Lucy Hawking appears with her father, Stephen Hawking, at the NASA Lecture Series, April 21, 2008. In 2007, the pair published a children's adventure book about astrophysics, “George's Secret Key to the Universe.” The book is about a small boy who finds a way to slip through a computer generated portal to face a series of challenges in the solar system and beyond. The follow up book – “George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt” – which will be published in May, sets out to answer the question: Is there anyone out there? Lucy Hawking is the winner of the Sapio Prize for Popularizing Science and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London. (NASA photo)

Hawking presentation goes virtual for Origins Symposium

Planned lecture to be delivered via electronic means

Hawking’s daughter to participate on panel on science and culture

Lawrence Krauss, director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University, issued the following statement April 5 regarding the scheduled appearance of Stephen Hawking at the Origins Symposium April 6 at ASU Gammage:

“Professor Stephen Hawking is recovering from a chest infection and his doctors have advised him not to fly for the near future, and, therefore, he will not be able to be physically present at the Origins Symposium being held at Arizona State University. He would like to apologize for missing the Symposium, and, moreover, he has digitally recorded for the ASU audience the full audio for the lecture he intended to give, which will be presented at ASU Gammage on April 6, along with all of the images he had planned to display during the lecture. In addition, he has produced a special introduction to the lecture that will also be played at ASU Gammage. His daughter Lucy, who has recently co-authored a children's book with Stephen, is flying in from Stephen's bedside to provide additional discussion. She will join the science and culture panel that evening to discuss their joint experience trying to reach out to excite children about science.”

The all-day public symposium on April 6 begins at 9 a.m. at ASU Gammage. The schedule of public lectures, panel discussions and Jason Latimer – the “world champion of magic” – will conclude in the evening with the one-of-a-kind virtual appearance by Stephen Hawking.

The Origins Symposium at ASU is bringing together more than 70 of the world's leading scientists, including eight Nobel Laureates, to explore questions about the origin of the universe, consciousness and culture.

The April 6 public symposium features the world's most well-known scientific public intellectuals, including Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Craig Venter, Brian Greene, Don Johanson, and the organizer of the event – Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The Origins Symposium at ASU is accessible to viewers worldwide via a live captioned webcast at http://origins.asu.edu/symposium/webcast/index.php. Ticket information is available at the ASU Gammage Box Office, 480-965-3434, or Ticketmaster, 800-982-2787, www.ticketmaster.com.

Details about the symposium and the Origins Initiative at ASU are at www.origins.asu.edu.

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