PROFESSOR Stephen Hawking passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 76, when he was only given 4 years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of Motor Neurons Disease known as ALS at the age of 22. Renowned for his work as a theoretical physicist and cosmologist, he was a passionate in his political campaigning as well.

Author of ‘A Brief History of Time’, which has sold over 10 million copies, he is one of the greatest minds to have ever lived. But what made him special was his grounded attitude and sense of humour.

Hawking anecdotes

This tribute is dedicated to his brilliance as a human because I do not have enough knowledge or ability to fully comprehend his work to give it the tribute it deserves. However, I can pay tribute to his wit and grounded attitude for someone astoundingly brilliant. According to his biography ‘Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind’, he enjoyed running over the toes of people he disliked, once giving Prince Charles the treatment upon a meeting at the Royal Society. One of his regrets is that he wasn’t able to run over the toes of Margaret Thatcher.

In 1995, The Face magazine asked him for an equation on Time Travel, in response via fax, he simply stated “Thank you for your recent fax.

I do not have any equations for time travel. If I had, I would win the lottery every week”. He also held a party for time travellers by planning a party with Krug and Hors d’oeurvres, along with not telling anyone and sending out the invitations after the party had taken place.

At the Pride of Britain awards, whilst on stage with Theresa May, he quipped that whilst he deals with tough equations every day, don’t ask him to help with Brexit.

Sounding less robotic than the PM in the process. There is little that hasn’t already been said and with every article and tribute written, each and every one will be repeating the same quotes, stories and witticisms by Stephen Hawking, every single one will be repeating about how great a mind he is but lest not forget his hard work in standing up for the NHS and actively boycotting Israel over their violent treatment of the Palestinian people.

He was more than a mind and a disease, he was one of the greatest humans to have ever lived. His words and work will be immortalised forever to inspire future generations to fight to make the world a better place to live in and make advances that could transcend Humanity above the pettiness of fighting over what piece of earth they were born upon.