The Scientist Was Laid To Rest Between Darwin And Newton

Stephen Hawking, who passed away in March of 2018, was recently laid to rest after a service in Westminster Abbey last week. The physicist and cosmologist was a pioneer for black hole research, discovering that black holes emit a glow known as “Hawking Radiation.”

The service featured many renowned celebrities and scientists, such as Benedict Cumberbatch, and was a tribute to everything Hawking contributed to the scientific community. His ashes were buried between Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered gravity, and Charles Darwin, who pioneered evolutionary studies and natural selection research.

Not only was Hawking laid to rest between two of the most influential scientists of their times, but the European Space Agency beamed one of Hawking’s speeches into the black hole nearest to earth. This way, he could figuratively be with the the subject of his studies for the rest of eternity. Hawking’s words were put to an original score by the composer Vangelis before being beamed into space.

Hawking lived to the age of 76, and had a rare motor-neuron disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. This never stopped him from pursuing his passion for science, and in the end, he was one of the greatest contributors to science of our generation.