Everyday Miracle Man          

   Gravitation was his specialty. 
  
   The late Stephen Hawking amazed the science 
community in 1974 by discovering that radiation 
can and does escape black holes in space. But he never discovered God, so we didn't appreciate him in that respect.

   Another physicist, who co-authored two books with him, was moved to tears last week when Hawking died in Cambridge, England at 76. He was given three years to live when he was 21. ALS conquered everything but his genius mind.

   Leonard Mlodinow described his "life force" as "inexhaustible." He considered him an "everyday miracle," as he battled to keep thinking. 

   Mlodinow wrote for the New York Times that Hawking had to eat all his food mashed or chopped, and had to be spoon fed. He never let this embarrass him, even in the finest restaurants.

   For many hours the two physicists would talk and debate physics, and how to write about it. Hawking communicated through his computer, moving the cursor over a letter and pressing on a mouse with his thumb, or in later years, moving his cheek to activate a motion sensor in his glasses.

   When he was done, his computer voice would read what he typed. He composed his sentences at a rate of about six words a minute.*

   Mlodinow said when they argued a point of physics, Hawking always won. One time they argued for two hours over a single sentence, after which the genius responded with a joke.

   "Stephen was a strong force...and a gift to us," his friend wrote.
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* At that rate, it would have taken him about 46 minutes just to type 300 words. 
An average person would need no more than 15 minutes. 

       Jimmy