On March 6, Cambridge University Physicist Stephen Hawking presented a lecture on science in the next millennium. The lecture was the second in a series of White House Millennium Evenings, White House gatherings that bring together scholars, scientists, and creative individuals from many fields whose ideas help us honor our past and imagine our future as we approach this milestone in human history.

The Millennium Evening was held in the East Room of the White House. Professor Hawking discussed, "Imagination and Change: Science in the Next Millennium." His best-selling book about the evolution of the universe, A Brief History of Time, has been translated into 33 languages and has sold 9 million copies. Professor Hawking is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a position once held by Sir Isaac Newton. He is also the head of the General Relativity and Gravity Group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

The National Endowment for the Humanities co-sponsored the Millennium Evening with support from Sun Microsystems, Inc.

The Millennium Evening aired on C-SPAN, the BBC was broadcast via satellite and shown at downlink sites across the country. State Humanities Councils and many community colleges organized special events around the broadcast, including receptions and discussion forums. Professor Hawking's lecture was also broadcast via cybercast, accessible from the White House and Sun Microsystems web sites. The cybercast provided users with access to live video and audio coverage of the event.

The first Millennium Evening was held on February 11, 1998, with Harvard historian Bernard Bailyn. Professor Bailyn lectured on the core American ideas which must be preserved as we move into the next millennium.

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