A great light has gone out in the universe. The death of Prof Stephen Hawking at the age of 76 deprived the world of a courageous and uniquely gifted thinker. He was not only the greatest physicist who pushed the boundaries of human knowledge, but was also a model of human courage and determination who overcame the great challenge of a debilitating motor neuron disease. He expanded the boundaries of cosmology, building on Einstein’s famous principles, and he brought complex theory to the masses in his best-selling book A Brief History of Time. Hopefully this should prompt our government, the education authorities in particular, to do something drastic about the appalling state of SA’s education system. We read in the media about the shocking results of our students, and the underqualified or, in many instances unqualified, staff fronting as science teachers. Let us hope that his great light will inspire thousands to try and follow his example. JM Bouvier Bryanston
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