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from the life-would-be-tragic-if-it-weren't-funny dept.
Stephen Hawking, a widely known physicist, sometimes mistaken as cosmetician, died Wednesday after complications due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a progressive neurodegenerative disease. He was 76.
Coverage at BBC (obituary), The Guardian, Reuters, NPR, and The Huffington Post.
janrinok writes:
It is with sadness that we hear the news this morning in the UK that Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. Diagnosed with a type of motor neuron disease disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in 1964, he was told that he would have only a few years to live. But he confounded many experts and led life to the fullest within his personal limitations.
While he undoubtedly suffered as a result of his physical disabilities, it was his mental powers that set him apart from most of the human race. His book - A Brief History of Time - sold over 16 million copies, but it is said that it was probably read by a much smaller number of people, and understood by even fewer.
I hope that others here will contribute their own memories of the man and his achievements as the following days progress.
Rest in Peace - Stephen Hawking.
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @11:13AM (1 child)
I'm not sure he was right about that. Not about the monkey part (although ape would have been more correct), but about understanding the universe. Sure, we're understanding an amazing amount of it. But an amazing amount of the universe is not the universe, it's just an amazing amount of it. And there's no way to tell how much of the universe we don't even know about.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by turgid on Wednesday March 14 2018, @11:30AM
I think that was a rhetorical device to illustrate the fact that we're not so different from the "dumb" animals.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].