Google Doodle celebrates the life of cosmologist Stephen Hawking for his 80th birthday

The pioneering work of physicist Stephen Hawking is honored in a Google Doodle today (Jan. 8), including a video with Hawking’s quotes concerning everything from cosmology to disability.

On what would have been Hawking’s 80th birthday, the cosmologist was cited not only with his work in probing the fate of the universe and the nature of black holes, but also his quick wit, his ability to engage popular audiences around the world, and his living example to people with disabilities.

“Today’s video Doodle celebrates one of history’s most influential scientific minds, English cosmologist, author, and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking,” Google said in a statement about the Doodle, which was created by Matthew Cruickshank.

“From colliding black holes to the Big Bang,” Google added, “his theories on the origins and mechanics of the universe revolutionized modern physics while his best-selling books made the field widely accessible to millions of readers worldwide.”

Related: Famous Stephen Hawking theory about black holes confirmed

Google celebrated the life and legacy of scientist Stephen Hawking in a Google Doodle for what would have been his 80th birthday on Jan. 8, 2022. (Image credit: Google)

Stephen William Hawking was born in England on Jan. 8, 1942, 300 years to the day after the death of the astronomer Galileo Galilei. While studying cosmology (or the universe’s history and composition) in 1963 at the University of Cambridge, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron…

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