Today's date will go down in history, as it is the day one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) minds of our time sadly passed away.

With the news of Stephen Hawking's death filtering through this morning, Dermot and Dave gave physicist and broadcaster Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin a call to hear why Mr.Hawking was so important in culture, science and society. 

He opened up the cosmos and mathematics to the world, and inspired Aoibhinn, among thousands of others, to pursue a career in physics and education. 

March 14th was also the date Albert Einstein was born, and Einstein died at the age of 76 - as did Stephen. It's kind of a "coming full circle" as Dave put it.

You can listen to the chat in full by pressing play in the image above the headline.