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.

Amazon.com info

Hardcover 528 pages
ISBN: 0333746864
Salesrank: 1939117

Published: 1999 Trans-Atlantic Publications

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Amazon.co.uk info

Hardcover 528 pages
ISBN: 0333746864
Salesrank: 1147338

Published: 1999 Macmillan

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Amazon.ca info

Hardcover 528 pages
ISBN: 0333746864
Salesrank: 1510988

Published: 1999 Pan Macmillan UK

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Product Description
Jane Hawking, divorced wife of Professor Stephen Hawking and mother of his three children has written a memoir which relates the story of a marriage begun in optimism, despite facing the terrible odds of motor neurone disease, and of its gradual decline which became inescapably apparent as Hawking's academic career and renown began to soar. Jane Hawking writes of her marriage and remembers the vigorous young man with whom she fell in love prior to the onset of his debilitating motor neurone disease. Moreover, she tells of the difficulties of looking after a wheelchair-bound husband and three small children - all demanding attention 24 hours a day. These experiences, coupled with the author's evident inner-strength can offer inspiration to others faced with a similar family situation. The collapse of the high profile Hawking marriage, provoked by Stephen's affair with a nurse, is related in honest detail and Jane's recent re-marriage to an old family friend offers the hope of happy ending to a life of struggle and alienation.

Product Description

Jane Hawking, divorced wife of Professor Stephen Hawking and mother of his three children has written a memoir which relates the story of a marriage begun in optimism, despite facing the terrible odds of motor neurone disease, and of its gradual decline which became inescapably apparent as Hawking's academic career and renown began to soar. Jane Hawking writes of her marriage and remembers the vigorous young man with whom she fell in love prior to the onset of his debilitating motor neurone disease. Moreover, she tells of the difficulties of looking after a wheelchair-bound husband and three small children - all demanding attention 24 hours a day. These experiences, coupled with the author's evident inner-strength can offer inspiration to others faced with a similar family situation. The collapse of the high profile Hawking marriage, provoked by Stephen's affair with a nurse, is related in honest detail and Jane's recent re-marriage to an old family friend offers the hope of happy ending to a life of struggle and alienation.

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.