Stephen Hawking - British theoretical physicist (and personal hero of Another Godless Goddess).  Has made important discoveries concerning the Big Bang and Black Holes.  Almost completely paralyzed by Lou Gehrig’s disease, first diagnosed in 1963.  The doctors gave him no more than three years to live.  Has kept his 1980’s era voice synthesizer because he identifies with it.  Has explained the concept of time has no meaning before the beginning of the universe; the question “What came before the Big Bang” makes no more sense than “What lies North of the North Pole.”  Made waves in the theist world in 2010 when he announced that the creation of the universe did not require a creator; the laws of physics alone could explain the universe.