STEPHEN HAWKING! 1942-2018
What did Steven Hawking mean to me? What did he mean to humanity? He showed that determination and intelligence and will could resist what for most persons would have been a fatal disorder and that a great intellect need not be limited by physical difficulties. Stephen Hawking was a great humanitarian and never seemed bitter because he knew that HE was not ill – only his body was ill. His wonderous mind stretched so far beyond his physical limitations as to be seemingly independent of them. He looked beyond the three dimensions and standard time. To a multiverse of absolute wonder which he tried to introduce with some success to the rest of us in his famous book A Brief History of Time. This book was an eye opener to many thinking persons all around the world and showed us that to be constrained and occupied by mundane trivialities, jealousies, greed and superstitions was holding back our evolution and development as a species who could some day be welcome amongst many other possible civilizations in the Universe which is comprised of at least 650 Billion galaxies and an infinite number of parallel realities (What we might call timelines).
Hawking had a sense of humor despite his physical problems as many of us who are fans of the popular CBS comedy show The Big Bang Theory have seen numerous times. He could see trends amongst our societies which might lead us into greatness if we chose wisely or to perdition and extinction if we chose poorly. He tried very hard to help provide us with the knowledge to choose wisely. I believe he had great faith that we ultimately would do so.
The English physicist and mathematician, who made breakthrough discoveries in cosmology, was the director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge, England. Despite suffering from a rare and life-threatening condition of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), he made significant contributions to science, including his revolutionary predictions on black holes.
On March 14, 2018, Hawking died at the age of 76. His children, Lucy, Robert and Timothy, released 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 humor 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."