Unit 6   Book 3

   Is science the "religion" of modern times? Many people look to science to solve our problems, cure our diseases, improve our lives and save the world. Others fear science, protesting that in their race for progress, scientists give too little consideration to the long-term social and environmental implications of their discoveries. Either way, there's no denying the power of science -- and scientists -- to change our lives, for better or worse. Who are our leading scientists, then? Who are these people

      who are shaping our future? What kind of people are they? The texts you're going to read in this unit give us a glimpse of the lives and personalities of three of the most influential scientists of the 20th century: Steven Hawking, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein.

Text  A

     He has been proclaimed “the finest mind alive”, “the greatest genius of the late 20th century”, and “Einstein's heir”. Known to millions, far and wide, for his book A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking is a star scientist in more ways than one. His gift for revealing the mysteries of the universe in a style that non-scientists can enjoy made Hawking an instant celebrity and his book a bestseller in both Britain and America. It has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for spending 184 weeks in The Sunday Times “top-ten” lists, and has sold more than five million copies worldwide -- virtually unheard-of success for a science book.

    How did all this happen? How has a man who is almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through a computer overcome these incredible obstacles and achieved far more than most people ever dream of?

    Stephen William Hawking was a healthy baby, born to intellectual, eccentric parents. His father Frank, a doctor specialising in tropical diseases, and his mother Isobel, a doctor's daughter, lived in a big old house full of books. Carpets and furniture stayed in use until they fell apart; the wallpaper hung peeling from old age. The family car was a London taxi, bought for ￡50.

  Hawking has always been fascinated by his birth date: January 8, 1942. It was the 300th anniversary of the death of Galileo, the Italian mathematician and astronomer who revolutionised astronomy by maintaining that the Sun is the centre of the Solar System -- not the Earth, as ancient astronomers believed.

    “Galileo”, says Hawking, “was the first scientist to start using his eyes, both figuratively and literally. In a sense, he was responsible for the age of science we now enjoy.”

  Hawking attended St. Albans School, a private school noted for its high academic standards. He was part of a small elite group, the brightest of the bright students. They hung around together, listened to classical music and read only such “smart” authors as Aldous Huxley and Hawking's hero, Bertrand Russell, at once an intellectual giant and liberal activist.

   Hawking spent very little time on maths homework, yet got full marks. A friend recalls: “While I would be struggling away with a complicated problem, he just knew the answer. He didn't have to think about it.”

    This instinctive insight also impressed his teachers. One of Hawking's science teachers, for example, recalls the time he posed the question: “Does a cup of hot tea reach a drinkable temperature more quickly if you put the milk in first, or add the milk after pouring?” While the rest of the class struggled over how to even begin approaching the problem, Hawking almost instantly announced the correct answer: “Add the milk after pouring, of course.” (The hotter the tea initially, the faster it will cool.) Another teacher relates how Hawking and his friends built a simple computer -- and this was in 1958, a time when only large research centres had any computers at all.

    Underweight and awkward and peering through eyeglasses. His grey uniform always looked a mess and he spoke rather unclearly, having inherited a slight lisp from his father. This had nothing to do with early signs of illness; he was just that sort of kid -- a figure of classroom fun, respected by his friends, avoided by most.

   Hawking went on to study at Oxford, winning a scholarship to read Natural Science, a course which combines mathematics, physics and astronomy, at University College. He found much of the work easy and averaged only one hour's work a day. Once, when his tutor set some physics problems from a textbook, Hawking didn't even bother to do them. Asked why, he spent 20 minutes pointing out errors in the book. His main enthusiasm was the Boat Club. Many times he returned to shore with bits of the boat knocked off, having tried to guide his crew through an impossibly narrow gap. His rowing trainer suspects, “Half the time, he was sitting in the stern with his head in the stars, working out mathematical formulae.”

    Oxford has always had its share of eccentric students, so Hawking fit right in. But then, when he was 21, he was told that he had ALS -- a progressive and incurable nerve disease. The doctors predicted that he had only a few years to live.

    “Before my condition was diagnosed, I was very bored with life,” Hawking says today, speaking from his wheelchair through a computerized voice synthesizer. The doctors' grim prognosis made him determined to get the most from a life he had previously taken for granted.

       “But I didn't die,” Hawking notes dryly. Instead, as his physical condition worsened, Hawking's reputation in scientific circles grew, as if to demonstrate the theory of mind over matter. Hawking himself acknowledges his disease as being a crucial factor in focusing his attention on what turned out to be his real strength: theoretical research. Hawking specializes in theoretical cosmology, a branch of science that seeks ultimate answers to big questions: Why has the universe happened, and what are the laws that govern it? His main work has been on black holes and the origin and expansion of the universe. He currently holds the Cambridge University professorship once held by Sir Isaac Newton.

   The smartest man in the world is not immune to the depression that can accompany severe disabilities. But Hawking says: “I soon realized that the rest of the world won't want to know you if you're bitter or angry. You have to be positive if you're to get much sympathy or help.” He goes on: “Nowadays, muscle power is obsolete. What we need is mind power -- and disabled people are as good at that as anyone else.”

   他被称为“活着的最有才华的人”，“20世纪后期最伟大的天才”，以及“爱因斯坦的传人”。因《时间简史》一书而闻名遐迩为众人所知的斯蒂芬·霍金是一个多重意义上的明星科学家。 霍金擅长于用一种非科学工作者乐于接受的文体揭示宇宙的奥秘，这种天赋使他声誉鹊起，也使他的书在英国和美国都成了畅销书。该书因在《星期日泰晤士报》十大畅销书名单上持续了184周，并在全世界销售了500多万册而在《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》上赢得了一席之地──对一本科学书籍来说，这简直是前所未闻的成功。

   这一切是如何发生的呢？一个几乎全身瘫痪通过电脑说话的人只能是如何克服这些令人难以置信的障碍， 获得了远远超过大多数人所梦想过的成就的呢？

     斯蒂芬·威廉·霍金出生时是一个健康的婴儿，父母都是知识分子，但脾气古怪。 他的父亲弗兰克是一个专治热带疾病的医生， 母亲伊泽贝尔是一个医生的女儿。 他们居住在一幢堆满书籍的大而旧的房子里。 地毯和家具一直要用到破烂不堪才更换，墙纸因年长月久而脱落。 家里的汽车是一辆花50英磅买来的伦敦出租车。

   霍金一直对他的生日：1942年1月8日迷恋不已。那是意大利数学家和天文学家伽利略逝世300周年的纪念日。伽利略坚信太阳系的中心是太阳，而非古代天文学家所认为的地球，从而使天文学发生了革命性的变革。

    “无论从比喻意义还是从字面意义上讲，”霍金说，“伽利略都是第一个开始利用其眼睛的科学家。从某种意义上说，我们现在享有的科学时代应归功于他。”

   霍金进了圣·奥尔本斯学校读书，这是一所以学业标准高而著名的私立学校。他属于一个小小的精英集团，即聪明学生中最聪明的一群。他们聚在一起，听古典音乐，读书只读“聪明睿智”的作家，如奥尔德斯·赫胥黎和伯特兰·罗素的作品。罗素是霍金崇拜的英雄，他既是一位知识的巨人，又是一位自由主义激进分子。

   霍金在数学作业上花的时间很少，却仍然得满分。一个朋友回忆道：“我在绞尽脑汁做一道复杂的题目时，他已经知道答案了。他连想都不用想。”

      这种本能的悟性也给他的老师们留下了深刻的印象。例如，霍金的一位理科老师回忆起有一次他提出这样一个问题：“在哪种情况下一杯热茶会更快地达到可以喝的温度，是先倒入牛奶呢还是斟完茶后再加牛奶？”当班上其他同学甚至还在苦思冥想如何着手回答这个问题时，霍金几乎立即就大声讲出了正确答案：“当然是斟完茶后再加牛奶。”（一开始茶越热，冷得就越快。）另一位老师讲述了霍金和他的朋友们如何建造了一台简单的电脑──那是在1958年， 当时只有一些大的研究中心才有电脑。

   中、小学时代的霍金是个典型的书呆子，他体重不足，笨手笨脚，眼镜后的一双眼睛老是眯缝着。他的灰色制服看上去总是邋里邋遢，而他说起话来则口齿不清──他轻微的咬舌儿是他父亲遗传给他的。这和他疾病的早期症状无关；他就是那种孩子──教室里的笑柄，朋友们尊敬他，大多数人则避开他。

   霍金进了牛津大学继续学习， 他获得了在大学学院攻读自然科学的奖学金，这是一门融数学、物理和天文学于一体的课程。他发现大多数功课都很简单，平均每天只学习一个小时。有一次，他的老师根据一本教科书布置了几道物理题，霍金甚至连做也不做。当问他为什么不做时，他用了20分钟时间指出书中的错误。他最热衷的是划船俱乐部的活动。许多次他回到岸边，船被撞落下几块碎片，原来他曾试图带领他的船员穿越一个窄得难以穿过的峡口。他的划船教练疑或地说道，“他有一半时间，人坐在船尾而脑子却到了星球上，演算着数学公式。”

   牛津大学一向也有它的一批怪学生，所以霍金与之非常适应。但后来，在他21岁时，他获知患了肌萎缩性脊髓侧索硬化，一种进行性的无法治愈的神经疾病。医生们预计他只有几年能活。

    “在我的病情被诊断之前，我十分厌倦生活，”霍金今天在轮椅上通过一个电脑控制的声音合成器说。 医生无情的病情预测使他决心要从他过去视为当然的生活中获取最多的东西。

   “但我并没有死，”霍金冷冷地说道。相反，随着霍金的健康每况愈下，他在科学界的声誉却与日俱增，仿佛是在证明精神可以战胜物质这一理论。霍金自己承认，他之所以会将注意力集中于日后被证明为其真正强项的理论研究之上，他的疾病是一个关键因素。霍金专门研究理论宇宙学，一个寻找重大问题的终极答案的科学分支：宇宙为什么产生，主宰它的规律是什么？他的主要工作一直是在研究黑洞和宇宙的起源与扩张。 他目前在剑桥大学拥有的教席过去曾经属于伊萨克·牛顿爵士。

   这位世界上最聪明的人并非没有那种会伴随着严重残疾而出现的抑郁消沉。但霍金说：“我很快便意识到，如果你牢骚满腹或忿恨不已，世界上其余的人就不会想结识你。如果你要得到很多人的同情或帮助，你就必须乐观。”他继续说道：“如今，肌肉的力量已经过时。我们需要的是头脑的力量──而在这方面，残疾人丝毫不比其他任何人逊色。”