11 reasons why Stephen Hawking rocked
For someone who was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death, it’s somehow mathematically appropriate that Stephen Hawking died on Albert Einstein’s birthday as well as on Pi Day. Today his achievements in physics and cosmology are being remembered around the world.
When he was diagnosed with ALS in the 1960s, he was given two years to live. Instead, he survived for decades and became the best-known scientist since Albert Einstein.
Here are eleven pop culture reasons why Hawking rocked.
1. He appeared on Star Trek:TNG playing poker with Data, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.
2. He was part of saving Lisa’s brain on The Simpsons
3. He played a jerk on Futurama
4. He put Sheldon in his place on The Big Bang Theory
5. David Gilmour sampled his voice for this song from the Pink Floyd album, The Division Bell
Hawking, though, wasn’t much of a rock fan. He preferred classical music. However….
6. Hawking was partial to at least one Monty Python song.
7. The Manic Street Preachers have a song called “Me and Stephen Hawking” on their 2009 album, Journal of Plague Lovers
8. Turbonegro’s song “Intro: Into the Party Zone” features a cameo from Hawking.
9. He inspired the creation of a rapper named MC Hawking.
10. And no, that’s not Hawking in Radiohead’s “Fitter, Happier.” That’s Thom Yorke’s synthesized voice–but you can see where Thom was going with this.
11. Even the Foo Fighters think he’s cool.
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet” – RIP Stephen Hawking you fucking legend.
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) March 14, 2018