Roger Penrose’s reference to the difficulty of organising events for Professor Stephen Hawking (Obituary, 15 March) evoked memories of when, as PR for Dillons Bookstore, my colleagues and I organised one of his first public lectures in London, at the Institute of Education, as part of the promotion for A Brief History of Time. After the (pre-recorded) lecture, accompanied by slides on an overhead projector, Prof Hawking agreed to take questions, which naturally entailed long pauses while he composed his replies one letter at a time. One particularly extended hiatus after a detailed question was followed by what we can now recognise as a typically witty Hawking response: “Could you repeat the question please?” I will remember the glint in his eye, demonstrating his satisfaction at wrong-footing us all. RIP Stephen Hawking, in whatever universe you now inhabit.
Andrea Morgale
London
Shortly after starting teaching (early 1980s), I wrote to Stephen Hawking to ask him if he could send me some of his work that I could share with A-level physics students. Shortly after, I received a parcel from his PA at DAMTP (Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics) at Cambridge, which contained documents on “n =8 Supergravity” and “Gauge Symmetry”. Of course I had no idea what it meant, but I copied some of it on to a blackboard under the heading “Year 7 science” before a year 7 parents’ evening. One parent, after looking at the board, said: “School science has moved on since I was a kid.” I wish I’d kept the stuff.
Peter Mussard
London
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