The death of Stephen Hawking

I first heard of Hawking's death last night on the TV and I found it shocking, even though Hawking was a long time survivor of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.) which generally kills its vicims much earlier than it killed him.

(There have even been doubts that Lou Gehrig was killed by "Lou Gehrig's disease"!)

Despite his many years in a wheelchair and his severe physical limitations, he was the most famous physicist and scientific thinker of our time as, for example, Albert Einstein was of his.

And, appropriately as scientists, they both expressed skepticism concerning the existence of god, a skepticism which I share and which my parents also shared with me.

My utter lack of interest in the evangelist Billy Graham after his recent death stood in contrast to these more recent deaths, even with the persistent and puzzling attention to it played by the media.