World renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76, the BBC reported citing a family representative.

His family released a statement in the early hours of Wednesday morning confirming his death at his home in Cambridge, according to The Guardian newspaper.

Hawking’s children said in a statement: “He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.”

Stephen Hawking was a leading theoretical physicist and cosmologist.

Hawking had a rare early-onset, slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that gradually paralyzed him over decades. Nonetheless, he was still able to live an active in life and communicate using a single cheek muscle attached to a speech-generating device.