Stephen Hawking’s Wheelchair, Thesis For Sale

According to msnbc.com, fans of the physicist and author Stephen Hawking can now buy some of his scientific papers or personal effects in an online auction to be conducted by Christie's.

The auctioneer has placed 22 items under the hammer, including his doctoral thesis on the origins of the universe, a script from an appearance in "The Simpsons" cartoon and even one of his early wheelchairs.

Hawking died in March this year at the age of 76. For much of his life he had suffered a rare early-onset, slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease.

The most expensive guide price is Hawking's signed PhD thesis, submitted to Cambridge University in 1965 and centered around his idea that the universe is expanding. For that work, the auction house is inviting bids above $126,000.

For Hawking fans with a little less cash in their pocket, there are slightly more mundane items in the lot including a bomber jacket, and an invitation to a talk given in 2009.

Perhaps one of the more unusual items is a motorized wheelchair used from the late-1980s to the mid-1990's. It is described by Christie's as the "earliest surviving example of a wheelchair used by Stephen Hawking." It is listed with an estimate of $12,600 to $18,900.

Other fragments of scientific history included in the sale are from the work and lives of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein.