It was over 30 degrees centigrade on the 16th of June 2006, but hundreds of people from various backgrounds embraced the heat and patiently queued to enter the S. H. Ho Sports Hall at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Many had been waiting since early morning, because Professor Stephen Hawking – perhaps the best known and most influential living scientist – would be giving a lecture (‘The origin of the universe’) for the newly established Institute for Advanced Study. The IAS is dedicated to ‘the advancement of knowledge to meet the great challenges of the 21st century’, and will ‘bring together the world's most brilliant minds to drive cutting-edge discovery and scholarship for the betterment of mankind’ (IAS, 2006). The inaugural event was announced a month prior to the lecture and – despite its being broadcast live on both the TVB News Channel and Cable TV Live, as well as transmitted via an intranet relay to the seven other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong – the response for tickets was overwhelming.