NEW YORK - Luminaries from the fields of physics, opera, poetry, theater, music and dance gathered to pay tribute to British physicist Stephen Hawking on Wednesday, with performances and speeches at a gala in his honor.

After outliving his predicted death from his degenerative disease by more than 40 years, Hawking told the audience filling Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall that he is thinking about what he will leave behind.

"As scientists, we step on the shoulders of science, building on the work that has come before us - aiming to inspire a new generation of young scientists to continue once we are gone," Hawking told the crowd with the help of an electronic speech synthesizer. "I am proud to have played a small role in this great story."