Stephen Hawking, 'Roamed Cosmos From A Wheelchair,' Dies At 76

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Stephen Hawking, the brilliant physicist who made science popular for millions of people, died early Wednesday at his home. He was 76 years old.

From his New York Times obituary by Dennis Overbye:

Stephen W. Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist and best-selling author who roamed the cosmos from a wheelchair, pondering the nature of gravity and the origin of the universe and becoming an emblem of human determination and curiosity, died early Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 76.
His death was confirmed by a spokesman for Cambridge University.

“Not since Albert Einstein has a scientist so captured the public imagination and endeared himself to tens of millions of people around the world,” Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, said in an interview.

Read the full obituary by The New York Times.

Photo of Hawking via Bryan Bedder, stringer/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images.