Stephen Hawking's blackboard containing puzzling equations, doodles put up for display

Stephen Hawking, who was considered one of the greatest scientists of this century, left the world in 2018 but has left behind something which is making others scratch their heads. Of the many items that were acquired by the London-based Science Museum, one is his blackboard which is filled with equations, doodles, and even cartoons. The board has now been put up for display for the first time and the organisers hope to unravel some of the contents that Hawking, the expert on black holes, left behind. 

(Stephen Hawkings blackboard; Image: Science Museum Group)

The story behind the blackboard

A report by The Guardian suggests that the blackboard was filled with contents that it carries today at a conference on superspace and supergravity held in Cambridge that was arranged by Hawking himself in 1980. Since the scientist's work is going public, Juan-Andres Leon, the curator of Stephen Hawking’s office, said as per The Guardian, "We’ll certainly try and extract their interpretations". Interestingly, Leon hopes that someone from the conference that was held over 40 years ago might attend the exhibition and explain what the contents on the board are all about. 

Adding that he wants the exhibition to be playful, The Guardian reported Leon saying, "We didn’t want the display to be solemn, all heavy with trombones and swirling galaxies and things like that. We wanted it to be playful. He didn’t take things too seriously and I don’t think he’d have been such a celebrity if he didn’t have that spark of fun about him".

This idea was inspired by the fact that not many people knew what Hawking did in his everyday life. Besides the board, the Museum is also displaying other items such as his wheelchair and a Simpsons jacket, that he was gifted by the show for his cameos. it is worth mentioning that the Science Museum has acquired over 700 items belonging to the Cambridge scientist. The display representing Stephen Hawking at Work would reportedly be in exhibition till June 12 before being shifted to several stops including the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford and the National Railway Museum in York.