LONDON (AFP) - Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, has died at age 76, a family spokesman said Wednesday. ”We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today,” professor Hawking’s children, Lucy, Robert, and Tim said in a statement carried by Britain’s Press Association news agency. ”He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.”Hawking defied predictions he would only live for a few years after developing a form of motor neurone disease that left him confined to a wheelchair. ”His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world,” the family said. ”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.”Related story:Stephen Hawking: a brief history of genius

Source: The Star March 14, 2018 04:07 UTC