Scientist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.
Professor Hawking's children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement that he had died at his home in Cambridge.
They said their father was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.
They said Hawking’s courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world.
The world-famous physicist and cosmologist was the subject of the 2014 film The Theory Of Everything, which starred Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones.
He also performed several cameos in the US comedy series The Big Bang Theory.
Hawking contracted motor neurone disease in 1963 and was given two years to live but he went on to study at Cambridge and became one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Albert Einstein.
He was given more than a dozen honorary degrees and was awarded the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1982.
source : Sky News
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