Famous physicist, Stephen Hawking’s ashes are to be laid for rest in a very special scientific company.

The announcement was made by London’s Westminster Abbey that he shall find place in the legendary church. The Church is also the final resting place of many great scientists including some of the major names like Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

“It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists,” the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, informed in a statement Tuesday.

The statement made by Hall added that the place is also resting place for scientist and inventor Sir Isaac Newton. He was buried in Abbey in the year 1727 and among others the legendary naturalist Charles Darwin too is buried here beside Newton in the year 1882. More scientists from the recent past also are buried here. For example, atomic physicists Ernest Rutherford was buried in 1937 and Joseph John Thomson in 1940.

“We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe,” Hall said.

The acclaimed scientist, Hawking died on March 14 at the age of 76. After his death announcement, tributes from across the world started pouring in. He had lived further more than what was earlier expected when he was diagnosed with a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Gradually as the age passed, the disease spread and paralyzed Hawking. He had use wheelchair and was not able to speak directly, but through a computer generated voice that worked with the help of signal from his cheek.

The statement also noted that before the time his ashes are buried near Newton’s grave, a service of Thanksgiving for Hawking will be celebrated.

Hawking and Newton have already shared space before, kind of. In a “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” 1993 episode, holograms of Hawking, Newton and Albert Einstein can be seen playing poker with Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner).It is one among the appearances that Hawking made in pop culture.

Stephen Hawking has played  multi-role in the field of Science as he heavily contributed to each field he worked for. He worked as theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and also as a Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His scientific works also includes a collaboration work which was done with Roger Penrose on the issue of gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking is regarded as the first person who proposed a theory of cosmology which can be explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He was a vigorous supporter of the many-worlds interpretation which is considered a part of quantum mechanics.