He was 76 years old.
I've only read one of his books, and that was over two decades ago. It was Black Holes and Baby Universes. I don't remember much of it, but I remember just how important his discovery was concerning Hawking Radiation. Prior to that, black holes were immortal monsters that only got bigger and more powerful until all things in the universe were consumed. Hawking's theory liberated us from the that terror. Black holes are now more like everything else: lesser gods in a pantheon ruled by entropy.
And, of course, Hawking was an inspiration to anyone with Lou Gehrig's Disease. That diagnosis was terribly demoralizing to him--as it would be for anyone--but he didn't let it keep him from doing great things in the realm of physics.
R.I.P., Mr. Hawking.
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