Visionary scientist visited the country three times and once even sent a message of encouragement to students sitting the college entrance exam
“It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love,” Stephen Hawking once said.
Those words resonated across the world on Wednesday as news of his death broke, including in China where the visionary British scientist enjoyed cult status, beloved and admired by academics, students and even the state.
The theoretical physicist who was considered to be the world’s greatest living scientist died peacefully at his home in Cambridge on Wednesday at the age of 76, according to his family.
“We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today,” his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a 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… We will miss him forever.”
The man who pondered the mysteries of the universe and explained them to fascinated lesser mortals with insight and humour left behind a planet that was already missing him sorely.
“Professor Hawking’s work and spirit has inspired many young people. Even in recent years he continued to publish papers with big ideas that generated lasting ripples among physicists,” said Wang Yi, an assistant professor of physics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who worked in an office next to Hawking’s from 2013 to 2015.
“We are losing not only one of the most important physicists, but a great human being.”
Wang recalled how Hawking worked until late at night in his office at Cambridge University, even in the final years of his life.
“It wasn’t easy [for young researchers] to slip out to the pub when the light was still on in his room,” he said.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry expressed China’s deep condolences, with spokesman Lu Kang stating: “Hawking made a great contribution to science and humanity.
