This is such a tragic, tragic loss, not only to his family but to the whole of mankind.
He will be sorely missed, for his contributions to science, for his sheer genius, and for the way he has managed to present a highly complex, deep set of scientific concepts in cosmology and quantum physics in a way that can be eaten and digested by the uninitiated, the layman who is interested but who isn't also an extremely competent mathematician (me for one, being dyscalculic as fuck. How it was that nature ever intended me to be born to be a (bio/)chemist and psychopharmacologist, never mind take an interest in particle and quantum physics, I really, really will never know. Well, I suppose I can put it down to a very healthy dose of autism, but otherwise I really haven't got and never will have a clue how. Its like nature one day supervening and plotting out the destiny of a new manatee calf to strike out and become a champion kickboxer. Not QUITE that likely or naturally fitted out for the job, mind you, but autie affinity and autie sheer bloodymindedness and determination to look 'unlikely mix' in the face and hawk a loogie in its eye, poke it in the other eye before grabbing unlikely by the hair, bringing it's nose to my trouser area and letting loose with a gust of sulfurous, acrid, paintstripperesque gaseous fumes)
He managed to render things like the mechanics of black holes (sorry gopher not that kind, ew) accessible to the likes of me, someone that can't dispense with chemistry calculating software for doing what it is I do. And fostering an interest in physics for a great many people, to say nothing of being pretty much an iconic figure for disabled people who stand (or wheel themselves around in a motorized chair with eye movements) tall and tell their issues and problems to take a back seat to who they really are and what they are worth.
RIP.Personally I am pretty displeased with the powers that be for denying him a nobel prize in his lifetime. He's more than earned one, probably several times over with change.
