Stephen Hawking honoured at the London Science Museum
On 2 May, the Science Museum in London announced Stephen Hawking as their latest Fellow. The honour, the highest that can be bestowed by the institution, follows on the recent display of items that the Museum exhibited in order to celebrate Professor Hawking's 70th Birthday.
The display included items primarily sources from his own archives, including handwritten notes from his work with his long-time collaborator, Sir Roger Penrose, and an annotated script from his 1999 guest appearance on 'The Simpsons'. Items such as the blue suit which he wore during his zero-gravity flightin 2007, his Copley Medal and his 1978 portrait by British artist David Hockney were on display.
The display, the first ever of items from the Hawking archive, included a specially recorded message from Professor Hawking, who along with his daughter, Lucy, was involved with the selection of objects on display. The display allows visitors to consider Hawking's important contributions not only to the advancement of cosmology and theoretical physics, but also his contributions to popularising science.
The display, which opened on 20 January 2012, ran until 9 April.
Professor Hawking is presented with the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 2006
