Friends, family, public flock to funeral of Stephen Hawking

CAMBRIDGE

(England): Wellwishers filled the streets of Cambridge on Saturday for the funeral of British physicist Stephen Hawking, hailed by another leading scientist as “an imprisoned mind roaming the cosmos”.

Hawking, crippled since a young man by a degenerative disease, beat the odds stacked against him to became the most celebrated scientist of his era. His work ranged from the origins of the universe itself, through time travel and probing black holes in space.

He achieved international renown after the publication of A Brief History of Time in 1988.

His coffin was topped with white “Universe” lilies and white “Polar Star” roses and carried by pallbearers from the University of Cambridge, where he worked.

It was greeted by a large crowd outside the church who clapped as it was carried in.

The 76-year-old scientist was mourned by his children Robert, Lucy and Timothy, joined by guests including playwright Alan Bennett, businessman Elon Musk and model Lily Cole.

Eddie Redmayne, the actor who played Professor Hawking in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything was one of the readers in the ceremony and Felicity Jones, who played his wife, Jane Hawking in the film also attended the service.

The ceremony included spacethemed music composed specially for Hawking called Beyond the Night Sky, inspired by a poem and quotes from A Brief History of Time and whistling and “shh” sounds based on recordings of space.