|
Hawkins’ Way:
Remembering Astronomer Gerald S. Hawkins
By Hubert A. Allen, Jr.
Things you might not have known about Gerald S. Hawkins:
- What the “S” in his middle name stands for? Not long after I
began working with Gerald, in the first quarter of 2001, he posed
this question to me, and quipped: “Stonehenge, of course!” (It
stands for Stanley ). We often joked about his “English humor!” here
in America.
- That he anonymously sponsored the “Gold Sovereign Lecture
Series” - in which the greatest scholars from over the pond, in the
United Kingdom, were invited to lecture at The Smithsonian, in
Washington D.C., every other year. Sir Martin Reese, Astronomer
Royal of England, gave the lecture in 2001. (I have a picture of the
two together.) Sir Martin was not tempted to make the lecture
because of status or the enviable crowd who would receive him in
America but for the gold sovereign that was given in reward by
Gerald personally. Sir Neil Cossons, English Heritage, was booked
for this year until a schedule mishap occurred. Gerald had a cache
of gold sovereigns for future lectures!
- When he died, on May 26th 2003, Gerald S. Hawkins was in his
“best warrior spirit” according to Julia Dobson. Why? Because
finally he was beginning to recognize that his work in “Stonehenge
Decoded” (Doubleday, 1965) had, in its broadest sense, become a part
of our cultural norm, and not a radical exception. He constantly
reminded me that his work came down to a fight for the
dignity/intellect of the early Stonehenge peoples. They were not
“howling barbarians” as one very famous archaeologist once famously
said (most scholars of the day agreed). In Gerald’s estimation the
ancient people were clever indeed - learning the cycles of the sun
and moon and working them into the architecture of Stonehenge.
- For most of the 1990s, Gerald lived a quiet life removed from
Stonehenge and beyond his contributions to the mathematics of crop
circles. He was gentleman farmer, living in rural Virginia and
commuting to Washington, D.C. for intellectual respite. During his
last two and a half years, Gerald and I had worked together on a new
edition of “Beyond Stonehenge” (Hubert Allen and Associates, 2001).
This March, Gerald and I completed an entire new book - his most
photographic. “Stonehenge, Earth and Sky” will be published in 2004
by Wessex Books and available in the region.
- Gerald was working on a complete revision of “Stonehenge
Decoded” having come to the belief, and I paraphrase Gerald, ‘That
over the last 40 years the archaeology of Stonehenge has changed
completely while the case for the astronomy has only grown
stronger.’ This is now on hold, and it may never be completed -
although much progress had been made and the second edition was
timed to come out in 2005 via Hubert Allen and Associates.
- Gerald knew many famous 20th Century intellectuals. And he was
puckish. He told me one story about the famous writer Isaac Asimov.
The two men were together at Boston University in the 1960s. Gerald
was the head of the astronomy department and was actively publishing
in science journals (dozens of peer-review articles, a fair share in
prestigious journals). In contrast, Asimov was in (something like)
the department of biochemistry. I’ve heard that, before gaining
tenure, he asked a dean what number of papers was required for
tenure? After a bit of research, the dean found the answer - no
specified number of papers! However, the dean explained, Professor
Asimov must attend one annual faculty meeting to maintain his
tenure. Upon hearing this, Asimov reportedly said, “Well then, I
shall see you at the meeting.”
Back to Gerald, who was also exceedingly successful in science,
academia and popular publishing (“Stonehenge Decoded” had made him
world-famous and a bit more cash-flush than most professors). In
fact, Gerald had a new convertible sports car. One Boston day
decades ago, he invited Asimov to come along for a ride. Gerald must
have known that Asimov was timid. He did not fly in airplanes. Once
asked why he did not fly, Asimov replied, “My imagination is too
vivid.”
Gerald, on the other hand, was working with NASA at the time
(1958 through 1969 - magic years for the space pioneers), putting
men in space and on the moon. He loved flight, speed and his new
sports car. The two men were clearly opposites.
As Gerald recounted to me, Asimov got into the passenger’s seat
and alerted him to the fact that he did not like speed. The response
from Gerald was to insert his key, turn over the engine and floor
the gas pedal! Immediately, the two were pressed firmly back into
their seats, feeling the maximum G’s. Professor Gerald S. Hawkins
then shouted over the roar of the engine to Professor Isaac Asimov.
“But you said nothing of acceleration!”
Gerald took the time to relay his stories in his wonderful
English accent, over the telephone. In these last two years, we
spoke several times a week. He told me a story involving Sir Arthur
C. Clarke. It was just a brief interaction between the two men, but
telling and prescient.
The scene is the English countryside, on a fine summery day in
the 1950s. Gerald, a bright young scholar in his 20s, was astride a
motor-scooter, snapping closed the leather chin-strap of his cap,
adjusting his goggles, and preparing to streak across the landscape
like the rockets not yet launched into space.
A tall and imposing figure stood near him watching. Arthur Clarke
was perhaps a decade older than Gerald and already quite famous for
his work on geosynchrony in space. Clarke, the dreamer, began a
narrative. “As Hawkins dons his life-giving envelope; the SPACE
SUIT, the moons of near-by Jupiter float past the space craft’s port
hole... Finally, the brave ASTRO-NAUT is prepared to begin his epic
walk into the vacuum of space.
Of course, both men were productive dreamers. Arthur C. Clarke
went on to script “2001: A Space Odyssey” with Stanley Kubrick;
Gerald to decode Stonehenge and launch the modern field of
archaeoastronomy. I know of one later time when the two did
reconnect echoing this vary incident I have just relayed to you.
Prior to the release of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” in 1968 Stanley
Kubrick conducted a series of interviews with 20 of the most
prominent intellectuals of the twentieth century. This “A” list
includes Margaret Mead, Isaac Asimov, Freeman J. Dyson, B. F.
Skinner and it goes on and on until the youngest person to have a
say was Gerald S. Hawkins. They were not shown the movie or given
the script. In fact, Gerald did not know it at the time, but his
inquisitors had completely blind-sided him vis-a-vis their questions
and the forthcoming movie!!!
To avoid any copyright infringement, I will only mention the
themes: Extra-terrestrial intelligence in the universe; Earth
seeding by ETs in the distant past; Can a computer turn against its
masters? The still youthful, now famous Professor Gerald S. Hawkins
gave thoughtful answers to all these questions. Jump forward in
time, sadly, to within about the last month of his life, Gerald was
asked by the Kubrick Estate to add commentary to those responses
made in the 1960s with his perspective from 2003. Prompt and
efficient as always, Gerald had made his reply and sent it off to
the Kubrick Estate before his last epic journey.
What of the legacy of Gerald Stanley Hawkins? He authored about a
dozen books. I will do my level best to maintain “Beyond Stonehenge”
2001 Edition in-print, both in the USA and the UK (as they currently
are). I will see to it that his last book, “Stonehenge, Earth and
Sky” for which I am honored to be his co-author, comes out in 2004.
Gerald and I had completed all the writing, picture selection,
captioning and sent it off to the publisher, Wessex Books, in early
2003.
Perhaps the most difficult issue in the legacy is the fate of
“Stonehenge Decoded.” As I mentioned earlier, Gerald was actively
working on a complete revision and the project was well in swing. I
made Gerald a line-by-line critique (in spreadsheet form!) of
“Stonehenge Decoded” from which Gerald was working through the
various issues.
On the revision, I can relay Gerald’s modified thinking on the
issue of the modern Druids. Gerald went pretty hard at them in the
first edition, at least twice in the book that I can recall. He
railed against their “made-up religion.” I wondered if he wanted to
reconsider this bit of the book. After all, I had witnessed such a
gathering on the winter 2002 solstice morning and they were far from
horrible people. Indeed, their rites had gone on steadily for years
at Stonehenge and environs- at least they appreciated the place! In
my spreadsheet critique, I innocently asked if all religions were
not ultimately ‘made up?’ Just this past April I asked him if we
couldn’t go a little easier on the druids in the second edition
of “Stonehenge Decoded?” He audibly chuckled. I could almost see his
wry smile beaming over the wires, and he uttered a soothing, “Yes, I
think so.” All the editor needed to hear. Nonetheless, the question
remains: Should the second edition of “Stonehenge Decoded” be
published with all we know the professor to have changed? Including,
of course, any relevant portion of his final book, “Stonehenge,
Earth and Sky” where the archaeology was up-dated. Or, should we let
the first edition lay as a historical marker?
Just one more idea on the legacy of Gerald S. Hawkins. I have
politely suggested to The Stonehenge Project, which is in charge of
the planning and design of the new visitor’s centre, that there be a
“The Gerald S. Hawkins Reading Room on Archaeoastronomy” inside the
new structure. It would be privately funded - so we might come
knocking at your door if there is interest from English Heritage.
Julia, his widow, has offered a wonderful oil painting of the
professor to ultimately grace the walls of that library.
Finally, and most importantly, those of us who had the privilege
of learning from Gerald, and this includes every person who has ever
read any of his books (probably you), must press forward in our
unbiased rediscovering of the long-gone arts and sciences which
gained inspiration from astronomical phenomenon. Gerald would advise
us to research, publish, and present our work to the world! Remember
Hawkins’ Way, he was a true patron of humanity in its most cosmic
sense.
Thanks: To Rolf Sinclair for sharing snippets about Isaac Asimov;
Julia M. Dobson for confirming details; and most of all to the late
Gerald S. Hawkins for his generosity. |
