Stephen Hawking dead at 76

PROFESSOR Stephen Hawking has died aged 76.

His family released a statement in the early hours of Wednesday morning confirming his death at his home in Cambridge.

“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,” Hawking’s children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement.

“His courage and persistence with 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.”

The English physicist was known for his groundbreaking work with black holes and relativity, and was the author of several popular science books including A Brief History of Time.

Hewas also the subject of Oscar winning film The Theory of Everything in 2014 and performed several cameos in the US comedy series The Big Bang Theory.

The famed physicist contracted motor neurone disease - a form of motor neurone disease that attacks the nerves controlling voluntary movement - in 1963 and was given two years to live.

Remarkably, the then-21-year-old defied predictions overcoming its debilitating effects on his mobility and speech that left him paralysed and able to communicate only via a computer speech synthesiser.

“I am quite often asked: how do you feel about having ALS?” he once wrote.

“The answer is, not a lot.

“I try to lead as normal a life as possible, and not think about my condition, or regret the things it prevents me from doing, which are not that many.”

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STEPHEN Hawking’s ashes will be buried near the graves of fellow British scientists Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin at Westminster Abbey, it was announced on Tuesday.

The remains of the legendary physicist and icon, who died last week, will be laid in the church during a thanksgiving service later this year, the abbey said.

His family earlier confirmed the funeral will take place on March 31 at Great St Mary’s church in Cambridge University, a short distance from Gonville and Caius College, where Hawking worked at unlocking the secrets of the universe for more than 52 years.

Hawking died aged 76 on March 14 after a cosmic career in which his mental genius transcended his physical disability.


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He became one of the world’s most well-regarded scientists and entered the pantheon of science titans.

John Hall, head of Westminster, said: “It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists.

“We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe.”

Newton was buried in the abbey in 1727 and Darwin alongside him in 1882. Other famous scientists are buried nearby, the most recent being atomic physicists Ernest Rutherford in 1937 and Joseph John Thomson in 1940.

“We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe,” said Hall.

Several kings and queens are buried in the abbey, along with eight British prime ministers.

The last significant ashes to be buried at the abbey were those of the actor Laurence Olivier in 1989.