Membership insignia of the Pontificial Academy of Sciences

Made:: 1986 in Vatican City

maker:: Pontifical Academy of Sciences

Membership insignia of the Pontificial Academy of Sciences

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Stephen Hawking Estate/Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Membership insignia (medal) of the Pontificial Academy of Sciences, on a chain in a velvet fitted case. Made in Vatican City in 1986 and given to Stephen Hawking.

Stephen Hawking's office did not contain scientific awards, medals or insignias. These were largely kept at home. A selection of there were part of the office acquisition and constitute a sample of his most significant scientific achievements, as well as overlapping social and political causes.

Details

Category:: Stephen Hawking Office

Collection:: Stephen Hawking’s Office

Object Number:: 2021-561/17

Materials:: gold (metal), velvet, silk, metal (unknown) and wood (unidentified)

type:: insignia and medal

credit:: Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government from the Estate of Stephen Hawking and allocated to the Science Museum, 2021

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Membership Insignia of the Pontificial Academy of Sciences

Membership insignia (medal) of the Pontificial Academy of Sciences, Vatican City, 1986, on a collar (chain).

Hawking became a member of the Vatican’s prestigious scientific academy in 1986. Membership of the academy, which gathers 80 of the world’s leading scientists, is based on merit rather than religious beliefs.

Hawking was not religious, although he provocatively wrote in his book A Brief History of Time that if we could answer why we and the universe exist ‘we would know the mind of God’.