What I find impressive is how Hawking can do all the maths in his head. I never could do fairly moderate maths without scribbling a lot and trying things out on paper to get my head around it.
One should not idolize him or any other person though. OK, I also have my scientific idol, the economist Joe Stiglitz, but whenever I read something of him I try to keep my awe in check and be as ruthlessly critical as possible ... with the emphasis being on try.
