On the 300th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's death, he came into the world, and on the birthday of Albert Einstein, the 139th, he left it again. Stephen Hawking has undoubtedly been the most famous scientist of our time. No scientist, perhaps with the exception of Einstein, has fascinated humanity in the last hundred years and up to today as much as he has. Never before has one person ignited the imagination of millions regarding the origin of the universe and our place within it. He redefined the big questions of astrophysics and, until the end, also the significant questions about the future of humanity. Regarding the topic that made him famous, the existence and properties of black holes, he wrote the best-selling non-fiction book of the 20th century: "A Brief History of Time." In this book, well-known contemporaries, great physicists, companions, former students, and co-authors reflect on his life and work.