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Comment #213775 by black wolf :
"Enlightenme..,
did you know that Hawking declined knighthood twice? He doesn't think such a title means anything to him or his professionial standing. "
I'm not sure that's quite true.
There is no mention of this on wikipedia, and the way you phrase it suggests he has actually been cited for the honour, and declined it.
I very much doubt that has happened, and it's worth noting that Stephen Hawking is an OBE (or CBE) and also a Companion of Honour.
Sometimes things are attributed to people's off-the-cuff remarks concerning the merits of the British honours system, and how important it is to their standing &c, and then blown out of proportion by the media.
Correction to my post :
The part of the British honours system that Richard should be in is The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
I'm not quite sure how the system works, but it has a rank order (of course) ; MBE OBE CBE KBE/DBE and GBE , the two highest of which are knights/dames, addressed as 'Sir'/'Ma'am'.
And what did Charles Darwin get?..
(they cannot be awarded posthumously)
Permalink Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:53:00 UTC | #202812