Hawking misses hissecond birthday bash

Stephen Hawking has missed a second birthday party because of ill-health, passing up the opportunity to attend a VIP reception at the Science Museum in London in honour of his birthday and work.

The professor, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, turned 70 on January 8.

He was unable to attend a birthday symposium in Cambridge on that day because of health problems.

A new exhibition at the Science Museum entitled Stephen Hawking: A 70th Birthday Celebration, has opened to the public.

The professor’s daughter, Lucy, who represented her father at the event, said: “It’s really sad that he can’t be here this evening. He would have loved to have been here with you all”.

Ms Hawking, an author and journalist, accepted a special gift on behalf of her father from the science museum’s inventor in residence, Mark Champkins. The new museum display includes a wide range of objects, papers and photos sourced from Prof. Hawking’s own collection and previously unavailable to the public.

Among them is the blue suithe wore for a zero-gravity flight in 2007, a rarely seen 1978 portrait by David Hockney, and Prof. Hawking’s annotated script for a 1999 guest appearance as a cartoon character on The Simpsons.

Prof. Hawking recorded a personal message to be featured in the exhibition in which he credits the museum for “introducing young people to the wonder and excitement of scientific discovery”.

Alison Boyle, curator of astronomy at the Science Museum, said: “We have been very privileged to explore Prof. Hawking’s archives, discovering early drafts of his hugely influential scientific papers alongside a rich array of popular material.

“We hope that the selection we have chosen to display will offer a unique insight into the career of the world’s best-known scientist.”