2024-07-13 21:33:08
Stephen Hawking’s scientific and personal archive will be cataloged and stored by the Cambridge University Library, reported PA media/DPA, cited by BTA. Part of the archive is also a letter in which Hawking describes to his parents how his computer speaks – “like an alien with an American accent”.
The theoretical physicist’s correspondence reveals how active and involved he was in issues of disability rights, nuclear disarmament, etc.
The author of A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes died in 2018 at the age of 76. The family donated his fortune to the British nation in 2021, and the archive will now be available at Cambridge Library.
A 1986 letter to his parents, beginning with “Dear Mom and Dad,” was dictated by Hawking thanks to his communication system, which he used after his tracheostomy that year.
“I’m writing this letter on my new computer, which speaks a bit like a Dalek (aliens invented by writer Terry Nation, ed.) with an American accent. It’s very useful for communication, but it’s too big. I have another one that I can I’m using, it’s attached to the cart.”
The letters also reveal Hawking’s engagement with the problems of his scientific colleagues trapped behind the Iron Curtain.
Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with a neurological disease in 1964 when he was 22 years old. Initial predictions were for only a few years of life.
In a 1978 letter to the Royal Opera House in London, Hawking wrote “There are no facilities for disabled people”. In a 1982 letter to Sir John Tully, director of the opera, the physicist noted that “I know you are spending a lot of money on repairs and I expected the situation to improve, but on my visit to the Nuremberg Masters last night I found, that the situation is still so bad”.
Susan Gordon, who spent 28 months working on Hawking’s archive, says the collection of letters and documents is not just a testament to how he became one of the most celebrated theoretical physicists of his time, but a chronicle of his efforts to communicate with those around him. , making him a pop culture icon. The assistive technology he uses is part of digital development, Gordon adds. “The archive is important to anyone interested in Hawking’s scientific work and personal life, disability rights, assistive technology, and more.”
The Science Museum publication presents a special collection of Holling’s papers. The Science Museum, in turn, is home to more than 1,000 items that were part of Hawking’s office.
Stephen Hawking’s family want his work to be freely available to future generations of scientists and have reached an agreement with the British government, the Science Museum and the University of Cambridge. The agreement states that the thousands of pages of archives will remain in the library, and personal and other items – such as the wheelchairs, speech synthesizers, memorabilia – will be displayed in the museum.