May 31, 20214 min read

TRAVELLING to INFINITY

by Jane Hawking.

A deeply touching and uniquely interesting book

This is the remarkable story of the Hawking family, told by one of the main characters, Jane Hawking. Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, also known as ALS in 1963. He was 21 years old, and was told by the doctors that he likely had only two more years to live. After going through a period of depression, his spirit was revived by falling in love with Jane. He vowed that he would not be conquered by the disease. Indeed, he wanted to finish his PhD degree, pursued a career as a scientist and be ”a normal human being with the same desires, drives, dreams, and ambitions as the next person”. In falling in love with Stephen and marrying him in 1965, Jane vowed to help Stephen to succeed in life and to building a loving family, while fully aware that the time they had to do this could be very short. In the end, they both succeeded spectacularly. Stephen lived to the age of 76, 53 years beyond the two years predicted by his doctors. He was the best known physicist of his time, the recipient of numerous Medals and Honorary Degrees. His popular book “A Brief History of Time” was, in May 1996, in the London Sunday Times best-seller list for 237 weeks, longer than any other book, with the possible exceptions of the Bible and Shakespeare (which apparently were not counted). In his own assessment, he was indeed in many ways a normal human being with the same desires, drives, dreams, and ambitions. He travelled around the world multiple times. Indeed, he claimed that, although in a wheel-chair, ultimately losing the ability of speech and regularly suffering from severe coughing fits, with the aid of modern technology and the physical help from family members, students, and later 24 hour nurse care, there was nothing that his disability had prevented him from doing, including floating weightless in space. His capacity for enduring and overcoming physical pain and disability was beyond this world. Most people in such dire situation would seek comfort in religion but not Stephen. While he unequivocally answered the question: “Is there a God?” in his last popular book “Brief Answers to the Big Questions”, he was not dogmatic and stated that “We are each free to believe what we want..” The book was published in the year he died. Jane was equally successful in her goal of providing the help Stephen needed and to building a loving family. They had three beautiful children, Robert, Lucy and Tim. The detailed lives of Stephen, Jane and the family are found in the 487 pages of this fascinating book. While most of the stories were uplifting and told the many good sides of human nature and spirit, they also showed that the constant and prolonged stress and strain as well as human imperfections did take its toll. It was sad to read what led to the separation of the Hawkings in 1990 and their divorce in 1995, after 30 years of marriage. However, it was gratifying to read in the last page of the book (written after Stephen’s second divorce), the Post-Script dated May 2007 that “It certainly moved me profoundly and made me reflect what a privilege it was to travel even a short distance with him on the way to infinity”. On the same page, "The Last Word", dated August 2014 stated: “Stephen, the world’s most famous scientist, remains at the center of the family as well as the center of physics. In fact, we are all just about to go on holiday together!” Jane Hawking was awarded the PhD in Medieval Spanish Poetry in 1981, after many years of intermittent research and writing amidst the constant demands of Stephen and the family. She is also well versed in classical music. There are anecdotes related to classical music which this reader finds interesting. Among them: Stephen liked opera but disliked ballet. He worshipped Richard Wagner’s music, particularly the long opera “Ring of the Nibelung”. He had gone to the Bayreuth festival in Germany to watch the entire Ring Cycle, both in his student days and in later years. While working in his study, he played the opera full volume while his mind worked out the equations of black holes. This did not particularly please Jane. In her view, Wagner’s music “came to represent an evil genius, the philosopher of the master race….“ Her favorite composers were many: Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Chopin, to name just a few. Among the compositions mentioned in the book were Beethoven’s late string quartets, Schubert’s Lieders, Chopin’s E minor piano concerto, and Brahms double concerto, which she seemed to have particular affinity. There were accounts of her visit to Chopin’s home in Warsaw, and the interesting discovery that Newton’s favorite was Henry Purcell. An added bonus was Jane’s visit to Leo Tolstoy’s home while visiting Russia, during which she collected some maple leaves in Tolstoy’s garden. I will conclude with two inspiring quotes from this deeply touching and uniquely interesting book. The first was the advice given to Jane by her friend, Thelma Thatcher, when Jane was exhausted and depressed after a long day of serving and giving care to the family. The second was Jane’s reflection on the news when the Six Day War broke out in the Middle East in the week after Robert, their first son, was born: Thelma Thatcher: “When things cannot be altered, count your blessings.” Jane Hawking: “I was convinced that if the world were to be run by the mothers of newborn babies rather than hardened old men inciting brash youths to violence, wars would cease overnight.”