Glass apple made by Amlong Crystal and painted in green, blue, yellow, and red spots to represent the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation map of the universe. Presented to Stephen Hawking by Intel on his 75th birthday.
The hand-painted pattern on this glass apple was inspired by a map of the ‘microwave background’, the afterglow from the big bang which still fills the universe. Hawking called this pattern the ‘fingerprints of creation’.
The apple was a 75th birthday gift from Intel, Hawking’s collaborator on communications software and scientific visualisations. Its shape is a nod to Isaac Newton, who formulated the first laws of gravity.
Details
- Category:
- Stephen Hawking Office
- Collection:
- Stephen Hawking’s Office
- Object Number:
- 2021-561/18/1
- Materials:
- acrylic paint and glass
- Measurements:
-
overall: 71 mm 82 mm, .52 kg
- type:
- ornament
- taxonomy:
-
- object genres
- credit:
- Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government from the Estate of Stephen Hawking and allocated to the Science Museum, 2021
