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The esteemed cosmologist was a household name and inspiration across the globe because of his mental genius and physical disability. His work ranged from the origins of the universe itself, through the tantalising prospect of time travel to the mysteries of space's all-consuming black holes.

"We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today," Professor Hawking's children, Lucy, Robert, and Tim said in a statement carried by Britain's Press Association news agency.

“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.

“His courage and persistence with 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 forever.”

Hawking defied predictions he would only live for a few years after developing a form of motor neurone disease that left him confined to a wheelchair.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/wor...6-10042116