{"id":376,"date":"2018-03-14T14:15:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T14:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/?p=376"},"modified":"2018-03-14T14:15:04","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T14:15:04","slug":"physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html","title":{"rendered":"Physicist, Visionary, Writer, Genius, Legend: Remembering Stephen Hawking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"16043158229_5529a38ed9_z\"<\/a>Dr. Stephen Hawking passed away early in the morning of Wednesday, March 14, 2018. The legendary scientist was 76 years old. Dozens of scientists from around the world have spoken out recognizing Hawking\u2019s many accomplishments and grieving his loss. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium, wrote that \u201c[Hawking\u2019s] passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. But it\u2019s not empty. Think of it as a kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric of spacetime that defies measure.\u201d Raphael Bousso, one of Hawking\u2019s former students, praised Hawking\u2019s ability to both do research on the cutting edge of science and explain his discoveries to the public in ways a layman could understand. \u201cThese are two distinct skills,\u201d Bousso said. \u201cStephen excelled at both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawking\u2019s best known explanation of his research is his book \u201cA Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.\u201d The book captured the imagination of the public, selling more than 10 million copies and inspiring a 2014 film about Hawking\u2019s life called \u201cThe Theory of Everything.\u201d The film was nominated for several Academy Awards and Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Hawking. As Michio Kaku, a professor for theoretical physics at the City University of New York, said, \u201cNot since Albert Einstein has a scientist so captured the public imagination and endeared himself to tens of millions of people around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a scientist, Hawking was the leading mind in studies focused on black holes and gravity. He discovered that black holes would eventually fizzle, leaking radiation and particles, before exploding and disappearing over the ages. This work led to a turning point in modern physics and was hailed as the first great landmark in the struggle to find a single theory of nature that successfully married quantum mechanics and Einstein\u2019s theory of relativity. His revolutionary discovery was called Hawking radiation.<\/p>\n

Despite his extraordinary contributions to science, no one expected Hawking to finish his studies. When he was 22, Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a rare neuromuscular disease also known as Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease. He was expected to only survive for two or three more years. Hawking, however, defied the odds and went on to have three children. His bodily control was reduced to flexing his fingers and moving his eyes, but his spirit remained unbroken. He celebrated his 60th<\/sup> birthday by going up in a hot air balloon and rode the zero-gravity aircraft, the Vomit Comet, to celebrate turning 65. According to Hawking, he went on such adventures because he wanted \u201cto show that people need not be limited by physical handicaps as long as they are not disabled in spirit.\u201d His adventurous nature, determination and sense of humor left people in awe. \u201cWhat a triumph his life has been,\u201d said Martin Rees, a Cambridge University cosmologist, astronomer royal of Britain and long-time colleague of Hawking. \u201cHis name will live in the annals of science; millions have had their cosmic horizons widened by his best-selling books; and even more, around the world, have been inspired by a unique example of achievement against all the odds \u2014 a manifestation of amazing willpower and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawking\u2019s birth, life and death were all dominated by science. He was born on January 8, 1942, which was, he was proud to say, 300 years to the day of Galileo\u2019s death. The date of his death was equally significant: March 14 was Albert Einstein\u2019s birthday. Hawking also wanted science to follow him to the grave. In 2002, he said he wanted the formula for Hawking radiation engraved on his tombstone. Whether this legendary scientist will get his wish or not has yet to be seen, but there is no doubt that the world is mourning the loss of a man whose determined spirit was the only thing as big as his genius.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Stephen Hawking passed away early in the morning of Wednesday, March 14, 2018. The legendary scientist was 76 years old. Dozens of scientists from around the world have spoken out recognizing Hawking\u2019s many accomplishments and grieving his loss. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium, wrote that \u201c[Hawking\u2019s] passing has left…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[134],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scientist","tag-stephen-hawking"],"yoast_head":"\nPhysicist, Visionary, Writer, Genius, Legend: Remembering Stephen Hawking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Stephen Hawking passed away early on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Hawking revolutionized science for both experts and laymen during his life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Physicist, Visionary, Writer, Genius, Legend: Remembering Stephen Hawking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Stephen Hawking passed away early on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Hawking revolutionized science for both experts and laymen during his life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Where Hope Lives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-14T14:15:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/files\/2018\/03\/16043158229_5529a38ed9_z.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephanie Hertzenberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Physicist, Visionary, Writer, Genius, Legend: Remembering Stephen Hawking","description":"Dr. Stephen Hawking passed away early on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Hawking revolutionized science for both experts and laymen during his life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Physicist, Visionary, Writer, Genius, Legend: Remembering Stephen Hawking","og_description":"Dr. Stephen Hawking passed away early on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Hawking revolutionized science for both experts and laymen during his life.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html","og_site_name":"Where Hope Lives","article_published_time":"2018-03-14T14:15:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/files\/2018\/03\/16043158229_5529a38ed9_z.jpg"}],"author":"Stephanie Hertzenberg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html","name":"Physicist, Visionary, Writer, Genius, Legend: Remembering Stephen Hawking","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/files\/2018\/03\/16043158229_5529a38ed9_z.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-14T14:15:04+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-14T14:15:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#\/schema\/person\/2accd57241ae3de281b15e255b66b126"},"description":"Dr. Stephen Hawking passed away early on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Hawking revolutionized science for both experts and laymen during his life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/files\/2018\/03\/16043158229_5529a38ed9_z.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/files\/2018\/03\/16043158229_5529a38ed9_z.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2018\/03\/physicist-visionary-writer-genius-legend-remembering-stephen-hawking.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Physicist, Visionary, Writer, Genius, Legend: Remembering Stephen Hawking"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/","name":"Where Hope Lives","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Tributes","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#\/schema\/person\/2accd57241ae3de281b15e255b66b126","name":"Stephanie Hertzenberg","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/authors\/s\/stephanie-hertzenberg.aspx"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/author\/shertzenberg"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/616"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":378,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}