How far is the peak from us

Author: Ma Lianfang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The Wheelchair Warrior Who Crossed the Black Hole — Stephen Hawking, the British Astronomer, Reveals His Intelligent Student Days
Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, which coincidentally marked the 300th anniversary of the death of Galileo, the father of modern science, an Italian astronomer. At that time, World War II was in full swing, and German bombers dropped bombs near the home of Hawking's parents in the suburbs of Hackney, London. According to an agreement between the UK and Germany governments, neither would bomb each other's prestigious university locations, such as Oxford and Cambridge in the UK. Therefore, Hawking's parents decided to have their child, Stephen, born in Oxford. Stephen was born amidst the rumble of gunfire. Fortunately, his mother had bought a celestial atlas and often flipped through it during her pregnancy, which left a mysterious touch for his later career as a cosmologist.
Stephen Hawking's childhood was spent in the town of St. Albans, north of London. At that time, he already had two sisters and one brother, living in a messy and dilapidated old house with fallen fences, peeling wallpaper, and broken glass in the windows. Hawking and his siblings felt embarrassed and scared living there, but they also experienced the thrill of adventure. Young Hawking knew 11 ways to get into the house, one of which was to climb onto the roof and then squeeze through a window.
Hawking was determined to become a scientist from the age of 7. He was passionate about discovering the principles of things and often took apart clocks and radios to study their internal structures. However, he rarely managed to put them back together. His room was like a scientific laboratory, filled with test tubes, various electrical devices, and parts taken from old models. He had a strong intuitive ability in mathematics and physics, even though he spent little time on these subjects, he always scored high. One of his friends recalled, "When I was stuck on a math problem, he didn't even need to think about it and knew exactly how to solve it."
In his final year at St. Albans, Hawking began preparing for the entrance exams to the University of Oxford. He performed exceptionally well in the 12.5-hour written exam and, after two rigorous interviews, the University College offered him a scholarship. In October 1959, at the age of 17, he entered the University of Oxford. At first, Hawking did not study diligently and often joined rowing to pass the time. Rowers often got up early to exercise and practice rowing, even in freezing weather. Hawking was an adventurous coxswain who liked to navigate narrow waterways, and as a result, the boat often suffered damage when docking.
In his third year at Oxford, Hawking's hands and feet became increasingly uncoordinated. In a terrible accident, he stumbled and rolled down a staircase, losing his memory due to a head injury. At first, he couldn't even remember his own name. With others' help, he finally remembered the scene of falling down the stairs two hours later. This terrible accident foreshadowed misfortune to befall Hawking.
Near the end of his third year, Hawking wanted to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge but had to achieve the highest grade in Oxford's final exams to qualify. After taking the exam, Hawking believed he had