science

Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication

Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication rather than just read about it. In short: The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication is an honor bestowed by the Starmus Festival to individuals and teams in science and the arts to recognize the work of those helping to promote the public awareness of science. History The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication was initially announced on December 16, 2015, at the Royal Society in London, by a panel including Professor Stephen Hawking, the…

Key takeaways

Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication is an honor bestowed by the Starmus Festival to individuals and teams in science and the arts to recognize the work of those helping to promote the public awareness of science.

History The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication was initially announced on December 16, 2015, at the Royal Society in London, by a panel including Professor Stephen Hawking, the Starmus founding director Professor Garik Israelian, Sir Brian May, Professor Richard Dawkins, Alexei Leonov, Nobel laureate Sir Harold Kroto, Kip Thorne, Hans Zimmer and Sarah Brightman were special guests during the ceremony and made speeches. The Stephen Hawking Medals are awarded to the Science Communicator of the Year in three categories:

Music & Arts Science Writing Films & Entertainment Lifetime Achievement During the presentation of the Medal, Stephen Hawking said: "I am delighted to present the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication to be awarded at STARMUS festivals. This medal will recognize excellence in science communication across different media, whether in writing, broadcasting, music, film, or fine art. This takes account of the great diversity, richness, creativity, and scope that science communicators use to reach a wide popular audience... I am very pleased to support and honour the work of science communicators, and look forward to awarding The Stephen Hawking Medal at STARMUS Festivals." The first Stephen Hawking Medals for Science Communication were awarded at the third Starmus Festival in June 2016. The winners were selected by Stephen Hawking himself and received the Medal from him. Professor Hawking said of the award:

By engaging with everyone from school children to politicians to pensioners, science communicators put science right at the heart of daily life. Bringing science to the people brings people into science. This matters to me, to you, to the world as a whole. After Starmus III, the Starmus Advisory Board joined Stephen Hawking in the selection of winners.

The medal The design of the medal used a portrait of Professor Hawking by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first man to perform a spacewalk and member of the Advisory Board of Starmus since its first edition. The other side combines the image of Alexei Leonov during the first spacewalk, and the "Red Special" – Brian May’s guitar – to demonstrate music, another major component of the Starmus Festival. The Medal itself was designed by Alexei Leonov and Brian May. Brian May said about the Medal: "The Stephen Hawking Medal will be awarded for the first time at Starmus III to the human being who by their sharing of science and music with us all, is the greatest inspiration to the next generation of artists and scientists." During the Stephen Hawking Medal Award Ceremony at Starmus III, Alexei Leonov pointed out: "I did a sketch of Stephen Hawking… and when I showed it to him, I saw a big smile on his face. The Stephen Hawking Medal created by STARMUS will be awarded to the best science communicators in the world in three categories: science and/or science-fiction writers, musicians and artists, and people in the film and entertainment industry. I am honoured to be a part of this historical medal."

Recipients

2016 Music & Arts: Hans Zimmer Science writing: Jim Al-Khalili Films & Entertainment: Science documentary Particle Fever

2017 Music & Arts: Jean-Michel Jarre Science Writing: Neil deGrasse Tyson Films & Entertainment: Sitcom The Big Bang Theory

2019 Music & Arts: Brian Eno Science Writing: Elon Musk Films & Entertainment: Science documentary Apollo 11 Lifetime Achievement: Buzz Aldrin

2022 Music & Arts: Brian May Science Writing: Diane Ackerman Films & Entertainment: NASA TV and Communications Office Lifetime Achievement: Jane Goodall

2024 Music & Arts: Laurie Anderson Science Writing: Sylvia Earle Films & Entertainment: Christopher Nolan Lifetime Achievement: David Attenborough

References

External links Starmus: Medal Home Page Guardian Newspaper: 2016 Winners Astronomy Magazine: Announcement about institution of medal

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication

In research: Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Awards established in 2015, Science communication awards, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in simple terms?

Why does Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication.