One of Manchester's top attractions is preparing to unveil a brand new display dedicated to the remarkable life of a world-renowned theoretical physicist later this month.
Launching at the end of May at the Science and Industry Museum, 'Stephen Hawking at Work' will explore the life of the physicist through significant objects from his office. The display will provide insights into Hawking’s time as a scientist, science communicator, and as a person who lived with motor neurone disease.
The new exhibition arrives as the museum prepares for a busy May half-term, which will also see families get stuck into a new activity based around robotics and digital discovery. At the end of the month, it will also bid farewell to its 'Turn It Up: The power of music' exhibition - a world-first installation that launched as part of last year's Manchester Science Festival.
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The Science Museum Group acquired the contents of Professor Hawking’s office in May 2021 and now people from across the country are being given the opportunity to see a selection of these fascinating objects up close. Highlights of the new exhibition will include a rare copy of Hawking's PhD thesis, a wager he made with his peers on whether what falls into a black hole is forever lost to our universe, and an invitation to a party for time travellers that the acclaimed physicist hosted.
The display will also include details of how his work links to Manchester, as discoveries by scientists in the city cleared the path to develop two of the most important ideas about our universe, quantum theory and general relativity. As well as looking at his work, the display will also provide insight into Hawking’s experience of motor neurone disease.
Initially given a two-year prognosis when diagnosed, the physicist lived with the disease for more than five decades. From the late 1960s he used a wheelchair and from 1986 Hawking used a voice synthesiser after an emergency tracheotomy meant he could no longer speak. Examples of both technologies will play a role in the exhibition.
This month also marks the last chance to enjoy world-first exhibition, 'Turn It Up: The power of music', ahead of its doors closing on Sunday, May 21. The exhibition launched as part of the Manchester Science Festival and explores the science behind music's mysterious hold over us and how it drives us to create, perform, feel and share.
And with the May half-term just a few weeks away, the museum is also gearing up to host a number of special activities for families. Visitors will be able to interact with real-life robots and practise programming to influence their movements and actions.
Hands-on activities will also encourage visitors to imagine what a robot best friend might look like, and the museum’s expert explainers will be on hand to help families conquer digital coding. Flying drone displays will take place inside the museum.
Looking ahead to summer, a new exhibition launching in July will bring the hit CBBC show Operation Ouch! to life. In what is said to be the venue's 'most outrageous adventure yet', the exhibition promises 'an epic experiment full of super-sized science, unfiltered adventure and glorious grossness during a voyage through the digestive system'.
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