Mark Champkins, the Science Museum’s inventor in residence, has designed a ‘black hole light’ as a birthday gift to Professor Hawking which mimics the spirals of light falling into a black hole and symbolises Hawking radiation.

A ‘black hole light’ as a birthday gift to Prof Hawking

Science Museum's inventor in residence, Mark Champkins, explains his 'Black Hole Light': "I rather liked the idea of uniting the technology that led to the discovery of sub-atomic particles, and in turn, to the birth of quantum physics (in the form of a Geissler-inspired neon tube) with a form that is representative of the path light would take spiralling into a black hole. Mixing Cosmology with Quantum Physics, I've tried to reconcile them in one artefact. It's something of a metaphor for his work, especially his identification of Hawking Radiation and I hope it can also serve a practical purpose in his home or office."