it seemed impossible.
And in 2014, Hawking theorized that an event horizon—the point of no return at a black hole—conflicts with quantum theory. With no event horizons, there are no black holes, according to Hawking. pops.ci/ShNR8r
You can read Hawking's graduate thesis online for free—he released it in 2017 to “inspire people around the world to look up at the stars and not down at their feet; to wonder about our place in the universe and to try and make sense of the cosmos” pops.ci/MTw1pg
Stephen Hawking also famously thought any human interaction with aliens would be “a disaster.” pops.ci/jSwBux
"We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet,” Hawking said. pops.ci/jSwBux
Though that didn’t stop Hawking from joining new initiatives to explore the universe, like Breakthrough Starshot pops.ci/IYplur
At the announcement of Breakthrough Starshot, Hawking answered some of Popular Science’s questions about the program popsci.com/stephen-hawkin…
Hawking reiterated the need for new technology to propel us through space and reminded the audience that “If we are to survive as a species, we must ultimately spread to the stars.” pops.ci/c7ZlWl
James Marsh (the director of 2014's “The Theory of Everything”) said meeting Hawking was “like meeting the Queen, or meeting God. You don't quite know what you should be saying, or how you should be saying it, or what kind of answer you need to wait for." popsci.com/article/scienc…
(After seeing a rough cut of the movie, Hawking volunteered his voice software. "The film was just better with the real voice," Marsh said. "It has a music to it. It has more emotion, oddly enough, than the voice that we managed to create for ourselves.") bit.ly/2pdmIaB
Hawking never stopped to rest on his laurels and let other people puzzle out the mysteries of the cosmos. Here he is on a recent episode of Star Talk, blowing @neiltyson’s mind. pops.ci/C07vk4
Hawking also used his physics fame to encourage us all to think about the long term future of humanity—often by saying delightfully hyperbolic things, like that we needed to get off-planet ASAP or face certain extinction. pops.ci/yH3srJ
Hawking also had a great sense of humor, guest-starring on The Simpsons, Futurama, The Big Bang Theory, and in skits like this one, where he challenged Paul Rudd to quantum chess: pops.ci/syelG3
Stephen Hawking entered this world on the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death, and died today 139 years after the birth of Albert Einstein, fitting bookends for a physicist standing on the shoulders of those giants. pops.ci/p5Xyci
Stephen Hawking is dead, and his family and friends mourn his loss. But he is not gone. His academic achievements give him something that many who die will never have—a place in the collective memory of humanity. bit.ly/2FJmyPr
He was one of the most popular scientists in the world, and his presence will be felt and missed, but his legacy is not lost to us.
He lived long, and gave us much. Stephen Hawking will be remembered.
