Nuggets from Cosmos, Creator, and Human Destiny—The Impossible Dream Lives On

On November 30, 2006, Stephen Hawking was honored with the British Royal Society’s highest award for scientific achievement. First awarded in 1731, recipients have included Darwin, Einstein, and Pasteur. Lord Rees, the society’s president, said, “Stephen Hawking has contributed as much as anyone since Einstein to our understanding of gravity. This medal is a fitting recognition of an astonishing research career spanning more than 40 years.” As a further honor, British astronaut Piers Sellers carried Hawking’s medal on his trip in July 2006 to the international space station. Said Sellers, “Stephen Hawking is a definitive hero to all of us involved in exploring the Cosmos. It was an honor…to fly his medal into space. We think that this is particularly appropriate, as Stephen has dedicated his life to thinking about the larger universe.”