|
Stephen Hawking, who sought to explain some of the most complicated questions of life while himself working under the shadow of a likely premature death, has died at 76. The UK's Press Association reported his death, citing a spokesman for the family. In a statement his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said: "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years." They praised his "courage and persistence" and said his "brilliance and humour" inspired people across the world. "He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love.' We will miss him forever." Hawking's formidable mind probed the very limits of human understanding both in the vastness of space and in the bizarre sub-molecular world of quantum theory, which he said could predict what happens at the beginning and end of time. His work ranged from the origins of the universe itself, through the tantalising prospect of time travel to the mysteries of space's all-consuming black holes. But the power of his intellect contrasted cruelly with the weakness of his body, ravaged by the wasting motor neurone disease he contracted at the age of 21. Hawking was confined for most of his life to a wheelchair. As his condition worsened, he had to resort to speaking through a voice synthesiser and communicating by moving his eyebrows. The disease spurred him to work harder but also contributed to the collapse of his two marriages, he wrote in a 2013 memoir My Brief History. In the book he related how he was first diagnosed: "I felt it was very unfair — why should this happen to me," he wrote. "At the time, I thought my life was over and that I would never realize the potential I felt I had. But now, 50 years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life." ▲ Stephen Hawking visits the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, June 18, 2006. Hawking shot to international fame after the 1988 publication of A Brief History of Time, one of the most complex books ever to achieve mass appeal, which stayed on the Sunday Times best-sellers list for no fewer than 237 weeks. He said he wrote the book to convey his own excitement over recent discoveries about the universe. "My original aim was to write a book that would sell on airport bookstalls," he told reporters at the time. "In order to make sure it was understandable I tried the book out on my nurses. I think they understood most of it." The scientist gained popularity outside the academic world and appeared in several TV shows including The Simpsons, Red Dwarf and The Big Bang Theory. ▲ Actor Jim Parsons (right), who plays Sheldon at TV series The Big Bang Theory, poses for a picture with his hero Stephen Hawking on April 9, 2012.
He was portrayed in both TV and film — recently by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, which charted his rise to fame and relationship with his first wife, Jane. ▲ Stephen Hawking was portrayed on TV and film by Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne. Timeline of Stephen Hawking's life Jan 8, 1942 — Born in Oxford, England, the eldest of four children born to Frank Hawking, a biologist, and Isobel Hawking, a medical research secretary. 1952 — Attends St Albans School. 1959 — Receives scholarship to attend University College, Oxford, from which he graduates with a degree in Natural Science. 1962 — Begins graduate research in cosmology at Cambridge University. 1963 — Diagnosed with the degenerative nerve disorder ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, at the age of 21. He is given two years to live. July, 14, 1965 — Marries his first wife, Jane Wilde, a modern languages student he met at Cambridge. 1967 — The couple's first son, Robert, is born. 1970 — Jane gives birth to a daughter, Lucy. 1974 — Elected as a fellow of the Royal Society at age 32, one of the youngest people to receive the honor. 1979 — Becomes Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, a prestigious position once held by Isaac Newton. Hawking holds the post until 2009. Jane gives birth to a third child, Timothy. 1985 — Admitted to a hospital in Geneva with pneumonia. He survives after an operation, but loses what remained of his speech. The next year he begins communicating through the electronic voice synthesizer that gave him his trademark robotic "voice". 1988 — Publishes A Brief History of Time. 1989 — Made a Companion of Honor by Queen Elizabeth II. 1995 — Marries his nurse, Elaine Mason. 2007 — Divorces Elaine Mason. 2014 — Hawking's life is celebrated in the Oscar-winning biopic The Theory of Everything, based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, by Jane Hawking. Sources:BBC, Reuters, AP R.I.P. Click here for audio and translation of the story |
|
|
来自： 南京栖霞百仁 > 《或因淫逸，罪及五逆，王者所戮，死受恶报》
