Stephen Hawking no more: World loses its brightest star

Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, passed away on Wednesday (March 14). (Photo courtesy Reuters; Captions: AFP)

Hawking, whose 1988 book "A Brief History of Time" became an unlikely worldwide bestseller and cemented his superstar status, dedicated his life to unlocking the secrets of the Universe. But his genius and wit won over fans from far beyond the rarified world of astrophysics. (IANS Photo)

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. The illness gradually robbed him of mobility, leaving him confined to a wheelchair, almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his trademark voice synthesiser. (PTI Photo)

Inside the shell of his increasingly useless body was a razor-sharp mind, fascinated by the nature of the Universe, how it was formed and how it might end. "My goal is simple," he once said. "It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all." (Reuters Photo)

Seen in this file photo with his wife, Hawking died peacefully at his home in the British university city of Cambridge on March 14. (Reuters Photo)