Aw man. I don&#x27;t have anything profound, but I always smile when I read this XKCD - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;799&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;799&#x2F;</a>

RIP one of the greatest physicists in human history

Dost thou love hawking? Thou hast hawks will soarAbove the morning lark.– Shakespeare

Very sad news for the physic and science community in general his book A brief history of time made me understand black holes.

Like black holes, very little information ever escapes death.

Yes, and given his adulthood-long health problems, it&#x27;s a bit of a miracle he lived as long as he did.  Amazing man.

Nobody &quot;just dies&quot;. Most &quot;natural deaths&quot; are still heart failure. The rest are other kinds of organ failure.For a lot of people that die natural deaths they could have lived longer if they had kept fit. It just gets really hard to either do or justify when everything hurts and gets harder to do year over year. Or when you are confined to a wheelchair since your early 20s, were told you would only live two years, and then beat that prognosis 27 times over.But if you are able, even small amounts of cardio exercise could dramatically extend your health and lifespans in old age.

At 76, I think it&#x27;s fair to say he just died.I actually had no idea he was that old. Maybe he looked younger than he was because he had no wrinkles.

I&#x27;m sure we&#x27;ll find out more in due course. Right now, it&#x27;s 4am and all we have is a statement from the family. I&#x27;m sure they have much better things to be doing right now.That said, his original prognosis was that he wouldn&#x27;t reach his 25th birthday, so he hasn&#x27;t really done too bad.

In ALS and other degenerative neuromuscular disorders one loses the ability to swallow effectively and protect against aspiration along with the inability to speak. People affected by this, like my grandfather, will usually require a feeding tube to allow enough calories without risking aspiration. However, even with this, we are constantly relying on our epligottis and swallowing reflexes to prevent microaspirations of saliva and oral bacteria. Because of this, people with ALS are at extremely high risk for pneumonia, which would be my first guess as being most likely. His was lucky in that his ALS was a subtype that didn&#x27;t progress as rapidly as most do.I think you don&#x27;t deserve the downvoting you are getting even though the timing of your question is not great, you&#x27;re still trying to understand what the natural progression of ALS is.

Do we know what killed him? All of these articles have very little information. Was it the natural progression of ALS or some other kind of disease?

He was an amazing inspiration to me and I am sure many others.  I raise a glass tonight to a very special human being.

What a beautiful mind. He played a big role in who I am today - I majored in Physics and later in engineering because of his book. He inspired me to understand science and use it to improve the world.

He was a living triumph. Lived and achieved beyond what his body would allow.

RIP to one of the great. Not only he was one of the genius minds of our time, but he also was an important symbol of perseverance for all of us.

A great loss for humanity.Is this the fastest upvoted HN thread? I don&#x27;t think I&#x27;ve ever seen a discussion go up to +200 upvotes in under 10 minutes.

Pre-prepared is exactly how most obituaries are written. Newspapers keep such pre-prepared obituaries of famous people on-hand so that they can publish them instantly if that person happens to die.Any newspapers who don&#x27;t do this will lose the all-important race for publication to newspapers that do.

This reads like a pre-prepared obituary. No additional information regarding his death.

That quote resonates a lot with me.My lowest points are when life becomes too easy. When I start to miss the point of living.I quit my job and moved to a new country because I was becoming complacent, repeating the same thing every day.It&#x27;s the moments closest to death when we are truely alive. Whether it&#x27;s being struck by a disease, as Stephen Hawking tragically was all those many years ago, or climbing a mountain (and in my cause, getting stuck).

From that obituary, this line resonates:Those who live in the shadow of death are often those who live most.

Seems to be more info in this article: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;2018&#x2F;mar&#x2F;14&#x2F;stephen-hawking-professor-dies-aged-76" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;2018&#x2F;mar&#x2F;14&#x2F;stephen-hawk...</a>

Wow, that hits hard... he will be missed.

At least humanity will buy and read more Stephen Hawking books from now on. We must feel more special only by sharing the our timeline with this brilliant mind. More great discoveries and light will be in the future, we will exist to provide proof of the visionaries.

Wow, I was not prepared for this. Rest in peace.

Stephen Hawking defined an entire generation. Say what you will but he created a culture far beyond that of just a physicist. He was both parodied and revered.

There aren&#x27;t that many humans that have made such a dent in the world as Stephen Hawking.He will not be forgotten.Rest in peace.

&gt;but I don&#x27;t think there will be a man this accomplished in the next few decades.Somehow reminded about that New Generation episode with Newton, Einstein and Hawking.

His work will be built upon to make the next greatest discovery, but I don&#x27;t think there will be a man this accomplished in the next few decades.We miss you already, Mr. Hawking.

Shouldn&#x27;t it be &quot;while overcoming so much&quot;?

&gt;&gt; Few have accomplished as much while overcoming so littleIt&#x27;s weird; I individually understood both achievements but never thought about their combination that seriously until it was worded like this. Very well put.

Few have accomplished as much while overcoming so little compared to Hawkings. Hawkings is and will always be a hero.To think when he started out black holes were just a myth. He got to witness not only their acceptance and his own vindication but actual gravitational waves as well!

Nature couldn&#x27;t have chosen a better day to honour both.

Much more significantly, it&#x27;s Einstein&#x27;s birthday.

A Brief History Of Time expanded my mind like few other books. Thank you Dr. Hawking.

Let&#x27;s celebrate his amazing life.&quot;The diagnosis of motor neurone disease came when Hawking was 21, in 1963. At the time, doctors gave him a life expectancy of two years.[253][254]&quot;It must be quite taxing to have been given that diagnosis at such a young age, and then live to a relatively old age. I wonder how that marginally impacted his view on life, work and relationships.Sad he didn&#x27;t get the Nobel.

Now he can travel anywhere he wants to in this or all other Universes, instantenously. RIP big guy!

Perhaps just as shocking to me as this news was the fact that he was 76! Given his accomplishments and youthful demeanor in his recent communications this totally caught me off guard. That, and the fact that he lived way longer that expected, given his circumstances. Objectively a triumph. In addition to his obvious, scientific exploits, hopefully the money raised in 2014 for ALS will ensure future scientists won&#x27;t have to endure such hardship.Rest in peace.

Well, two-way communication, sure. But his words and ideas will continue to be communicated for a very long time.He is one of the very rare human beings whose names will never be forgotten.

&gt;&gt; he&#x27;s also now freed from a body he was becoming increasingly locked in, with less and less ability to communicate over time.Well, now he lost any kind of ability to communicate.

He was 76, for a man not expected to make it out of his 20&#x27;s I think he did okay.It&#x27;s a sad loss for science, but he&#x27;s also now freed from a body he was becoming increasingly locked in, with less and less ability to communicate over time.His passing is perhaps more humane - I don&#x27;t know though, humaneness is in the eye of the person living it.

He did so much. RIP Stephen. Thanks for what you shared with us.

And Albert Einstein died at the age of 76 as well. What a coincidence.

It would destroy my sense of Hawking&#x27;s rationally to imagine him using a month-day-year date ordering. ;o)

He died in π-day that also happens to be Albert Einstein&#x27;s birthday.

“I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.”-- Stephen Hawking

He proved the body is just a carrier for the mind.

I read the book at a similar age and I remember it made a strong impression on me.

I read A brief history of time when I was 11. Since then every single time I have reread the book I have found something new. I waited every Monday night for his show into the universe with Stephan Hawkins. He was the reason I became more curious and skeptical about nature of things. My hats off to this amazing conscious being made from stardust.

Pouring a glass and will read some of his papers again tonight. So sad. Great inspiration. Great hero.

I agree. I&#x27;m tearing up a bit looking at the news. He was always a legend in my eyes.

He definitely feels like he warrants a black bar. Like maybe for a week... I mean its Stephen Hawking.

+1He came to symbolize the power of human mind and in a broader sense, modern science. Humanity has lost a great mind today.

+1. If anyone ever earned it, It’s him.

He opened our eyes to the mysteries of black holes; a black bar is only fitting.

Is it possible to get a &quot;black bar&quot; on HN to honor this god of physics, who contributed so much to the literature and inspired many people, including myself?

I wish I had the words, and know that I won’t. But there was a time when A Brief History made me feel a little less alone in those socially awkward years, and I’m eternally indebted for that.Rest in peace, good sir. You’ve earned it.

Im truly gut wrenched hearing about this. Such an inspirational person. Thank you God for giving us Hawking

I explained it to my son just like his own quote; &quot;look up to the stars and not your feet&quot;. Be inspired and be curious.

That&#x27;s an awesome eulogy.  I tried to describe to my son this morning the kind of man Stephen Hawking was and struggled - I wish I had read this first!

Neil Degrasse Tyson is clearly vying for the slot but seems to make science seem more elitist, more pedantic (read literally any of his tweets) and thus appears to miss the point entirely

It doesn&#x27;t have to be any one person, either.As scientific progress becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, communication becomes increasingly valuable both within teams and with the greater public.I would be perfectly happy seeing tens of enthusiastic and brilliant physicists stepping up to become the celebrity scientists of the upcoming generation, rather than just one or two.Until they surface, however, the responsibility falls upon each and every one of us to stoke the fires of passion and wonder in our fellow humans.I started watching Niel deGrasse Tyson&#x27;s Cosmos reboot the other day, and the first episode is definitely worth a watch for everyone reading this thread. It was also covered in Business Insider: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&#x2F;inspiring-story-young-neil-degrasse-tyson-met-carl-sagan-2015-11" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.businessinsider.com&#x2F;inspiring-story-young-neil-de...</a>You don&#x27;t need a platform or a massive following to ignite a spark of curiosity in another person. Small acts of kindness and encouragement can last a lifetime.

I work at CERN, so Brian Cox is an obvious choice as far as I&#x27;m concerned. Tangentially, Adam Steltzner (the engineer who lead the Entry Descent and Landing of Curiosity) is another one of those &quot;used to be a rockstar&quot; types.

What the world needs now is someone in that role for climate change who can capture an interpretation of that body of science the way that Hawking and Sagan captured the public attention around the big bang and other highly complex abstract concepts in the physics of Astronomy &amp; Cosmology.

RIP Prof. Stephen Hawking.I am not very optimistic about another Stephen Hawking or an Einstein. How many of the best minds of our generation are attracted to Physics or Mathematics or Astronomy especially graduate level &#x2F; Phds ? Some of the folks are getting into computer science but that doesnt help discoveries in cosmology.

Jim Al-Khalili is an awesome science communicator - his BBC documentaries are inspiring and his enthusiasm contagious.  The BBC in general has much more engaging science communicators than the US does.  (Of course, Feynman lectures are still wonderful, and Phillip Morrison had some documentaries in the 80s that I remember fondly.)

Bryan Cox is great. Young (um...not old, maybe), knows how to be real, has proper cred as a scientist.Edit: I mean come on! Dude played keyboard in a couple bands.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Brian_Cox_(physicist)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Brian_Cox_(physicist)</a>

If string theory ever catches on, Brian Greene would be the guy.

What about Jacob Barnett? He is very young but currently doing research at Perimeter Institute.

It&#x27;s worth reading the popsci works of Steve Weinberg.  He&#x27;s older than Hawking, so not in the junuior generations.   But he&#x27;s still alive, a gifted expositor, and a  genuinely first rate physicist.   He&#x27;s basically the person who assembled the Standard Model.

&gt; Who will take his place? Who will be the Stephen Hawking of my children&#x27;s generation?I nominate Brian Greene from Columbia University! Rhodes Scholar, mind-bending types of work in theoretical physics, cofounder of the World Science Festival, frequent appearances on fancy-schmancy podcasts and television shows. Definitely all the makings of a science hero.

I don&#x27;t think you&#x27;re going to get another Hawking. His story is hard to match because the guy basically shrugged off ALS and flourished for 50 years. The MC Hawking jokes are funny because they&#x27;re true.But while I think the people like Nye and Tyson are important, someone more in Hawking&#x27;s mold needs to be a genuinely novel contributor. I&#x27;d put Leonard Susskind&#x27;s name in the hat.

&gt; It is how they inspire an entire generation to seek out knowledge, understanding and fill us all with a sense of humility, awe and wonder.It&#x27;s one of the finest things one can do. In today&#x27;s climate of dystopian science fiction, we could all use some awe and wonder.

The hero’s get smaller. I remember talking to my advisor, a Macarthur fellow, and he wondered why we didn’t have any giants today.

If there is not one person who will be it, then we must make our own. You don&#x27;t need to inspire all people everywhere in one go, so you don&#x27;t need 12 million followers to do that.You just need to look around, and then do your best: volunteer at school or uni, post Kerbal Space Program let&#x27;s plays, or use a top to explain angular momentum to a 2nd grader.We can&#x27;t rely on one or two celebrities and then sit on our hands. We take our telescope across Africa and inspire a few kids at a time, all the time.

I agree completely.Who will take his place? Who will be the Stephen Hawking of my children&#x27;s generation?As a society we should work hard to find, celebrate and give a platform to the Stephen Hawking-s and the Carl Sagan-s of tomorrow. The impact of such &quot;celebrity scientists&quot; (I do not use that term pejoratively) is far greater than the measure of the work they have done. It is how they inspire an entire generation to seek out knowledge, understanding and fill us all with a sense of humility, awe and wonder.

For a second I just couldn&#x27;t believe this was real. Stephen Hawking was one of those people that inspired me towards a career in science, as well as a pursuit of discovering what mysteries of the universe I could uncover within my (cosmically short) lifetime. He did this not through some major life-altering speech I heard from him (although his talks and lectures were quite interesting), or through some grand quote that I read online, but rather through the fact that he carried with him the enthusiasm that comes with looking up, seeing a vast universe looming all around us, and finding that inner spirit--that inner sense of wonder--that drives us forward in an attempt to make sense of it all. Rest in peace Stephen Hawking; you will be missed.

John Oliver asked: &quot;Is there a universe where I am smarter than you?&quot;Stephen Hawking replied: &quot;Yes, and also one, where you are funny.&quot;

The Futurama one had me laughing for weeks every time I thought about it.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=Nda7w487yU0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=Nda7w487yU0</a>

Only person to play themself on Star Trek.

He made so many cameos: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Stephen_Hawking_in_popular_culture" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Stephen_Hawking_in_popular_cul...</a>and was on not only The Simpsons, but Futurama as well!

never noticed that was him.he also did some recording for the pink floyd for the division bell album and that was later reused in their final album.his voice is in talkin&#x27; hawkin&#x27; from endless river and keep talking from the division bell.

I could not find any source telling he had anything in common with this song.

I, for one, will always remember him for his feature on the hit single &quot;Satisfaction&quot;.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=9wmzxxN0m3k" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=9wmzxxN0m3k</a>

“What do Sheldon Cooper and a black hole have in common?” Hawking asked the fictional Caltech physicist whose IQ comfortably outstrips his social skills.After a pause, the answer came: “They both suck.”Stephen&#x27;s sense of humor has always cracked me up.

His life had surely been a bright spot in the brief history of our times.Rest in peace Mr.Hawking.

He absolutely was. Personally I think one of the saddest things about this is that Susskind has lost his greatest (friendly) intellectual rival. Those two spending years arguing with each other over the information paradox was absolutely fantastic. (And personally I’ve always felt that Hawking was the perfect counter weight to how strongly opinionated Susskind is)

Wasn&#x27;t he still working on physics? If so, I prefer the terminology of Erdős, he hasn&#x27;t died, he has merely left.

NYT: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;nyti.ms&#x2F;2tKRHQL" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;nyti.ms&#x2F;2tKRHQL</a>

My grandmother had ALS. I remember when my mother went to tell me about her disease she gave me his book[1]. It helped me in two ways, to research more about the disease, many articles were about him, and to learn more about the universe.Rest in peace.
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Universe-Nutshell-Stephen-William-Hawking&#x2F;dp&#x2F;055380202X" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Universe-Nutshell-Stephen-William-Haw...</a>

Gone but never to be forgotten. He just finally found the Fry Hole...I mean, Hawking Hole.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=AW-p8s_HCCo" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=AW-p8s_HCCo</a>

Stephen Hawking (along with Richard Feynman) are the reasons for my interest in the Sciences. There&#x27;s nothing I can say now to thank him, but I will always cherish his works.&quot;Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge&quot; - Stephen Hawking

I can think of no higher praise then that he changed the course of so many of our lives personally and of humanity&#x27;s understanding of the universe as a whole. Though small in physical stature he has become a truly giant set of shoulders upon which many more shall stand. Thank you for everything.

Rest in peace, I never thought I&#x27;d see this day come, he almost seemed immortal.

Surely you&#x27;re joking mr. richardfeynman.Come on guys, think this through. Hawking. Eating. Movement.I&#x27;m sure he would have appreciated this joke though and how it got at least two of you ;)

I was at a conference at Caltech. Someone set up boxes of food for lunch. Someone at my table grabbed one and started to eat. I noticed that it said &quot;Stephen Hawking Lunch Gluten Free &#x2F; Vegan&quot; on it - it was already half-eaten, and I figured it&#x27;d be too good an opportunity to pass on, so I decided to eat some of stephen hawking&#x27;s lunch, literally.It turns out that despite his physical limitations he actually did eat normal solid foods. This was in 2011.

That really caught me off guard! Elaborate a bit more please.

I accidentally ate Stephen Hawking&#x27;s lunch once at a conference at Caltech.

This is truly saddening for the scientific community and for the world in general.His life and work will continue to ripple the very fabric of our civilization.And now that his task is done, He will take his place... amongst the legends of the past.

&quot;Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.&quot;- Stephen Hawking

Thanks for who you were and what you did. You will live on with us.

&quot;At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of absolute silence as he buffered the next few sentences.&quot;He was &quot;typing&quot; one bit at a time?
How can he type the entire sentence so quickly?

I had the honor of attending one of his lectures at CWRU in undergrad.Two things forever stick out in my memory.#1 - That he told jokes during his lecture. To be wheelchair bound, facing a degenerative condition... and still have humor. Inspiring.#2 - The respectful silence. At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of absolute silence as he buffered the next few sentences. I remember not a soul spoke in that time above a whisper.And he deserved every ounce of respect.

Stephen Hawking was very special to me. He&#x27;s a large part of why I chose a life in science in general and physics in particular.I&#x27;m just one of many, but he unmistakably and uniquely affected my life for the better.Growing up, I read Brief History of Time and Universe In A Nutshell dozens of times each. I relished the jokes I got, and I won&#x27;t forget him.I also weep for him, knowing he never got the Nobel prize he wanted so very much.I haven&#x27;t shed a tear for many people in their passing, but I have for him.Thank you for opening my eyes to the wonders of the universe. You are an irreplaceable part of who I have become today.

That is no disrespect.  It&#x27;s an homage to pi.

I mean no disrespect, but I find it bitter-sweetly amusing that, of all days, he died on Pi Day<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pi_Day" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pi_Day</a>

&quot;It would not be much of a universe if it wasn&#x27;t home to the people you love.&quot;-- Stephen Hawking

I can&#x27;t say I feel qualified to make the sorts of truly inspiring tributes I&#x27;m reading so far. I just want it known that one more person appreciates all he&#x27;s done to motivate people such as myself to look up at the stars and pursue a career chasing them.

Unfortunately these questions will keep haunting mankind ..always ..every time! Golden words by Hawking... May his soul Rest In Peace

To an atheist physicist God probably means the universe or the forces that govern the universe. They share many of the same properties, like being all powerful†, outside of time and space and being creators, not the created.† within the constraints of some universal logic

He has later clarified that ”mind of God” was figurative and from an atheist angle more like ”the reason for creation”.

&gt; Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by &#x27;we would know the mind of God&#x27; is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn&#x27;t. I&#x27;m an atheist.

A reminder he stated he was an atheist, so I take his words on god with a grain of salt.“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” (Hawking)

If we do come up with a grand unified theory that spawns the existence of everything that&#x27;s completely self contained and self describing, and it ends up being something like x + y = z, what does that really explain?  Why?  It&#x27;s because x + y = z, that&#x27;s why!  Once we boil it down to that why becomes meaningless.  Everything ultimately has the same reason why.

Causality is an artefact of the universe. From a philosophical standpoint we would need to establish that why is the key question or we are chasing a socks theory of feet. And that is assuming that why is about causality rather than intention. To paraphrase this abstract&#x27;s ending, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then the mind of God would be knowable.

Reading the first sentences I thought that&#x27;d become that weird semi-philosophical speech on death which you hear from some people in funerals. Internet is too big to digest, and in a blog or comment there is not much things which can prove you that the writer has some authority on what he&#x27;s saying, whereas the name of a known scientist on an actual paper book that costs money to print is authority.

Did anyone start reading this comment expecting the usual downvotes and controversy?And then realized after a few paragraphs that this is Stephen Hawking writing it? Be honest.I just think there has been such a transition from books to online comments and forums that everything is picked apart and commented by a far larger group of people than in the past.The man was a legend. His books were inspiring. Can today&#x27;s blog posts and tweets be the same going forward? Just some thoughts I had while I read that.RIP Steven Hawking, inspiration to millions!

I&#x27;m very fond of the way he left religions out of the way when trying to explain that a God-like mind may exists above our universe.

&quot;There is certainly a scientific approach to art. In science, endeavors often require as much or more creativity as they do logic. All this stands to reason; art and science are not the same, but both serve to advance us forward, each on their own, and in service to each other.&quot; - Unknown [1][1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.actinginbalance.com&#x2F;on-art-and-science&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.actinginbalance.com&#x2F;on-art-and-science&#x2F;</a>

wow, what a 100,000ft view of that timeline. He definitely had rich rich perspective on things. Thanks for sharing.

Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? Is the unified theory so compelling that it brings about its own existence? Or does it need a creator, and, if so, does he have any other effect on the universe? And who created him?Up to now, most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. On the other hand, the people whose business it is to ask why, the philosophers, have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories. In the eighteenth century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: did the universe have a beginning? However, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers, or anyone else except a few specialists. Philosophers reduced the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous philosopher of this century, said, “The sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language.” What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant!However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by
everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we would know the mind of God.-- Stephen Hawking

Hawking plays The Guide Mark II in the new BBC radio dramatization of book 6 of the Hitchhiker’s Guide “trilogy”: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.co.uk&#x2F;programmes&#x2F;p060hy01" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.co.uk&#x2F;programmes&#x2F;p060hy01</a>A wonderful, somehow fitting, celebration.

Is an horrible disease and we must understand, crush and defeat it as soon as possible.

I absolutely back what you say about Hawking but having a lot of money and a team of dedicated medical specialists at your disposal does help. Let&#x27;s have a moment&#x27;s thought for the non-public figure ALS sufferers who don&#x27;t have those resources available nor a huge number of well-wishers across the world to keep up their spirits.

Talk about beating the odds.He showed ALS who&#x27;s boss! He demonstrated that when you have a purpose and the will to live one can overcome their limitations.He inspired me and countless of others.R.I.P. Dr. Hawking.

Interesting.I would like to attribute my desire to live &quot;forever&quot;, at least to some extent, to cosmic perspective.One day the universe might make me bored, but today is not that day, and I suspect tomorrow isn&#x27;t either.I don&#x27;t ever expect that day to come, but if I thought it was near I&#x27;d be very afraid indeed.

It was both Professor Hawking and Carl Sagan that tought me how brief and unlikely our lives truly are. It was their cosmic perspective that helped me end my fear of death. While we want more time and see the death of others as tragic, I do feel less afraid of that time coming knowing how fortunate I have been to live.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;tauday.com&#x2F;tau-manifesto" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;tauday.com&#x2F;tau-manifesto</a>

&quot;No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend&#x27;s or of thine own were: any man&#x27;s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.&quot; -John DonneI&#x27;ll miss him and his wonderful stories of the cosmos.

Are you the a_poem_for_your_sprog of Hackernews?

He fooled Death, staved off it&#x27;s danceit beat him yet, Longinus&#x27; Lancenow the bet is in our handsperhaps we&#x27;ll get another chance:Wise for ever, still funny nowThe party&#x27;s on the day of TauHe chose a funny day to dieA perfect day: the day of Pi.

I like to entertain the (not-serious) fantasy that people actually did show up to his party, but Hawking didn&#x27;t tell anyone because sci-fi reasons.

That was hard to read, your love for the man is so clear.Good luck in your goal to accomplish what you can.

That man was my hero. If I achieve a fraction of what he accomplished in his life, I will be incredibly proud.Against all odds, he lived a full and amazing life. It somehow feels even more painful to lose a man who cheated death. It just gives you that feeling that they can somehow live forever, until the moment when the illusion is shattered.And underneath it all is that unshakable feeling. Memento mori. Slowly my childhood heroes will drift away until there&#x27;s none left. Then it will be my turn to drift away.I miss him already. The world is always going to be a little sadder without him. Though, maybe I can still make it to his party.<pre><code> A RECEPTION FOR TIME TRAVELLERS
 Hosted by
 PROFESSOR STEPHEN HAWKING
 To be held in the past, at
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
 Gonville &amp; Caius College, Trinity Street, Cambridge
 Location: 52˚ 12&#x27; 21&quot; N, 0˚ 7&#x27; 4.7&quot; E
 12:00 UT 28 JUNE 2009
 NO RSVP REQUIRED</code></pre>

Reading that headline it took me a moment. His books shaped my interest in science, and were wonderful to read and enjoy, even to push on family members. A monumentally inspiring person, not just for his scientific accomplishments, but also for how incredibly he handled the hand he was dealt.He will be missed, dearly.

I think in the back of my mind I always thought of Hawking as being immortal. He lived for over 50 years with a debilitating terminal illness, and yet his accomplishments so vastly exceeded the capabilities of his body. It’s hard to believe he was capable of dying.

How about no bs black bar for anyone, even for a Genius like Hawking? Who decides who&#x27;s worth it? We&#x27;ve been over this already.

Indeed.  Black bar, please.  He was a living symbol of the promise of science.

Your comment illustrates perfectly why the black bar is a bad idea... unless it gets used for every death posted here someone will feel discriminated against and offended that it was omitted for someone they like. And if it is used for everyone, people will feel that its meaning has been degraded, because the black bar has become a status symbol - something to be &quot;earned&quot; or &quot;deserved&quot;. And inevitably there will be tedious arguments over who deserves the black bar, and who doesn&#x27;t, and what precedent is set by this person getting it and not that, and whether it means the moderators are biased, on and on.All of this sad nonsense over a stylesheet tweak that in the end means nothing and honors no one and whose application has always been entirely arbitrary. It&#x27;s a distraction which is best done away with IMHO.

I agree.I consider no black bar:- a violation of the principle of least surprise- a statement of discriminationPrecedent has been set by the fact that it has been used in the past.If its usage is being wound down, I reckon this more than qualifies as exceptionally justifiable.

If they didn&#x27;t do one for JP Barlow I feel like that&#x27;s an indication they&#x27;re not doing it anymore.

Agree. Hawking had a big impact on my general outlook on life.

This warrants the black bar.He has changed everything for humanity time and again. We owe him the best future we can possibly make.

I agree that his perseverance is the most admirable. I try and put myself in his shoes and it&#x27;s daunting to say the least.But even ignoring the challenges he crushes he would have been an amazing human being.

An inspiring role model in so many aspects, RIP to one of the greatest minds. I strongly believe that his perseverance through his circumstances is even more admirable than his research. It&#x27;s so easy to become bitter and jaded when a shocking event like that occurs. At the best, you make peace and live as happy a life as you can...but to stand tall and rebuke Fate, defy all odds and even banish almost certain Death for decades through sheer willpower and passion for knowledge is something else. And to hold that tiny, bright flame against an unrelenting torrent for 55 years, always curious, always following his passion...the world lost one of the greats tonight.

If you haven&#x27;t read it yet, give &#x27;A Brief History of Time&#x27; a read. Even if you&#x27;re not a big book reader, it&#x27;s only about 250 pages. Great way to pay respects to this legendary man.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;A_Brief_History_of_Time" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;A_Brief_History_of_Time</a>

He was a true inspiration and showed how much we can be defined by our thoughts, not just our physical presence

The world will always remember him even after centuries

Oh! That&#x27;s the one I was initially thinking about actually. Maybe I&#x27;ll rewatch both. :)

There is another one - The Theory of Everything (2014) <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt2980516&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt2980516&#x2F;</a>

The world will miss you, Stephen.I&#x27;m going to rewatch Hawking tonight (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt0395571&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt0395571&#x2F;</a>).

One of the greatest men of our time. RIP Sir!

As Thatcher has famously said: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=t37Oy8dD-U4" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=t37Oy8dD-U4</a>

Inequality is not that bad when everyone is getting richer even at the very bottom. Inequality speech is the tree hiding the forest.

Cato Institute is about as trustable for facts about poverty as my cat is for facts about quantum mechanics.Here&#x27;s a rebuttal.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;monkey-cage&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2018&#x2F;03&#x2F;12&#x2F;what-steven-pinker-gets-wrong-about-economic-inequality-and-the-enlightenment&#x2F;?utm_term=.004c960f9ead" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;monkey-cage&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2018&#x2F;03&#x2F;1...</a>

We have rising inequality and also about 137,000 less people miserably poor each day. It&#x27;s complicated. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cato.org&#x2F;blog&#x2F;what-newspapers-reported-real-news-about-human-progress" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cato.org&#x2F;blog&#x2F;what-newspapers-reported-real-news...</a>

Piketty also did good job in providing proof that the discourse Marx&#x27;s capital started is still relevant today: wealth keeps concentrating and that will undermine the whole premise of democracy.“When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, as it did in the nineteenth century and seems quite likely to do again in the twenty-first, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based.” ― Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First CenturyThis outcome is probably clear to anyone who has been paying attention, but the power of Piketty&#x27;s book is in the way it lays out mathematical proof using pile of historical data as evidence.The response to Piketty&#x27;s book from ideological opposition have ranged from &quot;So what?&quot; to more valid attempts at asking theoretical questions about the validity of r &gt; g, but nothing exactly that comes close to debunking the core thesis.

&gt;*
&quot;If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.&quot;*Which coincidentally was a basic insight behind Karl Marx&#x27;s communism -- not referring to the regimes it inspired, but to the idea that with the advancements in capitalistic production, distribution will be key to ensure a fair society.In the end, a powerful 0.1% that can produce anything they want with robots, can use a small number of humans, say 0.9%, for service and such necessary jobs, and will have no use for the rest 99% of humanity -- which could be let to sort it out in slums.Also the idea behind lots of dystopian fiction -- from Soylent Green to Elysium, and the reality in many places in the third&#x2F;developing world, where there are more people than jobs needed.Suggested reading:
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Planet-Slums-Mike-Davis&#x2F;dp&#x2F;1784786616" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Planet-Slums-Mike-Davis&#x2F;dp&#x2F;1784786616</a>

His last comment on the Internet is relevant to Hacker News.. someone asked him about unemployment due to automation and the rise of technology[1]:&quot;If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.&quot;<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;science&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3nyn5i&#x2F;comment&#x2F;cvsdmkv?st=JEQKSDNR&amp;sh=dd00aa5a" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;science&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3nyn5i&#x2F;comment&#x2F;cvs...</a>

Respects and R.I.P. Will make my son read his Brief History of Time to start his career in science.

Stephen Hawking was a great physicist and an inspirational person. He&#x27;ll be missed dearly.

I feel like Stephen Hawking symbolized the exact way in which people should be judged.

While people are going to focus on his impact in physics and science in general, and rightfully so, I&#x27;ve experienced a greater impact from his life.I had a close friend of mine who was wheel chair bound. For him Hawking demonstrated the possibility of people accepting him for who he was and enjoying his company irrespective of any perceived differences. He wanted to interact, have friends, build relationships, and this was something that was more expected as a result of Hawking&#x27;s public profile.Ultimately he served as not just a role model, but someone who expanded awareness that those in wheelchairs were people too.

He is going to remembered for a long time. RIP

Right up there with Einstein, Bohr, Tesla as one of the most brilliant humans to ever live. Learning about Hawking radiation for the first time forever changed how I looked at this thing we call existence. Thanks, Stephen.

RIP - he was a great inspiration to so many people

One of my most enduring memories is putting on the audio book for &quot;A Brief History of Time&quot; to listen to on a long drive home with my brother.I&#x27;d read and listened to it before, but sitting there watching my brother listen to it for the first time, I realised just how clearly and succinctly Hawking mapped out the ideas and way of thinking I use to try and find my place in the universe.I&#x27;m quite grateful I had the opportunity to read it.

RIP my biggest living scientific inspiration. May your weary soul rest in peace.

I have never met this man and yet I feel deep loss and gratitude. I feel personally enriched by his life.

I hope that he has actually transcended to some higher dimensions, joining other great minds like Einstein and Bohr, and that they are actually playing around with even more advanced forms of physics, peering into black holes and quarks like they were toys.

R.I.P Stephen. He was such an inspiration to a lot of people and probably will be for a lot of people in the future.

It&#x27;s really beautiful how the entire world [1] has in unison recognized the life of this great man. There&#x27;s something uncanny, sort of cinematic, about the information of his death radiating out across the globe and &quot;lighting&quot; us up as we consider what an incredible human being he was.[1] Maybe not the &quot;entire&quot; world, but all the news orgs I checked had news of his death on their front page as of 2-3 minutes ago:Al Jazeera &#x2F;&#x2F; CNN &#x2F;&#x2F; Fox News &#x2F;&#x2F; ABC (Australia) &#x2F;&#x2F; France 24 &#x2F;&#x2F; DW (Germany) &#x2F;&#x2F; reddit &#x2F;&#x2F; HN &#x2F;&#x2F; NY Times &#x2F;&#x2F; BBC &#x2F;&#x2F; WaPo &#x2F;&#x2F; the Guardian &#x2F;&#x2F; the Japan Times &#x2F;&#x2F; Xinhua (China)

I liked the movie, &quot;The Theory of Everything&quot;, which allowed for more people to learn about this phenomenal human being. [1] I also liked his appearances in shows (like The Big Bang Theory). We would&#x27;ve looked forward to a lot more from him! He will be missed![1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Theory_of_Everything_(2014_film)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Theory_of_Everything_(2014...</a>

I realize it&#x27;s not cool to post value-less comments here, but....damn it.

While Stephen Hawking is someone who could not live forever, he is someone we needed to.RIP.

I&#x27;m so sad. Rest in peace Mr Hawking. What brilliant mind we&#x27;ve lost.

RIP Stephen Hawking. Thanks for fighting on for so long, even after reaching a stage when most would expect one to give up.

I believe his longevity was little to do with any special treatment and more to do with the strain&#x2F;variety of the disease.My brother in law contracted Motor Neuron, was given 2 years to live, and died after 2.5 years, the last year of which was not really living.Up until then I had never understood that Stephen Hawking was actually in one sense amazingly lucky.RIP, an amazing fellow.

RIP, he did a lot to popularize science.Let&#x27;s look at a different angle: He lived to 76 years old, a man with a disease that once gave you a few years at most. 76 is more or less a full life today. With all the challenges and stresses, we (or a lot of us) do live in great times. Even the greatest King could have died from a cut on his finger a few centuries ago...now penicillin is given for free even in USA.

You&#x27;re quite right. I saw him once, giving a supervision in the Core of the Centre for Mathematical Studies. He walked among us ;)

Oddly, this news struck me harder than other recent deaths of celebrity musicians that I was huge fans of. I guess Professor Hawking always had that aura of timelessness around him, and everyone just knew he was doing important work that would change humanity&#x27;s understanding of the universe and our place in it.It seems somehow unfair to have him taken away in the middle of all that.EDIT: Fond memories of walking around Cambridge University two decades ago with my cousin, and she casually pointed to a building and said &quot;Oh, Stephen Hawking works in there&quot;. Seemed so mundane to think that such important works were going on in some nondescript building that I just happened to be walking past. I always envisaged him working on a totally different plane from the rest of us mere peons.

&gt;&gt; I thought he’d live forever...In one of his universes, he does.

Not my first introduction to him, but it was great to see him there. Despite being soft sci-fi, Star Trek - TNG in particular - was always a show about wonders of science at heart.Incidentally, Stephen Hawking was the only person to play himself in Star Trek.

As a kid my first introduction to Hawking was on a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode.This deserves a black bar. This man I’m sure inspired almost everyone here in some way. Odd to think he’s dead. I thought he’d live forever...

Though part of me is glad that he&#x27;s now relieved from the pain of existence, the other part wishes that he should&#x27;ve lived long enough for his conscious to be uploaded into a perpetual medium; to find answers for his questions.

On his website I found this TED talk by Peter Diamandis where Hawking fulfils his dream of going to space on the zero-g aeroplane. He was 65 at the time.They did several more parabolas than planned, 8-10 min of weightlessness each time. He loved it. Still images only, but it&#x27;s great to see him out of his wheelchair and floating in space.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;0VJqrlH9cdI" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;0VJqrlH9cdI</a>

Stephen Hawking has died