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Hawking, the world's most recognizable
scientist, died last week aged 76 after a lifetime spent probing
the origins of the universe, the mysteries of black holes and
the nature of time itself.
Ravaged by the wasting motor neurone disease he developed at 21,
Hawking was confined to a wheelchair for most of his life. As
his condition worsened, he had to speak through a voice
synthesizer and communicate by moving his eyebrows.
Westminster Abbey, the final resting place of 17 monarchs and of
some of the most significant figures in British history, said on
Tuesday it would hold a Service of Thanksgiving for Hawking
later this year, during which his ashes would be interred.
"It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen
Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of
distinguished fellow scientists," said the Dean of Westminster,
John Hall, in a statement.
Newton, who formulated the law of universal gravitation and laid
the foundations of modern mathematics, was buried in the abbey
in 1727.
Darwin, whose theory of evolution was one of the most
far-reaching scientific breakthroughs of all time, was buried
close to Newton in 1882.
Interment inside Westminster Abbey is a rarely bestowed honor.
The most recent burials of scientists there were those of Ernest
Rutherford, a pioneer of nuclear physics, in 1937, and of Joseph
John Thomson, who discovered electrons, in 1940.
Hawking's death last week was met with tributes from around the
world.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Stephen Addison)
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