Stephen Hawking, the British physicist and black-hole theorist who brought science to a mass audience with the best-selling book A Brief History of Time, has died. He was 76. Hawking died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in England in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a spokesman for his family said in an e-mailed statement. "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today," his children Lucy, Robert and Tim said in the statement. "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. He once said, ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him forever." Hawking suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and was confined to an electric wheelchair for much of his adult life. Diagnosed at age 21, he was one of the world’s longest survivor...
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