Slashdot Mirror


Stephen Hawking, Who Examined the Universe and Explained Black Holes, Dies at 76 (nytimes.com)

Stephen W. Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist and best-selling author who roamed the cosmos from a wheelchair, pondering the nature of gravity and the origin of the universe and becoming an emblem of human determination and curiosity, has died at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 76. From a report: A family spokesman announced the death in a statement to several news media outlets. "Not since Albert Einstein has a scientist so captured the public imagination and endeared himself to tens of millions of people around the world," Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, said in an interview. Dr. Hawking did that largely through his book "A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes," published in 1988. It has sold more than 10 million copies and inspired a documentary film by Errol Morris.

The 2014 film about his life, "The Theory of Everything," was nominated for several Academy Awards and Eddie Redmayne, who played Dr. Hawking, won the best-actor Oscar. Scientifically, Dr. Hawking will be best remembered for a discovery so strange that it might be expressed in the form of a Zen koan: When is a black hole not black? When it explodes.
A brief history of Stephen Hawking: A legacy of paradox.

6 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. I'm still optimistic... by ihaveamo · · Score: 4, Funny

    I reckon most of his smarts was derived from AI in the wheelchair anyways. He was probably dead for years. How would anyone know. Sort of a "Weekend at Bernie's" deal. Not as funny... just more boring and science-y. Too soon? Sorry I'm not good with Social queues.

    1. Re:I'm still optimistic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think you mean cues, social queues are the lines outside of clubs.

    2. Re:I'm still optimistic... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sorry I'm not good with Social queues.

      I think you mean cues, social queues are the lines outside of clubs.

      Stephen got to skip those - and the ones at Disney World.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  2. His Last Words by rh2600 · · Score: 5, Funny
  3. Re: It has been an honor to be alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They invented Mayannaise, dumbass.

  4. A posthumous joke for Dr. Hawking by MobyDisk · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the year 2135, two scientists turned astronauts travel to a black hole to capture radiation. Their mission is a success, and they return to earth with expectations of fame and profit. They begin selling their radiation to various scientists around the world, but they are eventually arrested. What were they accused of?

    They were charged with hawking radiation.