-remove- (Mhoulsby) wrote in message
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From: (Nick)
Message-id:
In her 1999 memoir, 'Music to Move the Stars', Jane (nee Wilde) Hawking
(Stephen's first wife), a Christian, wrote that she had warned Stephen
Hawking about his public statements, for instance, with respect to 'being
able to read the mind of God'.

'For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would.'
--Galatians 5:17

I seem to recall that in his landmark television series: "The Ascent Of Man",
Jacob Bronowski said something to the effect that humans tend to seek mates
who are roughly intellectually compatible with themselves.

If he did say that, and, crucially, if he was right, then Hawking's decision
to marry a Christian (apparently in haste) may go some way towards explaining
the eventual mutual estrangement.

'Man has it within his power to reflect, to weigh, and to appreciate before he
acts.'
--Charlotte Dacre (The Passions)

Dear Mr Houlsby,

I read Jane Hawking's memoir, 'Music to Move the Stars', a few years ago,
so my memory of its contents is no longer as fresh as it once was.

Stephen Hawking is an atheist (though apparently he has been advised to keep
quiet about the subject in public, lest drawing more attention to it could
hurt the sales of his books, particularly in the United States). As a devout
Christian, Jane Hawking was unhappy that, for instance, Stephen might speak
in public about 'someday being able to read the mind of God' and then mock
the concept of God in private. Evidently, Jane really seemed to fear for the
state of Stephen's soul, and she urged him to make an earnest attempt to share
more of her Christian beliefs. Like many famous scientists, however, Stephen
is an obstinate man, and his intellectually condescending dismissal of her
deep-seated beliefs really hurt Jane. The Hawkings' religious differences
contributed significantly to their eventual estrangment, yet those differences
did not explain it completely.

Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde had married in some haste since they expected,
in accordance with all their medical advice, that Stephen (who then was still
a relatively active young man) would die soon, within a few years at the most.
Stephen Hawking yearned to experience more of life and love before that time.
The Hawkings promptly began to have children because they had been advised by
the doctors that they could not afford to wait too long for that possibility.
But the doctors were mistaken about Stephen Hawking's life expectancy.

Jane Hawking had believed that she was ready to make the sacrifice of marrying
a dying man, bearing his children, and becoming a young widow. But she was
unprepared and devastated when she came to realise that she had married an
almost completely paralysed husband who was entirely dependent on her tireless
devoted care for his very survival from day to day. And, notwithstanding the
continuing brilliance of his mind, Stephen was unable to respond to Jane's
urgent needs for physical affection and emotional comfort.

Jane Hawking regarded herself as an intelligent, educated woman, who deserved
a more fulfilling career than being Stephen's lifelong nurse. In her book,
she complained about always having to place Stephen's academic career ahead
of her own academic ambitions. Also, Jane needed to be perceived as a still
quite desirable woman by a man who could treat her accordingly in every sense.
Hence, given her unfulfilled emotional and sexual needs, Jane Hawking had a
love affair (which she attempts to justify at length in her book) with Jonathan
Hellyer-Jones (now her husband), another devout Christian. According to Jane,
Stephen acquiesced in her love affair, yet Jane became quite indignant when
Stephen ran (actually, his motorised wheelchair did) off with Elaine Mason
(now Stephen's wife), his professional nurse and a married woman.

In my view, the Hawkings' marriage was beset with some extraordinary problems.
Neither Stephen nor Jane was a saint, and neither of them should have been
practically expected to act like saints. The divorces and the remarriages were
probably the least harmful practicable solutions for the concerned parties.

Here's a link to an article, 'Master of the Universe' (21 October 2001):
http://education.guardian.co.uk/acad...578601,00.html

'Genius, he held, is necessarily intolerant of fetters.'
--George Eliot (Middlemarch)

--Nick