LONDON: Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, has died at age 76, his family said Wednesday. Hawking, whose 1988 book "A Brief History of Time" became an unlikely worldwide bestseller and cemented his superstar status, dedicated his life to unlocking the secrets of the Universe. His genius and wit won over fans from far beyond the rarified world of astrophysics, earning comparisons with Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. Hawking died peacefully at his home in the British university city of Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday morning. "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today," professor Hawking"s children, Lucy, Robert, and Tim said in a statement carried by Britain"s Press Association news agency. "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years." Hawking defied predictions he would only live for a few years after developing a form of motor neurone disease in 1964 at the age of 22. The illness gradually robbed him of mobility, leaving him confined to a wheelchair, almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his trademark voice synthesiser.