The British physicist Stephen Hawking, the scientist who explained the universe from a wheelchair and brought the stars to millions of people around the world, has died this morning at his home in Cambridge, at age 76
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our father today, "say his three children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, in a statement published early Wednesday morning. "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will survive for many years. His courage and persistence, with his brightness and humor, inspired people all over the world. On one occasion he said: 'The universe would not be great if it were not the home of the people you love.' We will miss him forever. "
Hawking will go down in history for his work on black holes and for trying to unify the two great theories of twentieth century physics, that of relativity and that of quantum mechanics. Also by the popular informative titles of which he was author, among them Brief history of time, from the Big Bang to black holes, published in 1988 and turned into the best-selling science book in history.