By Chris Bond

Stephen Hawking was one of the world’s most acclaimed cosmologists, a medical miracle, and probably the galaxy’s most unlikely superstar celebrity.

[2] After being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neuron disease1motor neuron disease運動神經(jīng)元病，一組病因不明的神經(jīng)變性疾病，常見癥狀為肌肉無力、肌肉萎縮等，多數(shù)患者在出現(xiàn)癥狀后三至五年內(nèi)死亡。in 1963 at the age of 22, he was given just a few years to live.

Yet in the face of such adversity Professor Hawking proved the doctors wrong by celebrating his 70th birthday nearly half a century later as one of the most brilliant and famous scientists of the modern age.

斯蒂芬·霍金是最受世人推崇的宇宙學(xué)家之一，是一個醫(yī)學(xué)奇跡，或許也是銀河系最不像明星的巨星級名人。

[2] 1963年霍金22歲時被診斷患上一種罕見的運動神經(jīng)元疾病，醫(yī)生認為他僅剩幾年壽命。

然而，面對厄運，霍金教授卻在近半個世紀后躋身現(xiàn)代最卓越、最著名的科學(xué)家之列，并度過了自己的70歲生日，證明當初醫(yī)生的說法為謬。

[3]雖身囿輪椅，幾乎完全癱瘓，無法言語，只能靠自己標志性的語音合成器發(fā)聲，但他卻撰寫出大量科學(xué)論文，贏得與阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦和艾薩克·牛頓爵士這樣的圖騰式人物比肩的地位。

[3] Despite being wheelchair-bound,almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his trademark voice synthesiser, he wrote a plethora of2a plethora of大量；太多，過剩。scientific papers that earned him comparisons with such totemic3totemic圖騰的；標志性的。figures as Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton.

[4] At the same time he embraced popular culture with enthusiasm and humour, appearing in TV cartoon The Simpsons, starring in Star Trek and providing the voice-over for a British Telecom commercial that was later sampled44 sample節(jié)錄，摘錄（一小段音樂或聲音，以便用作其他樂曲或歌曲的一部分）。on rock band Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell album.

[5] His rise to fame and relationship with his first wife, Jane, was dramatised in the 2014 film, The Theory of Everything, in which Eddie Redmayne put in an Oscar-winning performance as the physicist battling with a devastating5devastating毀滅性的，破壞力極大的。illness.

[6] Prof Hawking was best known for his work on black holes, the mysterious infinitely dense regions of compressed matter where the normal laws of physics break down, which dominated the whole of his academic life.

His crowning6crowning最大的，至高的。achievement was his prediction in the 1970s that black holes can emit energy, despite the classical view that nothing—not even light—can escape their gravity.

[7] Born in Oxford on January 8,1942—300 years after the death of astronomer Galileo Galilei—Hawking grew up in St Albans.

[4]同時，他以熱情和幽默擁抱流行文化，參演電視卡通片《辛普森一家》，客串《星際迷航》，還為英國電信公司的一則廣告配音，這段配音后被搖滾樂隊平克·弗洛伊德置入專輯《藩籬之鐘》。

[5]他的成名經(jīng)歷以及和首任妻子簡的戀情被改編成電影《萬物理論》（2014）。埃迪·雷德梅恩因在影片中扮演這位同重疾抗爭的物理學(xué)家而榮獲奧斯卡獎。

[6]霍金教授以其對黑洞的研究而聞名于世，該研究主導(dǎo)了他的整個學(xué)術(shù)生涯。黑洞由壓縮物質(zhì)構(gòu)成，是密度無限大的神秘區(qū)域，在那里一般的物理定律都會失效。

他的最大成就在于，20世紀70年代預(yù)言黑洞可發(fā)出能量，盡管傳統(tǒng)觀點認為，任何事物——包括光——都無法逃脫其引力。

[7]霍金于1942年1月8日出生在牛津，在圣奧爾本斯長大。他的出生日是天文學(xué)家伽利略去世300周年紀念日。

[8] He had a difficult time at the local public school7public school公學(xué)，英國貴族化的私立中學(xué)，著名的有伊頓公學(xué)、切特豪斯公學(xué)、哈羅公學(xué)等。and was labelled a “swot8swot一味苦讀的學(xué)生，書呆子。”who was more interested in jazz, classical music and debating than sport and pop. Although not top of the class, he was good at maths and “chaotically9chaotically混亂不堪地，一塌糊涂地。enthusiastic in chemistry”.

[9] As an undergraduate at Oxford,the young Hawking was so good at physics that he got through with little effort. He later calculated that his work there “amounted to10amount to（數(shù)量）達到，總計。an average of just an hour a day” and commented: “I’m not proud of this lack of work, I’m just describing my attitude at the time,which I shared with most of my fellow students. You were supposed to be brilliant without effort, or to accept your limitations and get a fourth-class degree11四等學(xué)位。1970年代以前，牛津大學(xué)將學(xué)位分為first、second、third和fourth四個等級。.”

[10] Hawking got a first and went to Cambridge to begin work on his PhD,but by this time he was already beginning to experience early symptoms of his illness. During his last year at Oxford he became clumsy, and twice fell over for no apparent reason. Shortly after his 21st birthday he went for tests,and he was later diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neuron disease.

[8]他在當?shù)毓珜W(xué)求學(xué)的日子并不好過。比起體育和流行歌曲，他對爵士樂、古典樂和辯論更有興趣，因此被貼上“書呆子”的標簽。他在班里雖不拔尖，但擅長數(shù)學(xué)，并“對化學(xué)喜愛得一塌糊涂”。

[9]在牛津大學(xué)讀本科時，年輕的霍金極其擅長物理，考試可輕松過關(guān)。他后來講，自己在牛津的讀書時間“平均每天不過一小時”，并解釋說：“我并非以不用功為傲，只是在講我當時的態(tài)度，大多數(shù)同學(xué)都和我一樣。你要么無須努力還能成績優(yōu)異，要么就承認自己天資不足而拿四等學(xué)位。”

[10]霍金拿到了一等學(xué)位，隨后進入劍橋攻讀博士，但此時他已出現(xiàn)疾病的早期癥狀。在牛津的最后一年，他變得手腳笨拙，不明緣由地摔倒過兩次。21歲生日過后不久，他去體檢，后來被診斷患上了肌萎縮側(cè)索硬化癥，一種運動神經(jīng)元疾病。

[11] The news came as a huge shock that for a time plunged12plunge驟然陷入。the budding13budding嶄露頭角的。academic into deep despair. However,he was rescued by an old friend, Jane Wilde, who went on to become his first wife and with whom he had three children.

[12] After a painful period coming to terms with14come to terms with勉強接受（糟糕的事情）。his condition, Prof Hawking threw himself into his work.

[13] At one Royal Society15英國皇家學(xué)會，英國最具名望的科學(xué)學(xué)術(shù)機構(gòu)，成立于1660年。meeting,the still-unknown Hawking interrupted a lecture by renowned astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle16（1915—2001），英國天體物理學(xué)家，曾任英國皇家天文學(xué)會會長，1972年獲封爵士。, then at the pinnacle17pinnacle頂峰，頂點。of his career, to inform him that he had made a mistake.

When the irritated Sir Fred asked how Hawking presumed18presume擅自，冒昧。to know that his calculations were wrong, Hawking replied: “Because I’ve worked them out in my head.”

[14] In the 1980s, Prof Hawking and Professor Jim Hartle, from the University of California at Santa Barbara,proposed a model of the universe which had no boundaries in space or time. The concept was described in his popular science book A Brief History of Time,published in 1988, which sold millions of copies worldwide.

[11]這一消息打擊巨大，曾一度讓這位學(xué)界新秀深陷絕望。然而，老友簡·懷爾德挽救了他，后來更成為他的首任妻子，兩人育有三個子女。

[12]接受患病事實的痛苦日子過去后，霍金教授全心投入到工作。

[13]在英國皇家學(xué)會的一次會議上，尚名不見經(jīng)傳的霍金打斷弗雷德·霍伊爾爵士的演講，告知他犯了一個錯誤。后者是著名天體物理學(xué)家，其時正處于事業(yè)巔峰。

惱火的弗雷德爵士質(zhì)問霍金何以知道他的計算有誤，霍金答道：“因為我已經(jīng)在腦中算出結(jié)果?！?/p>

[14] 20世紀80年代，霍金教授與美國加州大學(xué)圣巴巴拉分校的吉姆·哈特爾教授提出了時空無邊界宇宙模型。他在自己的科普著作《時間簡史》中闡述了這一概念，該書出版于1988年，全球銷量達數(shù)百萬冊。

[15] As well as razor-sharp19razor-sharp（思路、頭腦）敏捷的。intellect,Prof Hawking also possessed an almost child-like sense of fun, which helped to endear him to members of the public.

He booked a seat on Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic20維珍銀河，英國私營航天公司，由理查德·布蘭森爵士創(chuàng)辦，計劃提供亞軌道太空旅游。sub-orbital21sub-orbital亞軌道的。亞軌道通常指距離地面20至100千米的空域，處于飛機的最高飛行高度與衛(wèi)星的最低軌道高度之間。space plane and rehearsed for the trip by floating inside a steep-diving NASA aircraft—dubbed the “vomit comet”—used to simulate weightlessness.

On one wall of his office at Cambridge University was a clock depicting Homer Simpson, whose theory of a “doughnutshaped universe” he threatened to steal in an episode of the cartoon show. He is said to have glared at the clock whenever a visitor was late.

[16] Upheaval22upheaval劇變，動蕩。in his personal life also hit the headlines23hit the headlines成為新聞焦點，成為媒體頭條。, and in February 1990 he left Jane, his wife of 25 years, to set up home with one of his nurses, Elaine Mason. The couple married in September 1995 but divorced 11 years later.

[17] Throughout his career Prof Hawking was showered with honorary degrees, medals, awards and prizes, and in 1982 he was made a CBE24= Commander (of the Order) of the British Empire英帝國高級勛位。.

[15]除了擁有敏銳的才思，霍金教授還童心未泯，這令他更加受到公眾喜愛。

他在理查德·布蘭森爵士的維珍銀河亞軌道航天飛機上預(yù)訂了一個座位，并為航天之旅展開訓(xùn)練，在美國宇航局一架垂直俯沖的飛機里練習(xí)漂浮。該飛機綽號為“嘔吐彗星”，用于模擬失重狀態(tài)。

他在劍橋大學(xué)辦公室的一面墻上，掛了個霍默·辛普森形象的掛鐘。在這部卡通片的一集里，他曾揚言要盜用霍默·辛普森“甜甜圈形宇宙”的理論。據(jù)說，每當有訪客遲到，他就會怒視著掛鐘。

[16]他的私人生活如有重大變動，也會成為新聞焦點。1990年2月，他離開結(jié)婚25年的妻子簡，與自己的一名護士伊萊恩·梅森組成家庭。二人于1995年9月結(jié)婚，但11年后離婚。

[17]整個學(xué)術(shù)生涯中，霍金教授獲得了無數(shù)榮譽學(xué)位、勛章、獎項和獎勵，1982年被授予英帝國高級勛位。

[18] But he also ruffled a few feathers25ruffle someone’s feathers使某人惱火。within the scientific establishment26establishment（特定職業(yè)或活動領(lǐng)域內(nèi)的）權(quán)威人士。with far-fetched27far-fetched牽強的，令人難以信服的。statements about the existence of extraterrestrials28extraterrestrial外星人。,time travel, and the creation of humans through genetic engineering.

He has also predicted the end of humanity, due to global warming, a new killer virus, or the impact of a large comet.

[19] In 2015 he teamed up with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner who has launched a series of projects aimed at finding evidence of alien life. The decade-long Breakthrough Listen Initiative29突破聆聽計劃，于2016年1月啟動，是一項為期10年、斥資1億美元的研究項目，由俄羅斯大亨尤里·米爾納資助，旨在搜尋宇宙智慧生命。aims to step up the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence30搜尋地外文明計劃，是對所有相關(guān)計劃的統(tǒng)稱，致力于通過射電望遠鏡等先進設(shè)備探測來自宇宙的電磁波，希望借此發(fā)現(xiàn)外星文明。(SETI) by listening out for alien signals.

The even bolder Starshot Initiative31突破射星計劃，霍金于2016年4月聯(lián)合尤里·米爾納啟動，目標是研發(fā)重為幾克的納米飛船，以探測地外生命。,announced in 2016, envisages32envisage展望，設(shè)想，打算。sending tiny light-propelled robot spacecraft on a 20-year voyage to the Alpha Centauri33半人馬座α星，一個三星系統(tǒng)，距離太陽系4.24光年，是離我們最近的恒星系統(tǒng)。star system.

[20] Meanwhile Prof Hawking’s “serious” work continued, focusing on the thorny question of what happens to all the information that disappears into a black hole. One of the fundamental tenets34tenet信條，原則。of physics is that information data can never be completely erased from the universe.

[18]不過，就外星人的存在、時間旅行和基因工程造人等話題，他發(fā)表過令人難以信服的言論，因此也惹惱了科學(xué)界一些權(quán)威人士。

他還曾預(yù)言，因全球變暖、出現(xiàn)新型致命病毒或大型彗星撞擊地球，人類將會滅絕。

[19] 2015年，他與俄羅斯億萬富翁尤里·米爾納合作，后者啟動了一系列旨在發(fā)現(xiàn)外星生命證據(jù)的項目。為期十年的“突破聆聽計劃”旨在通過接收外星信號加快“搜尋地外文明”的進程。

更為大膽的“突破射星計劃”于2016年宣布，設(shè)想發(fā)射由光驅(qū)動的微型機器人飛船，飛行20年到達半人馬座α星系。

[20]與此同時，霍金教授的“嚴肅”工作仍在繼續(xù)，專注于所有消失在黑洞內(nèi)的信息下落如何這一棘手問題。物理學(xué)的一個基本原則認為，信息數(shù)據(jù)絕不會從宇宙中被完全消除。

A paper co-authored by Prof Hawking and published online in Physical Review Letters35物理學(xué)頂級學(xué)術(shù)周刊，由美國物理學(xué)會主辦。in June 2016 suggests that even after a black hole has evaporated, the information it consumed during its life remains in a fuzzy “halo”—but not necessarily in the proper order.

[21] He has long been a vocal36vocal暢言無忌的，大聲表達意見的。champion of the NHS and right up until his final months sparred37spar（不激烈地）爭論，爭辯。with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. He recently said he would not have had such a long life without the NHS.

[22] It’s his scientific achievements,though, for which Prof Hawking will forever be remembered. Dr Harry Cliff,a particle physicist and Fellow of Modern Science at the Science Museum,was an undergraduate at Gonville and Caius college at Cambridge University where he worked and remembers the ripples of excitement whenever he entered a room.

[23] He had a mischievous side, too.“Occasionally you would meet him in the courtyard or on the streets of Cambridge and he had this habit of trying to run over students’ toes. If he saw a group of you come up the footpath he’d accelerate towards you.”

2016年6月，霍金教授與人合撰的一篇論文在線發(fā)表于《物理評論快報》。論文指出，即使黑洞蒸發(fā)，其一生所吞噬的信息仍將以模糊“光暈”的形式——但未必以正常次序——繼續(xù)存在。

[21]長期以來，他一直是英國國民醫(yī)療服務(wù)體系（NHS）的堅定捍衛(wèi)者，直到離世前的數(shù)月，還在與衛(wèi)生大臣杰里米·亨特爭論。他最近曾聲稱，若無NHS，他早已不在人世。

[22]但是，霍金教授將永遠受人緬懷的還是他的科學(xué)成就。粒子物理學(xué)家、英國科學(xué)博物館現(xiàn)代科學(xué)研究員哈里·克利夫博士本科就讀于霍金任職的劍橋大學(xué)岡維爾與凱斯學(xué)院，他記得每次霍金進入一間教室，總會引起大家的陣陣興奮。

[23]霍金也有搞怪的一面?！芭紶柲銜谠鹤永锘騽虻慕值郎弦姷剿偸窃噲D去軋學(xué)生的腳尖。他如果見到你們一群人沿人行道走來，就會朝你們加速駛?cè)ァ！?/p>

[24] Dr Cliff says Prof Hawking enjoyed making bets with famous fellow physicists about the big questions in science. “I think he lost three different bets throughout his life on various things and whether they would come true. Most recently I think he bet that the Higgs boson38希格斯玻色子，1964年由英國物理學(xué)家彼得·希格斯提出，俗稱“上帝粒子”（God Particle）。, which was discovered at CERN39歐洲核子研究組織，世界最大的粒子物理學(xué)實驗室，1954年成立，位于瑞士日內(nèi)瓦。a few years ago, wasn’t going to be found, so he lost that one.”

[24]克利夫博士稱，霍金教授喜歡和知名的物理學(xué)同行就宏大的科學(xué)問題打賭?！八簧透鞣N事情打過賭，賭它們是否會實現(xiàn)，印象中他輸過三次。我記得最近的一次是他賭希格斯玻色子不會被找到，幾年前卻被歐洲核子研究組織發(fā)現(xiàn)，因此那次他輸了?！?/p>

[25] Dr Cliff says he didn’t allow his condition to prevent him working. “If you think you haven’t got very long to live it focuses the mind and makes you use what time you have. He also didn’t have to do the things academics usually do like appear on committees and he could just get on with his physics.”

It helped make him the world’s most famous scientist. “The only other comparable figure is Einstein and I suspect people will still be talking about Stephen Hawking for many centuries.”

[26] Perhaps, though, the last words should go to the man himself:

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up...”

[25]據(jù)克利夫博士講，霍金從未因患病而停止工作?！叭绻械阶约好婚L久，你就會集中心思，充分利用所剩時間。同時，他不必去做學(xué)者通常所做之事，比如掛職于各種委員會，他可以專心研究物理?！?/p>

這幫助他成為了世界最知名的科學(xué)家。“唯一可與他媲美的人是愛因斯坦。我想，未來千百年人們都會談?wù)撍沟俜摇せ艚?。?/p>

[26]也許應(yīng)該用主人公自己的話做本篇的結(jié)束語：

“記得仰望星空，而不是俯看腳下。努力理解所看到的事物，思考宇宙存在的原因。保持好奇心。無論人生看上去何等艱難，總能有所作為和成就。重要的是永不放棄……”□