Stephen Hawking, one of the biggest stars of modern science, had once said this.
On Wednesday, Hawking passed away, aged 76. His family released a statement in the early hours of Wednesday, confirming his death at his home in Cambridge.
Hawking's masterpeice The Brief History of Time, one of the iconic books of the 20th century, talks of mysteries of space, time and black holes. Tracing his development as a thinker, he explained how the prospect of an early death urged him through numerous intellectual breakthroughs.
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"At the time, I thought my life was over and that I would never realise the potential I felt I had. But now, 50 years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life,” he wrote in his 2013 memoir My Brief History.
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A Cambridge University professor, Hawking was the first to propound a theory of cosmology explained through a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He also showed that the universe had a beginning by describing how Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity eventually breaks down when time and space are traced back to the Big Bang and endend in black holes.
Hawking's works
In 1963, Hawking contracted motor neurone disease and was given two years to live. Yet he went on to Cambridge to become a researcher and Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. From 1979 to 2009 he held the post of Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, the chair held by Isaac Newton in 1663.
Among many of his famous works and theories, the most celebrated work is the Brief History Of Time, with the more accessible sequel The Universe in a Nutshell updating readers on concepts like super gravity, naked singularities and the possibility of an 11-dimensional universe.
A Brief History of Time, first published in 1988, earned him worldwide acclaim, selling at least 10 million copies in 40 languages and staying on the best-seller list of the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper for a record 237 weeks.
The book included only one equation: E = mc2, or the equivalence of mass and energy, deduced by Albert Einstein from his theory of special relativity.
This book outlined the basics of cosmology for the general reader.
However, as Hawking's fame increased, his health deteriorated. After his degenerative muscle disorder was diagnosed, he defied medical opinion by living five decades longer than expected. He imparted his knpwledge through an American-accented speech synthesiser after a life-saving tracheotomy in 1985 took away his ability to speak.
A 'Nobel' impact
Throughout his life, Hawking recieved several awards and recognition for his work. He received the 2015 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences shared with Viatcheslav Mukhanov for discovering that the galaxies were formed from quantum fluctuations in the early Universe. At the 2016 Pride of Britain Awards, Hawking received the lifetime achievement award "for his contribution to science and British culture".
ALSO READ: Nobel Prize remained elusive for Hawking
For him, a Nobel Prize remained elusive. His theories required observational data to win the praise of the awarding committee in Stockholm. But this did not prove a hindrance to the works he kept doing with his increasingly deteriorating health. With his best-selling book beside him, Hawking became the most recognisable and influential face of modern science.
Film and documentaries
Stephen Hawking's life was the subject of the 2014 film The Theory Of Everything, which starred Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. Apart from that, he also performed cameos in the US comedy series The Big Bang Theory, as well as The Simpsons and Star Trek.
Here is a list of his appearances and mention in films, series and documentaries:
- A Brief History of Time (1992)
- Stephen Hawking's Universe (1997)
- Hawking – BBC television film (2004) starring Benedict Cumberbatch
- Horizon: The Hawking Paradox (2005)
- Masters of Science Fiction (2007)
- Stephen Hawking and the Theory of Everything (2007)
- Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe (2008)
- Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking (2010)
- Brave New World with Stephen Hawking (2011)
- Stephen Hawking's Grand Design (2012)
- The Big Bang Theory (2012, 2014 and 2017)
- Stephen Hawking: A Brief History of Mine (2013)
- The Theory of Everything – Feature film (2014) starring Eddie Redmayne (Hawking’s name becomes more popular after Oscar-winning biopic)
- Genius by Stephen Hawking (2016)
Twitter reacts to Hawking's 'peaceful' death
Several scientists, celebrities, journalists and others took to twitter as they mourned Hawking's death.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the death of eminent British theoretical physicist tweeting:
Remembering Stephen Hawking, a renowned physicist and ambassador of science. His theories unlocked a universe of possibilities that we & the world are exploring. May you keep flying like superman in microgravity, as you said to astronauts on @Space_Station in 2014 pic.twitter.com/FeR4fd2zZ5
— NASA (@NASA) March 14, 2018
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