Epstein befriended a slew of big-name scientists

MIAMI — The late scientist Stephen Hawking made a name for himself through his exploration of the physics of black holes, but it is his connection to the holder of one of the world’s most notorious black books — the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein — that has him in the news again. A just-unsealed 2015 email from Epstein to his former girlfriend and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, suggests Hawking was involved in the culture of sex abuse that thrived on Epstein’s private island. The email was included in discovery in connection with a slander lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Eps...