Although highly respected as a theoretical physicist for discovering the behavior of black holes and investigating the origin of the universe, Hawking leaves behind an equally important legacy of making complicated science understandable to the public. Using insight, humor, and clear language, he made science seem accessible, something anyone could pursue. Hawking, and others like him, made it acceptable, even honorable, to get complicated ideas into the public sphere.

Bioethics fellow Junaid Nabi, MD, authored this opinion piece in Stat. 

Dr. Nabi is a nonprofit executive and medical journalist, and a New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute.