Stephen Hawking: The Voice of Physics

Physical Attraction

Physics lost a bright star last week when Stephen Hawking, world-renowned cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and science communicator, died at the age of 76. Although he was only given a few years to live when first diagnosed with motor-neurone disease in 1963, aged just 21 and at the beginning of his graduate studies in Cambridge, he defied medical predictions and lived for another fifty years. Somehow, it still doesn't seem like it was long enough; but few have made such good use of their time. In this episode, I pay tribute to Stephen Hawking's life and work, and try to explain some of his discoveries in cosmology. He had a profound impact on the physics community both as a scientist and a communicator without parallel. The world will miss him.