Jane Hawking

Music to move the stars

Stephen Hawking is probably the best known scientist alive today, but his disability might have posed an insuperable obstacle to his career if it hadn't have been for the dedication of his wife Jane. In Music to move the Stars she tells the story of the 30 years of their life together. We hear of her struggles in the early years to look after their small children as well as Stephen. As he became more well known, she tells of life on the conference circuit, and in particular of meetings with the families of other well-known cosmologists.

In the 1980's Stephen's fame grew beyond the scientific establishment, but his condition also worsened, requiring constant medical care. We hear of the intolerable problems caused by having to deal with his celebrity status and a succession of different nurses as well as trying to keep some measure of normality to family life. In the end this proved to be impossible, and Jane and Stephen divorced in 1995.

As well as providing a unique look into the life of a famous scientist, this book tells of a courageous struggle in the face of adversity, of the unexpected help that Jane recieved, and often of the expected help that was not forthcoming. I feel that the insight it provides into the struggles of life will benifit anyone who reads it.

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Hardcover 528 pages
ISBN: 0333746864
Salesrank: 2864874

Published: 1999 Trans-Atlantic Publications

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Amazon.co.uk info

Hardcover 528 pages
ISBN: 0333746864
Salesrank: 621435

Published: 1999 Macmillan

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Amazon.ca info

Hardcover 528 pages
ISBN: 0333746864
Salesrank: 868614

Published: 1999 Pan

Amazon price CDN$ 27.06

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Amazon.co.uk Review
He is one of the foremost physicists of the 20th century whose A Brief History of Time, first published in 1988, catapulted the Cambridge scientist to international fame. She was his wife whose first meetings with the boy with "the floppy hair" and subsequent marriage to him overwhelmed Jane Hawking's life. As she writes in her memoir Music to Move The Stars: "The story of our relationship would be unremarkable... but for the complications of genius and terrible illness". Almost from the beginning of their married life the Hawkings had to cope with the swift onset of Stephen's motor-neurone disease with its wasting paralysis of body and speech but not of his mind. At the same time his academic career was flourishing, culminating after more than 20 years in the monumental success of his bestselling book. In this lengthy and eloquent account that is as much a biography of her now ex-husband as it is a recollection of her own life Jane Hawking describes the difficulties--both public and private--of supporting a partner who needed 24-hour nursing care while also bringing up their three children. She writes poignantly of "the callous face of a society often both uncaring and uncomprehending", the suppression of her own academic pursuits, the close association she formed with family friend Jonathan Jones (now her husband), the breakdown of the Hawkings' marriage after Stephen left her for his nurse and the devastation she felt after her unusual but incredible partnership with him came to an end. Music to Move the Stars is not just a forthright analysis of one of the greatest minds of the 20th century but also a probing account of a marriage dealing with more than its fair share of complexities and constraints and the effects of unexpected fame on the life of one not-so-ordinary family. --Catherine Taylor

Amazon.co.uk Review

He is one of the foremost physicists of the 20th century whose A Brief History of Time, first published in 1988, catapulted the Cambridge scientist to international fame. She was his wife whose first meetings with the boy with "the floppy hair" and subsequent marriage to him overwhelmed Jane Hawking's life. As she writes in her memoir Music to Move The Stars: "The story of our relationship would be unremarkable... but for the complications of genius and terrible illness". Almost from the beginning of their married life the Hawkings had to cope with the swift onset of Stephen's motor-neurone disease with its wasting paralysis of body and speech but not of his mind. At the same time his academic career was flourishing, culminating after more than 20 years in the monumental success of his bestselling book. In this lengthy and eloquent account that is as much a biography of her now ex-husband as it is a recollection of her own life Jane Hawking describes the difficulties--both public and private--of supporting a partner who needed 24-hour nursing care while also bringing up their three children. She writes poignantly of "the callous face of a society often both uncaring and uncomprehending", the suppression of her own academic pursuits, the close association she formed with family friend Jonathan Jones (now her husband), the breakdown of the Hawkings' marriage after Stephen left her for his nurse and the devastation she felt after her unusual but incredible partnership with him came to an end.

Music to Move the Stars is not just a forthright analysis of one of the greatest minds of the 20th century but also a probing account of a marriage dealing with more than its fair share of complexities and constraints and the effects of unexpected fame on the life of one not-so-ordinary family. --Catherine Taylor

Interesting Look into the Hawkings' Family Life ****
This is an interesting book on a multitude of levels. It is not just your regular celebrity expose. It is also a look into the life of an academic family, the family of a severely handicapped person, and a look into British life. Jane Hawking married Stephen Hawking, believing that his life would be a short one. They hoped to jam as much love and fulfillment into what they thought would be short years together. They married fairly young, had children right away and set to keeping house. (Boy, wasn't everyone surprised at his staying power!) Jane (May I call her Jane?) describes the domestic details of a young family as well as the intrigues of her tweedy academic society at the University. Its a delightful look into how academes live, describing the politics, the society and the passion for learning. At various points, they travel to the States and other places in Europe and she enlightens us on the life of the learned in those places, as well. If you contemplate a career in academia, this book can be enlightening. She, for many years, was an astounding caregiver, dealing with Stephen's (May I call him Stephen?) progressive physical decline and heavier demands. She managed to run the household, raise the kids, and literally haul him around for years before a serious respiratory incident forced her to bring professional nurses in full-time. She recounts battles with the British health care system, battles for access with the University, and the domestic friction that one would expect when one member of the family is so handicapped. Jane got a PhD in her own right (you GO, girl!) in Spanish poetry and here is where the book loses a star. The book's a bit more wordy than it needs to be, on a number of fronts. My PhD buddies tend to write non-thesis material like that. I recognize the style. A bit of editing may have been nice. Still, a worthy read for moms, academes, caregivers, stargazers, Spanish poets, Baroque musicians...

Interesting Look into the Hawkings' Family Life ****

This is an interesting book on a multitude of levels. It is not just your regular celebrity expose. It is also a look into the life of an academic family, the family of a severely handicapped person, and a look into British life.

Jane Hawking married Stephen Hawking, believing that his life would be a short one. They hoped to jam as much love and fulfillment into what they thought would be short years together. They married fairly young, had children right away and set to keeping house. (Boy, wasn't everyone surprised at his staying power!)

Jane (May I call her Jane?) describes the domestic details of a young family as well as the intrigues of her tweedy academic society at the University. Its a delightful look into how academes live, describing the politics, the society and the passion for learning. At various points, they travel to the States and other places in Europe and she enlightens us on the life of the learned in those places, as well. If you contemplate a career in academia, this book can be enlightening.

She, for many years, was an astounding caregiver, dealing with Stephen's (May I call him Stephen?) progressive physical decline and heavier demands. She managed to run the household, raise the kids, and literally haul him around for years before a serious respiratory incident forced her to bring professional nurses in full-time. She recounts battles with the British health care system, battles for access with the University, and the domestic friction that one would expect when one member of the family is so handicapped.

Jane got a PhD in her own right (you GO, girl!) in Spanish poetry and here is where the book loses a star. The book's a bit more wordy than it needs to be, on a number of fronts. My PhD buddies tend to write non-thesis material like that. I recognize the style. A bit of editing may have been nice.

Still, a worthy read for moms, academes, caregivers, stargazers, Spanish poets, Baroque musicians...

Real people, roller coaster experiences *****
Jane Hawking tells life as she lived it with her husband of 25 years Stephen Hawking. This is a story of families - those that Stephen and Jane came from and the one they built. The interplay of love given and received from unexpected sources is a major theme of this book. Kind words from colleagues were remembered as she struggled to bring up 3 children and help make a sick husband strong. Insights on living with the disabled from a family perspective abound. The energy needed to run concerts, dinner parties, childrens' parties, trips and more comes through in the book, as well as profound emotions. This book inspires one to make the most out of life. Stephen's pioneering research is clearly explained in simple terms for those who do not have a PhD in the mathematical physics of black holes. If a little lengthy, it reveals vignettes of an academic life that roams from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge across the Atlantic to dreary Seattle and sunny Pasadena. With candid insights into her private spiritual experiences the author draws her own conclusions regarding the role of God in the universe.

Real people, roller coaster experiences *****

Jane Hawking tells life as she lived it with her husband of 25 years Stephen Hawking. This is a story of families - those that Stephen and Jane came from and the one they built.

The interplay of love given and received from unexpected sources is a major theme of this book. Kind words from colleagues were remembered as she struggled to bring up 3 children and help make a sick husband strong.

Insights on living with the disabled from a family perspective abound. The energy needed to run concerts, dinner parties, childrens' parties, trips and more comes through in the book, as well as profound emotions.

This book inspires one to make the most out of life. Stephen's pioneering research is clearly explained in simple terms for those who do not have a PhD in the mathematical physics of black holes. If a little lengthy, it reveals vignettes of an academic life that roams from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge across the Atlantic to dreary Seattle and sunny Pasadena.

With candid insights into her private spiritual experiences the author draws her own conclusions regarding the role of God in the universe.

Fascinating, but the voice of Stephen Hawking is missing. *****
Jane Hawking apparently gave up everything to marry Stephen, who was already afflicted with, but not yet massively disabled by, motor neurone disease. This very large and extraordinarily detailed account of her 25 years with Stephen is most remarkable for the purpleness of its prose. Jane seems to have written with early nineteenth century speech patterns in mind, and a large thesaurus at her elbow. What it markedly lacks, however, is the voice of Stephen himself. In this account, he appears as an increasingly despotic, single-minded and uncaring man, content to allow Jane to struggle physically and emotionally with his illness. Illuminating for those of us who knew only that he had left his wife for one of his nurses, however, is the carefully-drawn picture of Jane's infidelity for some years prior to the break-up of the marriage. Jonathan Jones is presented as a living saint, happy to give large amounts of his time to support the Hawkings for (Jane would have us believe) no more than the opportunity to be near to Jane. That she gives no thought whatsoever to how Jones' constant presence in Stephen's house might make the severely disabled man feel (and, indeed, how he might feel about Jane regularly taking Jones on holiday with her and the Hawkings' youngest son)is remarkable in itself. A very interesting read, but it tells us much more about Jane Hawking's inability to empathise with others than it tells us about the cleverest man in the world.

Fascinating, but the voice of Stephen Hawking is missing. *****

Jane Hawking apparently gave up everything to marry Stephen, who was already afflicted with, but not yet massively disabled by, motor neurone disease. This very large and extraordinarily detailed account of her 25 years with Stephen is most remarkable for the purpleness of its prose. Jane seems to have written with early nineteenth century speech patterns in mind, and a large thesaurus at her elbow. What it markedly lacks, however, is the voice of Stephen himself. In this account, he appears as an increasingly despotic, single-minded and uncaring man, content to allow Jane to struggle physically and emotionally with his illness. Illuminating for those of us who knew only that he had left his wife for one of his nurses, however, is the carefully-drawn picture of Jane's infidelity for some years prior to the break-up of the marriage. Jonathan Jones is presented as a living saint, happy to give large amounts of his time to support the Hawkings for (Jane would have us believe) no more than the opportunity to be near to Jane. That she gives no thought whatsoever to how Jones' constant presence in Stephen's house might make the severely disabled man feel (and, indeed, how he might feel about Jane regularly taking Jones on holiday with her and the Hawkings' youngest son)is remarkable in itself.

A very interesting read, but it tells us much more about Jane Hawking's inability to empathise with others than it tells us about the cleverest man in the world.

As a man and as a physicist I learned a lot from this book. *****
This book is a real masterpiece both for the manner it is written and for the content. It gives a profound and touching description of the life of a well-known family. The book, contrary to rumours, is a very balanced one with no gossip whatsoever. As a man and as a Physicist I learned a lot from this book.

As a man and as a physicist I learned a lot from this book. *****

This book is a real masterpiece both for the manner it is written and for the content. It gives a profound and touching description of the life of a well-known family. The book, contrary to rumours, is a very balanced one with no gossip whatsoever. As a man and as a Physicist I learned a lot from this book.