Neil deGrasse Tyson, ‘Big Bang Theory,’ even Katy Perry mourn Stephen Hawking

As the world reflected on the Pi Day passing of physicist Stephen Hawking, those in the public eye remembered him in their own ways.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, of course, framed Hawking’s significance in a way most could understand, tweeting, “His passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. But it’s not empty. Think of it as a kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric of spacetime that defies measure.”

“Thank you Stephen Hawking,” “Big Bang Theory” actor Jim Parsons posted on Instagram, using a black-and-white version of the photo the show tweeted in memoriam. The pic was taken one of the seven times the physicist appeared on the show, much to the delight of Sheldon Cooper and the guys.

Hawking had also made a cameo on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1993, prompting actress Maria Sirtis to write, “His appearance on #TNG was an honour for everyone associated with the show.”

Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran shared his memory of meeting the physicist. Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik shared a quote and his tribute to Hawking rendered — in sand, of course — on an eastern Indian beach.

After Hawking passed away Wednesday in the U.K., singer Katy Perry chimed in late Tuesday in her U.S. time zone, expressing a desire to see him “in the next” but was perhaps unaware of his thoughts on an afterlife.

“I think the brain is like a program in the mind, which is like a computer, so it’s theoretically possible to copy the brain on to a computer and so provide a form of life after death,” Hawking said at the 2013 premiere of a documentary about his life, which he noted was lived with the constant threat of an early death.

“However, this is way beyond our present capabilities. I think the conventional afterlife is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.”

cdz@latimes.com

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