I don’t remember the exact date. It was probably sometimes in 1989 since it was not long after his book came out. Stephen Hawking was here. In this lecture room, in the Tel Aviv university. The lecture hall was packed, and unfortunately for me, I was one of many who just had to give up a unique opportunity to hear one of the greatest scientists ever talk ( or rather his famous speech synthesizer ).
I thought then and I still think that Hawking’s greatest contribution to the science of cosmology, was not his groundbreaking theories about black holes and the big bang and all that, but rather that he made cosmology so accessible and popular.
May you rest in peace, great scientist. I hope that somewhere in a parallel universe you are still alive.
[EDIT] It just occured to me that he died on pi day, which is also Albert Einstein's birth day