Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned scientist, author of A Brief History of Time, paid a two-week visit to China in August 2002. He was in China to attend the opening of a state-of-the-art1 mathematics institute at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. He also went to Beijing and gave a speech at Beijing International Convention2 Centre.
Stephen Hawking is considered the most outstanding3 theoretical4 physicist after Albert Einstein. He was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England. When he was eight, his family moved to St. Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At eleven Stephen went to St. Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford, his father's old college. Stephen wanted to do Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available5 at University College, so he did Physics instead. After three years and not very much work he was awarded a first class honours degree6 in Natural Science.
Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology7, because no one worked in that area in Oxford at the time. After gaining his Ph.D., he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial8 Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy9 in 1973, Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics10, which was held by Isaac Newton in 1663. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society11 and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences12.
Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. He is particularly interested in unifying13 General Relativity Theory14 and Quantum15 Theory to study black holes. He believes that black holes should not be completely black, but should give out radiation16 and eventually17 evaporate18 and disappear.
A giant19 of science sitting on the wheel, Stephen Hawking has suffered from a serious disease for nearly forty years. In 1963, he was diagnosed20 as having an incurable disease-ALS21. Up to 1974, he was able to feed himself, and get in and out of bed. However, since his condition was getting worse, he and his wife took to having one of his research students living with them. In return for free accommodation22, and a lot of his attention, the students helped him get up and go to bed. In 1980, they changed to a system of community23 and private nurses, who came in for an hour or two in the morning and evening. In 1985, he caught pneumonia24 and had an operation. After the operation, he lost his ability to speak altogether. For a time, the only way he could communicate was to spell out words letter by letter, by raising his eyebrows25 when someone pointed to the right letter on a spelling card. A computer expert in California heard of his plight26 and sent him a special computer programme. This allowed him to select words from a series27 of menus on the screen, by pressing a switch28 in his hand. When he built up what he wanted to say, he could send it to a speech synthesizer29. At first, he just ran the programme on a desk top computer. Then, a communication expert at Cambridge fitted30 a small portable31 computer and a speech synthesizer to his wheel chair. This system allowed him to communicate much better than he could before. He could manage up to 15 words a minute. Using that system, he has written a book, and dozens of scientific papers. He has also given many scientific and popular talks. They have all been well received. The only trouble with the speech synthesizer was that it gave him an American accent32.
Here are some answers to the questions put to Professor Hawking by journalists and the public in China:
Q：Why do you feel you have been given celebrity33 status34 as a scientist? Do you think your disability has a bearing35 on that?
A：I'm sure my disability has a bearing on why I'm well known. People are fascinated36 by the contrast37 between my very limited physical powers and the vast nature of the universe I deal with. I'm the archetype38 of a disabled genius39, or should I say a physically challenged40 genius. At least I'm obviously physically challenged. Whether I'm a genius is more open to doubt.
Q：How do you deal with the way you are described all the time by journalists?
A：I don't pay much attention to how journalists describe me. I know it is media hype41. They need an Einstein-like figure to appeal to42. But for them to compare me to Einstein is ridiculous43. They don't understand either Einstein's work or mine.
Q：How did you first become interested in Physics and why?
A：I was always interested in science and how things worked. From about the age of 15 I concentrated44 on physics because I felt it was the most fundamental45 of the sciences.
Q：Can the study of Physics take you beyond physical limitations?
A：Of course. Physics can take one beyond one's limitations, like any other mental activity46. The human race is so puny47 compared to the universe that being disabled is not of much cosmic48 significance.
Q：What would your advice be to another disabled person wanting to be a physicist?
A：I can recommend Theoretical Physics as a career for a disabled person. Of course, they would have to be interested in physics and fairly good at it.
Q：Wouldn＇t you rather have been a bus driver or something?
A：I never wanted to be a bus driver but I did fancy49 being prime minister. However, I'm glad I left the job for Tony. I prefer physics to shaking hands and I feel my work may last rather better than his.
世界著名科学家、《时间简史》作者斯蒂芬·霍金于2002年8月到中国进行了为期两周的访问。他此次来中国是出席位于杭州的浙江大学一座新型数学研究所的开幕式。另外，他前往北京，在北京国际会议中心做了报告。
斯蒂芬·霍金被认为是继阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦以来最杰出的理论物理学家。斯蒂芬1942年元月8日出生于英国牛津。8岁时全家搬到圣奥尔本斯，该镇位于伦敦以北约20英里处。11岁到圣奥尔本斯学校读书，随后入牛津大学学院——他父亲的母校——学习。父亲希望他学习医学，但他想攻读数学。大学学院不开设数学，这样他就改学物理。三年后他轻轻松松拿到自然科学的优秀甲等荣誉学位。
然后，斯蒂芬进入剑桥大学研究宇宙论，因为当时牛津大学尚无人从事该领域研究。获得博士学位后，他先后担任过剑桥大学凯思书院研究员和教授级研究员。1973年离开天文学研究所后，到应用数学和理论物理系工作，自1979年起任卢卡斯数学教授，这是爱萨克·牛顿于1663年曾就任的职务。他还是英国皇家学会会员，美国科学院院士。
斯蒂芬·霍金一直从事支配宇宙的基本规律研究，尤其醉心于把广义相对论和量子理论结合起来研究黑洞。他认为黑洞不应该是全黑，而应该是放出辐射，最终蒸发直至消失。
斯蒂芬·霍金，这位轮椅上的科学巨人，近四十年来一直重病缠身。1963年，医生诊断他患有不治之症，肌萎缩性侧索硬化。直到1974年，他还能自己吃饭，自己上床下床。但是由于病情日益严重，他和妻子开始让跟他做研究的学生跟他们同住。学生住宿免费，导师对他们也很关心，而他们帮助他起床和上床。1980年，他们改用社区私人护理制，护士早晚到家里来一两个小时。1985年，他患了肺炎，动了手术。手术后他完全丧失了语言能力。有一段时间，他只能一个字母一个字母地拼读成词进行交流，有人指到拼读卡上合适的字母时，他就抬一下眼皮。加利福尼亚一位计算机专家听说他的遭遇，送给他一个特别电脑程序。有了这个程序，他只要按动手里的一个开关，就能从屏幕上一系列菜单中选择词语。组织好要说的话后，可以把它输入言语合成器中。起初，他只是在台式电脑上运行这个程序。后来，剑桥的一位通讯专家在他轮椅上装了一台小型便携电脑和一部言语合成器。有了这个系统，他交流起来比原先要好得多，一分钟能“说出”15个词之多。他利用该系统写了一本书和几十篇科学论文，还作了多场科学报告和科普报告，反应都很好。这部言语合成器唯一的毛病是让他“说话”带上了美音。
下面是霍金教授回答国内记者和公众的提问。
问：为什么你觉得你现在享有科学名人的地位？你认为残疾跟你的地位有关吗？
答：我相信我的残疾跟我名气大有关系。一方面我身体能力极其有限，另一方面我所研究的宇宙却如此之广阔，两者之间反差很大，人们对此很着迷。我是典型的残疾天才，或者叫有身体障碍的天才。至少别人一看就知道我有身体障碍。是不是天才值得怀疑。
问：你对记者对你的一贯描绘是怎么看的？
答：记者们怎么样说我，我是不大注意的。我知道这是煤体炒作。他们需要找一个像爱因斯坦那样的人。不过他们把我比作爱因斯坦是很荒唐的。他们既不了解爱因斯坦的工作，也不了解我。
问：你最初是怎样对物理产生兴趣的？为什么？
答：我从来都对科学和事物的运作原理感兴趣。大约从15岁开始，我专心研究物理，因为我觉得物理是科学之本。
问：物理研究能让你超越身体局限吗？
答：当然啦，物理能让人超越自身局限，这跟其他任何活动是一样的。人类跟宇宙相比实在太渺小了，所以身体残疾不是什么大不了的事。
问：如果有一位残疾人想当物理学家，你有何建议？
答：我可以建议残疾人从事理论物理这一职业。当然，必须首先对物理有兴趣，并且精通它才行。
问：你有没有想过去开公共汽车或干别的什么？
答：开公共汽车从来没有想过，倒是想过当首相。不过，我很高兴把首相之位让给托尼（指现任英国首相托尼·布莱尔-编译者注）。比起跟人握手，我更喜欢物理。而且我觉得我的工作比他的影响要深远得多。
1. state－of－the－art adj． 当前的，新型的
2． convention n． 会议
3． outstanding adj． 突出的, 显著的
4． theoretical adj． 理论的
5． available adj． 可用到的, 可利用的
6． honours degree n． 学业优秀的荣誉学位
7． cosmology n． 宇宙论
8． professorial adj． 教授级的
9． astronomy n． 天文学
10． Lucasian Professor of Mathematics卢卡斯数学教授 （剑桥大学最受人尊敬的数学教授职位，曾为牛顿担任。）
11． the Royal Society 英国皇家学会
12． the US National Academy of Sciences 美国科学院
13． unify v． 统一, 使成一体
14． General Relativity Theory 广义相对论
15． quantum n． 量子
16． radiation n． 辐射
17． eventually adv． 最后, 终于
18． evaporate v． 蒸发
19． giant n． 巨人
20． diagnose v． 诊断
21． ALS: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis的简称，肌萎缩性侧索硬化
22． accommodation n． 住宿
23． community n． 团体
24． pneumonia n． 肺炎
25． eyebrow n． 眉毛
26． plight [plait] n． 困境
27． series n． 连续, 系列
28． switch n． 开关
29． synthesizer n． 合成器
30． fit [fit] v． 安装
31． portable adj． 便携式的
32． accent n． 口音
33． celebrity n． 名声，名望
34． status n． 身份， 地位
35． bearing n．关系，常用于have a bearing on sth． 结构中
36． fascinate v． 使着迷
37． contrast n． 对比
38． archetype n． 典型
39． genius n． 天才
40． challenge v． 向……挑战
41． hype [haip] n．（煤体）宣传，炒作
42． appeal to sth．／sb． 求助于
43． ridiculous adj． 荒谬的, 可笑的
44． concentrate v． 集中
45． fundamental adj． 基础的
46． activity n． 行动
47． puny adj． 渺小的，微不足道的
48． cosmic adj． 宇宙的，巨大的
49． fancy v． 设想，想象