STEPHEN HAWKING STATEMENT
Stephen Hawking and Garik Israelian
In collaboration with the Starmus festival here in Tenerife, I am pleased to announce the first recipients of the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication. In this special inaugural year of the awards, I have been invited to personally select the awardees. The winners have made outstanding contributions in the articulation and portrayal of science to the public, within the three categories of science, art, and film. The winners are.
Professor Jim Al-Khalili, in the science category. For his treatment of complex physics concepts through science documentaries, most recently The Secrets of Quantum Physics.
Composer Hans Zimmer, in the art category. For the music to Interstellar, a science-fiction film with credible physics, thanks to science consultant Professor Kip Thorne, portraying the journey through a black hole.
The documentary Particle Fever, in the film category. For insights into the life and work of physicists at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern, culminating in the discovery of the Higgs Boson.