Theoretical physicist and best-selling author Stephen Hawking passed away on Wednesday morning in Cambridge, England at the age of 76. His groundbreaking work in the fields of gravity and black holes made him a leading scientist of his generation. He also had remarkable success as a writer. His 1988 book A Brief History of Time sold millions of copies and in 2001 Hawking’s The Universe in a Nutshell continued his tradition of excellent science writing.
As a graduate student in 1963 Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and he was given only a few years to live. However, he didn’t let the diagnosis stop him from becoming a groundbreaking scientist and one of the most influential minds of his generation. Some of his other books and documentaries include the following.
The Theory of Everything: the Origin and Fate of the Universe