”One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don’t throw it away.”

-Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking, an astrophysicist and mathematician who suffered from ALS, died last Wednesday at his home in Cambridge at the age of 76.

Hawking was the greatest modern-day scientist and theorist, owing his fame to his scientific claims released in the early 1970s regarding the explanation of how black holes end and how the universe began. His theories really broke through mainstream media in 1998 when he published A Brief History of Time, a New York Times best-seller that explored the great cosmic mysteries.

Despite being wheelchair bound by a paralyzing illness, in 1977 Hawking successfully surmounted to the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, a position that was once held by Isaac Newton.

Hawking also made significant advancements in the following areas: The Big Bang Theory, The Theory of Relativity, black holes, cosmos, subatomic particles, quantum physics, and how the universe continues to expand.

Hawking was a brilliant mind trapped inside a broken body, but that did not prevent him from making groundbreaking discoveries and paving the way for future understanding in cosmology. May he be an inspiration to us all, and may he rest in peace.

"It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love."

-Stephen Hawking