Today, world renowned physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking turns 73 today and all of us here at ScienceFiction.com would like to wish him a very Happy Birthday!

Hawking can easily be named as one of this generation’s most brilliant minds with his contributions to not only in the world of astrophysics but also as a philosopher. Despite his diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s disease (better known as ALS), Hawking shows that despite what may seem like overwhelming obstacles, the strength of the human spirit and the power of the human mind can achieve anything.

A resurgence of Hawking’s popularity has emerged due to the film ‘A Theory of Everything’ (which is up for 4 Golden Globes and is already being buzzed for Oscar glory), but it is his wit and outlook in life combined with his brilliance of his mind that is what is so impressive about the man which is depicted so well in the film. “At times, I thought he was me,” Hawking wrote on his Facebook page speaking about Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal of him.

While much a scholar, Hawking is such an icon that he has appeared and has been referenced to in quite a bit of genre TV shows appearing as a hologram of himself on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation, showing up in a guest cameo on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and on a special for the British sci-fi series ‘Red Dwarf’ where he commended the creators and told them how much he enjoyed the series. In fact, Hawking has recently expressed his desire to play a villain in a James Bond film. (Now that would be some great casting! An evil genius directing the downfall of Bond and the Earth from a wheelchair!)

But it is his work in the scientific field that have made many begin to look up in the sky and reach for the stars once again. He has re-ignited the need for space exploration as seen in the video below and has inspired people with two simple words: “Be curious.”

So today on this special day, join us as we wish Professor Hawking a very Happy Birthday!