On Wednesday, March 14, Stephen Hawking passed away in the early morning hours in Cambridge, England.
If you are not familiar with Hawking, the film “The Theory of Everything” that was released in 2014 describes his life, illustrating when he first discovered that he had motor neuron disease, but through it all he became a physicist and fell in love. Like any of us, he was just a regular person, but the fact that he never let his illness control his life made him truly remarkable.
Hawking was dedicated to learning as much as he possibly could about the universe, let alone our own planet.
“My goal is simple,” he said early on in his life. “It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.”
Hawking became a world-renowned British theoretical physicist and dedicated his life to science. His research and discoveries revolving around quantum gravity, general relativity and black holes have made it possible for the world to know and study them more. He wrote 15 books in his lifetime, including the widely popular “A Brief History of Time.”
Hawking is an inspiration to everyone as he refused to let his own struggles keep him from following his dream. He went through life with a positive attitude, and made life meaningful doing what he could rather than dwelling on what he couldn’t.
“People won’t have time for you if you’re always angry or complaining,” he once said.
He used technology to mobilize and communicate with an electric chair and a voice module, which was a very important accomplishment to achieve. He believed even harsh circumstances that are beyond our control do not determine what we can and can’t do in life.
“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at,” he said.
He died on Pi Day at the age of 76, which also happened to be Albert Einstein’s birthday. While it was sad to see him go, he would be happy to know that he passed away on a day that he would already consider special, and now people around the world remembering Hawking will see it as even more meaningful.