Stephen Hawking: Google remembers theoretical physicist with doodle

On his 80th birth anniversary Saturday, Google paid tribute to English cosmologist, author, and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking with an animated video on its homepage. The video traces Hawking’s life and work, with a narration by the scientist himself that was generated with the approval of his kin.

Hawking, born in Oxford, England, was fascinated by the universe from a young age. At 21, he was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, which slowly confined him to a wheelchair. He lost his speech, and began communicating through a speech-generating device. Google describes him as “one of history’s most influential scientific minds”.

Hawking graduated from Oxford with a BA degree in Physics, before obtaining a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He was obsessed with black holes, with became the foundation for his studies and research. In 1974, he discovered that particles could escape black holes, a theory considered his most important contribution to physics.

“From colliding black holes to the Big Bang, his theories on the origins and mechanics of the universe revolutionised modern physics while his best-selling books made the field widely accessible to millions of readers worldwide,” Google writes.