World-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking died today, March 14, at his home in Cambridge, age 74. We look back on his extraordinary interview with Irish comedian and BBC presenter Dara O' Briain, which aired shortly after the premiere of The Theory of Everything, the film about Hawkins' life, in 2014.
Over the course of his 74 years, Stephen Hawking forever changed our understanding of the universe. Widely considered the greatest living scientist of his era, Hawking was also a cosmologist, astronomer, mathematician and author, his most famous work being A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 10 million copies.
In addition, Hawking was an inspiration to children and adults with disabilities. Diagnosed with ALS (motor neuron disease) at the age of 21 in 1963, Hawking was given two years to live but went on to defy those odds, produce his greatest work as a scientist, and become the father of three children with his first wife, Jane.
Read More: Time to abandon Mother Earth and time travel, says Stephen Hawking
Hawking was the boyhood hero of former physics student, Irish comedian and BBC presenter Dara O' Briain, and the two men met in 2014 to mark the occasion of the premiere of The Theory of Everything, the film about Hawking's life and relationship with Jane.
It's truly a must-watch as we reflect on Hawkings' extraordinary life.
Though O' Briain joined Hawking at the film's premiere in London, the real interview begins when he visits Hawking at this home in Cambridge.
As O' Briain puts it, "He's the longest living man ever with ALS and motor neurone disease, and that requires a large team around him to help him survive. It's an unusual lifestyle on many, many levels, but there's a normal man at the heart of it and that's the man we're going to see here in his home."
In response to O' Briain's question of how he was still around half a century after doctors told him he would die, Hawking said:
"Obviously I'm not a typical case or I would have died half a century ago. I think my survival against the odds must have something to do with my commitment to science. I'm damned if I'm going to die before I have unraveled more about the universe."
May he rest in power knowing just how much he unraveled.
Comments