British physicist Stephen Hawking has died in Cambridge at age 76.
British scientist and physicist Stephen Hawking has died this Wednesday at the age of 76 at his home in Cambridge. The renowned astrophysicist suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) since he was 22 years old. That fact did not stop him from exceeding all expectations about his life expectancy and becoming one of the brightest minds in history. He’ll always be reminded for his research in relativity, Universe and black holes. In fact, his informative work A brief history of time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes published in 1988  has sold ten million copies and has been translated into 35 languages.
Precisely in 1988 he traveled to Barcelona to present this work at the Science Museum. It was a private visit and he was accompanied by his first wife Jane Wilde and their son Robert. It was organized by Assumpció Gausa, head of communication of the publishing house of A brief history of time in Spain. In fact, her husband, journalist LluÃs Permanyer, guided and showed the pre-Olympic Barcelona to Hawking and his family.
It was the end of October and they were staying at Hotel Fortuny (carrer del Pintor Fortuny, 13), now Hotel Silken Ramblas. One of the first stops of his tour was, precisely, Barcelona main street. During a program for Spanish radio channel Cadena Ser Permanyer told a funny anecdote about it. The journalist explained to Hawking that the kiosks of La Rambla were special since you could find science or poetry books next to pornography magazines. Hearing it, Hawking squeezed the accelerator of his wheelchair and approached the first stand he saw. Next to adult publications were a hundred copies of his book translated into Catalan and Spanish. A few hours later, during an interview, he joked about how much he enjoyed finding his work next to naked ladies magazines.
Discovering Barcelona
Stephen Hawking and his family also had dinner on one of the Plaça Reial’ s terraces, attended a concert at Palau de la Música and sailed the Mediterranean Sea. They also enjoyed traditional dance sardanas at Plaza de la Catedral and Pasqual Maragall himself, the mayor of that time, showed him the Town Hall.
LluÃs Permanyer says they also visited the Basilica of Santa MarÃa del Mar. There he said “I know you have a personal problem with God but I brought you here not because this is His home but a temple in which the interior space worths it”. The building impressed Hawking.
Tree thousand people in a room for four hundred
The genius also gave a surprise lecture at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona to explain the history of black holes and the scientific basis of their existence. The event gathered three thousand people in a room that was prepared for four hundred. In fact, some media criticized the organization. The intervention was a success despite the fact that by then, he couldn’t speak properly.
Stephen Hawking and his family were delighted with Barcelona and the treatment received. Jane Wilde acknowledged that she didn’t want to go back home and leaved the city with surrow. A few days later,  LluÃs Permanyer sent her an envelope with roses from La Rambla.
The astrophysicist would return briefly to Barcelona in 2005 to give a restricted conference on the paradox of black holes. By then, his ALS was so advanced that he explained himself by moving a muscle under his eye and using a 1986 voice synthesizer. In fact, he only accepted questions from the audience that could be answered with a yes or no. Acts like this show that Hawking was a brilliant mind until the end, without fear of death despite his condition.