The Great Stephen Hawking Interviewed by Neil deGrasse Tyson Just Ten Days Before His Death

Stephen Hawking, the enormously respected, award-winning quantum physicist, cosmologist and author died peacefully on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 after having lived with the motor neuron disease (MND) of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for over 50 years. In tribute to this great man, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in partnership with National Geographic TV, posted a commercial-free version of the March 4th season finale of Tyson’s series Star Talk, which featured a live interview with the late, great scientist. After the interview, deGrass Tyson reflected on the beautiful mind of Stephen Hawking.

Our greatest gift as a species is not our body. We’re not the fastest. We’re not the strongest. Our body hardly distinguishes itself in any way in the animal kingdom. Our greatest sort of gift in the Tree of Life is our mind and perhaps no one knows that better than Stephen Hawking. And so much so that he does not take his mind for granted, enabling him to go places that we might never even dream of, simply because he has power of mind where he has power from no other part of his body. So maybe it is we who are imprisoned. Thinking our body matters when in fact at the end of the day it’s really all about your thoughts, all about your dreams, all about how we react to our life experience in this world and share it with others.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Stephen Hawking

Rest in Peace Stephen Hawking. Your brilliant mind will outshine the stars.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.