Stephen Hawking’s Time Travellers Invitation features in new Science Museum book

May 27, 2024

Newly published by Dorling Kindersley/Penguin Random House and the Science Museum, Stephen Hawking: Genius at Work is a new book that explores Hawking’s life, mind and science through the objects that were in his study. The basis for this publication is the fantastic collection of books, papers, photographs and miscellaneous things that Hawking collected and displayed in his office at Cambridge University – a collection that has been donated to the Science Museum by Hawking’s family.

Among these objects, I’m happy to say, is one of the two Time Travellers Invitation prints that I gave Prof. Hawking when we met in late 2013 (the other print was auctioned in 2014). I’ve always felt honoured that he chose to display the print on the wall next to his desk and, having spent some time with him there in his office, I know first-hand that wall space was at a premium. It felt like every inch was occupied with photographs of the late physicist seen next to countless world leaders and luminaries.

The print I created to celebrate Hawking’s famous time travel experiment features several times in the book, including on the hard cover, and a glorious double-page spread dedicated to it (see above).

This beautiful book is written by Roger Highfield, an award winning writer and editor and currently science director at the Science Museum. It's available directly from the Science Museum, all good book shops, and Amazon.