Stephen Hawking's doctorate and wheelchair go to auction

Some of the most valuable and important assets of the great British physicist Stephen Hawking are to go under hammer at Christie's in London later this month. surviving wheelchair.

Hawking, who was also a cosmologist, astronomer, mathematician, and prolific author, died last March at the age of 76, after surviving a debilitating illness that, according to doctors, would kill him at age 20 years old. His flagship book, "A Brief History of Time," is sold to over 10 million copies.

The manuscript on the front is a confirmation of Hawking that it was about his original work.

A few months before Hawking's death, his university, the University of Cambridge, placed the thesis on his repository in open access. Shortly after it went online, search requests blocked the website, with nearly 60,000 downloads in less than 24 hours.

The disease left Hawking paralyzed and used a wheelchair to move. He could only move a few fingers with one hand and was completely dependent on others or technology for almost everything: washing, dressing, eating and even talking.

Another key item to go on sale will be Hawking's first wheelchair, priced between £ 10,000 and £ 15,000.

The wheelchair used by Stephen Hawking from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, before he became unable to use his hands to drive him. Credit: Christie & # 39; s

"Hawking initially resisted the idea of ​​using a wheelchair in the late 1960s, but in the late 1970s he used motorized models as in the present case. even famous for being a rather wild driver, "said Christie's.

In the late 1980s, he was at the height of his glory and, given his many travels for lectures and public events, as well as the extent of his intellectual explorations of the 39, space-time, it is undoubtedly both the most traveled wheelchair in history. "

Lot proceeds for wheelchairs will go to the Stephen Hawking Foundation and the Motor Neurone Disease Association, said Christie's.

Among the other personal belongings of the Hawkings that will be auctioned, there is a jacket and a collection of his medals.

A jacket from CuriosityStream documentary by Stephen Hawking, Favorite Places, 2016.
Credit: Christie & # 39; s

Perhaps most surprisingly, among the most valuable assets of Hawkings, there was a screenplay of an episode of "The Simpsons".

"Stephen Hawking made four appearances in The Simpsons over a period of 10 years, what he jokingly said made him more famous than anything he'd done in science," Christie said on his website. "A small plastic model of his Simpsons yellow incarnation was prominently placed in his house." This episode aired on September 26, 2010.

Hawking's other auction items include a copy of "A Brief History of Time" signed by his thumb, which should yield between £ 2,000 and £ 3,000.

Autograph manuscript, notes and excerpts from "Turba philosophorum",[Cambridge, 1670s].
Credit: Christie & # 39; s

"We are very pleased to be able to count on Christie's help in helping us manage the archives of our beloved father and his unique and valuable collection of personal and professional items relating his life." and his job, "said his daughter Lucy Hawking in an interview. declaration. She stated that the auction would give "admirers of her work the opportunity to acquire a memory of our father's extraordinary life in the form of a small selection of evocative and fascinating objects" .

All pieces will be on display in London and officially on sale from October 31 to November 8.