Stephen Hawking will rest where the tombs of great scientists like Newton and Darwin

The ashes of the British cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who died last week at age 76, will be buried in the grounds of Westminster Abbey, near those of the physicist Isaac Newton (1643-1727), reported today spokesman of the temple. The dean of Westminster, the Reverend John Hall, stated that it is "completely appropriate that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking be buried in the abbey, along with other distinguished scientists." The cosmologist, famous for his popular science books and his research on the origin of the Universe and black holes, will be fired at a public ceremony during this year of which no details have been disclosed. On March 31, a private funeral will be held at the Great St Mary's Church in Cambridge, England, to which relatives, friends and colleagues of the physicist have been invited, the Hawking children said today in a statement. "Our father lived and worked in Cambridge for more than 50 years, he was an integral and very recognizable part of the University and the city, which is why we decided to celebrate his funeral in the city he loved so much and loved him so much." notes the note disclosed by the university college Gonville and Caius, to which the physicist belonged. "The life and work of our father meant many things to many people, both religious and non-religious, for that reason, the service will be inclusive and traditional, to reflect the breadth and diversity of his life, "said his children. Hawking argued in his book "The Grand Design," published in 2010, that the laws of modern physics exclude the possibility of a god creating the Universe. For the dean of Westminster, "it is vital that science and religion work together to seek an answer to the great questions about the mystery of life and the Universe." In the London abbey are buried some of the most important people in the history of the United Kingdom, from monarchs and politicians to scientists and writers. The remains of Hawking will be the first to be buried in that space since the death of the atomic physicists Ernest Rutherford, in 1937, and John Thomson, in 1940. The British physicist Stephen Hawking will take his place among the most outstanding scientists in history when his ashes are deposited in the Abbey of Westminster, near the tombs of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Hawking died last week at age 76 after a lifetime spent researching the origins of the Universe, the mysteries of black holes and the nature of time. Devastated by a motor neuron disease diagnosed when he was 21, Hawking was confined to a wheelchair most of his life. As his condition worsened, he had to start talking through a voice synthesizer and communicate by moving his eyebrows. Newton, who formulated the law of universal gravitation and laid the foundations of modern mathematics, was buried in the abbey in 1727. Darwin, whose theory of the evolution of species is considered one of the greatest scientific advances of all time, was buried near Newton in 1882.