Stephen Hawking was an internationally regarded theoretical physicist who made vast contributions to general relativity — our current description of gravity. Since the mid-1960s, and using new mathematical methods, he proposed models establishing the Universe as a singularity at the start of the Big Bang and presented the laws that govern black holes. In disseminating his research to a broader audience, he became a bestselling author.
The most famous of Stephen’s books, A Brief History of Time (1988), discusses the origin, nature and fate of the Universe — a field known as cosmology. He also published books for children that explain theoretical physics in an accessible way. Stephen’s 2008 TED talk, Questioning the Universe, has been viewed almost 7 million times.
Stephen received numerous other awards and accolades throughout his career, including membership of the US National Academy of Science. As a widely known public figure, he made guest appearances in popular television series, including The Simpsons. In 2014, his life was the subject of Oscar-nominated film The Theory of Everything.
Professor Stephen Hawking CH CBE FRS died on 14 March 2018.