The wheelchair and Stephen Hawking papers are on sale, and we hope they'll land in good hands

This morning, Christies announced that it was going to auction 22 articles from the life and works of renowned theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, who died earlier this year. Among the items being auctioned, one of Professor Hawking's motorized wheelchairs, which he relied upon when his fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis left him almost completely paralyzed. It's an iconic piece that will hopefully end up in a museum and not in a private collection.

The auction is part of a bigger lot, On the shoulders of giants: Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Hawking, which includes articles and publications from several iconic scientific personalities who will all be on display in London from October 30th, and submissions accepted until November 8th. But it is the Hawking collection of memorabilia that will probably attract the most interest from private collectors and museums.

In addition to the Hawking Power Wheelchair, which dates back to 1988 and is expected to bring in more than $ 20,000 ($ 28,139), the auction also includes a collection of medals and awards dating from 1975 to 1999, a copy . of A brief history of time with a signed fingerprint, and a script of one of Hawking's four appearances on The simpsons. The lot also includes framed copies of the invitation made by the physicist for "A reception for time travelers", " a real Hawkings party organized in 2009 for anyone able to navigate the fourth dimension. The invitation was only revealed after the party reception to ensure that only those who could travel in time could attend. (No one showed up.)

The most sought-after piece of the lot will probably be a copy of Hawking's PhD dissertation in 1965, Properties of expanding universes. There are only five known copies, and this one is not only signed by Hawking, but also includes an equation drawn by hand by the physicist. The thesis was completed after Hawking's diagnosis of ALS. At the time, he had to rely on his wife to type the document and add all the complex mathematical equations to the hand. According to the Associated Press, it is expected to reach $ 130,000 ($ 182,904).

Let's hope that the majority of these works will end up in institutions where they will be made accessible to the public. Hawking would have doubted seeing his work hidden in the study of a private collector. Whatever the case may be, the product of some of the pieces, including Hawking's wheelchair, will go to charities, including the Stephen Hawking Foundation, which funds research on cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics, as well as the Motor Neurone Disease Association, for those living with ALS.