The physicist was a prolific author and published a number of books, but none were as famous as his best-selling A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 10 million copies after it was published in 1988. Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, has died at age 76, his family said Wednesday. A brief history of Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time Read more

In a statement that confirmed his death at home in Cambridge, Hawking’s children said: “We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. “He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.”

Hawking defied predictions he would only live for a few years after developing a form of motor neurone disease in 1964 at the age of 22. They praised his "courage and persistence" and said his "brilliance and humour" inspired people across the world. “He once said: ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him for ever.”

For fellow scientists and loved ones, it was Hawking’s intuition and wicked sense of humour that marked him out as much as the fierce intellect that, coupled with his illness, came to symbolise the unbounded possibilities of the human mind. • Lucy Hawking reveals the other side of her father Stephen
• Stephen Hawking: “My sense of humour keeps me going”

Aged 21, Hawking was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease and told he only had a few years to live. He was portrayed in both TV and film - recently by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, which charted his rise to fame and relationship with his first wife, Jane.
British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking dies aged 76 at his home in Cambridge.