He died at the age of 76, was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and heritage will live for many years. His courage and perseverance with brilliant humor inspired people all over the world. "
Hawking is a theoretical physicist and author of The Brief History of Time, which sold 10 million copies. He studied the problem of the emergence of cosmological singularity - the primary state of the universe, from which, according to the theory of the Big Bang, it is continuously expanding.
In 1963, 22-year-old Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Doctors then believed that he had to live two or three years. However, their forecasts did not materialize, the scientist continued his scientific work, twice married and became the father of three children. Even completely paralyzed, Hawking led an active life - engaged in science, taught, delivered reports, communicating with the world using a computer speech synthesizer.