Professor Stephen Hawking, renowned physicist, has died at the age of 76 after a lifetime battling a rare disease.

The eminent physician's children announced that the "beloved father" and "extraordinary man" died at home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday (March 14).

Hawking had been suffering for around half a century with motor neurone disease after being diagnosed at the age of 21 and told he would not see his 25th birthday.

It has not yet been confirmed what he died from but the disease kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years, so Hawkins was a miracle of science.

Despite this disease, he continued to travel the world giving lectures and writing scientific papers about the basic laws that govern the universe.

Prof Hawking explained the Big Bang and black holes in his best-selling book A Brief History Of Time.

The condition is fatal, and usually progresses rapidly, affecting the brain and spinal cord.

MND is the collective name for a group of diseases that affect the nerves in the brain and spinal cord that control movement.

The condition progressively damages parts of the nervous system which leads to muscle weakness, stiffening and waste.

It can lead to people being unable to move, talk, swallow and eventually breathe.

Some patients suffer cognitive changes as well.

Professor Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1962, had recently said he would not have had such a long life without the NHS.

He was an intellectual giant, but Professor Stephen Hawking also embraced popular culture.

The celebrated physicist featured in The Simpsons and enjoyed a cameo in several episodes of The Big Bang Theory, the hit US sitcom about a group of science geeks.

In The Simpsons, a cartoon version of the professor, complete with voice generator, appeared in Springfield many times.

Prof Hawking also displayed in his office a mocked-up photograph of himself going on a date with screen siren Marilyn Monroe.

He also featured, in 1993, in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where his character was seen playing poker with Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.

Hawking’s is seen as one of the most important figures in science and his loss will be felt across the World.