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Like Einstein, he is as famous for his story as for his science.
At the age of 21, the British physicist Stephen Hawking was found to have 2)amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease. While A.L.S. is usually fatal within five years, Dr. Hawking lived on and flourished, producing some of the most important cosmological research of his time.
In the 1960s, with Sir Roger Penrose, he used mathematics to 3)explicate the properties of black holes. In 1973, he applied Einstein’s general theory of relativity to the principles of 4)quantum mechanics. And he showed that black holes were not completely black but could leak radiation and eventually explode and disappear, a finding that is still 5)reverberating through physics and cosmology.
Dr. Hawking, in 1988, tried to explain what he knew about the boundaries of the universe to the 6)lay public in A Brief History of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes. The book sold more than 10 million copies and was on best-seller lists for more than two years.
Today, at 69, Dr. Hawking is one of the longest-living survivors of A.L.S., and perhaps the most inspirational. Mostly paralyzed, he can speak only through a computerized voice simulator.
On a screen attached to his wheelchair, commonly used words flash past him. With a cheek muscle, he signals an electronic sensor in his eyeglasses to transmit instructions to the computer. In this way he slowly builds sentences; the computer transforms them into the metallic, 7)otherworldly voice familiar to Dr. Hawking’s 8)legion of fans.
It’s an exhausting and time-consuming process. Yet this is how he stays connected to the world, directing research at the Center for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, writing 9)prolifically for specialists and 10)generalists alike and lecturing to 11)rapt audiences from France to Fiji.
Dr. Hawking came here in April at the invitation of a friend, the cosmologist Lawrence Krauss, for a science festival sponsored by the Origins Project of Arizona State University. His lecture, “My Brief History,” was not all 12)quarks and black holes. At one point, he spoke of the special joys of scientific discovery.
The next afternoon, Dr. Hawking sat with me for a 13)rare interview. Well, a kind of interview, actually.
Ten questions were sent to his daughter, Lucy Hawking, 40, a week before the meeting. So as not to exhaust her father, who has grown weaker since a near-fatal illness two years ago, Ms. Hawking read them to him over a period of days.
During our meeting, the physicist played back his answers. Only one exchange, the last, was spontaneous. Yet despite the limitations, it was Dr. Hawking who wanted to do the interview in person rather than by e-mail.
Some background on the second query, the one about 14)extraterrestrials. For the past year, Lucy Hawking was writer 15)in residence at the Origins Project at Arizona State University. As part of her work, she and Paul Davies, a physicist at Arizona State, started a contest, “Dear Aliens,” inviting Phoenix schoolchildren to write essays about what they might say to space beings trying to contact Planet Earth.
Now let’s look at some of those questions.
Q. At the beginning of May, your daughter, Lucy, and Paul Davies, the Arizona State University physicist, sent a message into space from an Arizona schoolchild to potential extraterrestrials out there in the universe. Now, you’ve said elsewhere that you think it’s a bad idea for humans to make contact with other forms of life. Given this, did you suggest to Lucy that she not do it? Hypothetically, let’s say as a fantasy, if you were to send such a message into space, how would it read?
A. Previously I have said it would be a bad idea to contact aliens because they might be so greatly advanced compared to us, that our civilization might not survive the experience. The “Dear Aliens” competition is based on a different premise.
It assumes that an intelligent extraterrestrial life form has already made contact with us and we need to formulate a reply. The competition asks school-age students to think creatively and scientifically in order to find a way to explain human life on this planet to some 16)inquisitive aliens. I have no doubt that if we are ever contacted by such beings, we would want to respond.
I also think it is an interesting question to 17)pose to young people as it requires them to think about the human race and our planet as a whole. It asks students to define who we are and what we have done.
Q. Given all you’ve experienced, what words would you offer someone who has been diagnosed with a serious illness, perhaps A.L.S.?
A. My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically.
Q. I’m wondering about your book A Brief History of Time. Were you surprised by the enormous success of it? Do you believe that most of your readers understood it? Or is it enough that they were interested and wanted to? Or, in another way: what are the implications of your popular books for science education?
A. I had not expected A Brief History of Time to be a best seller. It was my first popular book and aroused a great deal of interest.
Initially, many people found it difficult to understand. I therefore decided to try to write a new version that would be easier to follow. I took the opportunity to add material on new developments since the first book, and I left out some things of a more technical nature. This resulted in a follow-up entitled A Briefer History of Time, which is slightly briefer, but its main claim would be to make it more accessible.
Q. Here on Earth, the last few months have just been devastating. What were your feelings as you read of earthquakes, revolutions, counter-revolutions and nuclear meltdowns in Japan? Have you been as personally shaken up as the rest of us?
A. I have visited Japan several times and have always been shown wonderful hospitality. I am deeply saddened for my Japanese colleagues and friends, who have suffered such a 18)catastrophic event. I hope there will be a global effort to help Japan recover. We, as a species, have survived many natural disasters and difficult situations, and I know that the human spirit is capable of enduring terrible hardships.
他和爱因斯坦一样，人生经历与科学成就同样为人乐道。
21岁时，英国物理学家史蒂芬·霍金被发现患上肌萎缩性脊髓侧索硬化症（简称ALS），也称卢伽雷氏病。ALS患者通常会在五年之内死亡，而霍金博士却顽强地活了下来，还进行了有关宇宙学的一些最为重要的研究，硕果累累。
20世纪60年代，他与罗杰·潘洛斯爵士一起利用数学法解释了黑洞的属性。1973年，他把爱因斯坦的广义相对论应用于量子力学原理。他还推理证明了黑洞并不是完全漆黑一团，它会对外泄露辐射，最终发生爆炸并消失，该发现在物理学和宇宙学领域至今仍具有深远意义。
1988年，霍金博士在自己撰写的《时间简史：从大爆炸到黑洞》一书中着力向普通民众解释他所了解的有关宇宙边界的知识。该书卖出了1000多万本，持续两年多稳居畅销书榜单。
如今，69岁的霍金博士是ALS症患者中最长寿的幸存者之一，可能也是最鼓舞人心的一位。他的大部分身体已瘫痪，只能通过由电脑控制的声音模拟器说话。
他的轮椅上安装了一个屏幕，屏幕上会闪现常用字词。他用颊肌对眼镜上的电子传感器发送信号并对电脑发送指令。通过这种方式，他能够缓慢地造句；电脑把这些指令转变成另类的金属声，霍金博士的一大批崇拜者对这种声音再熟悉不过了。
这是一个既累人又耗时的过程。但这就是他与外界联系的方式，他以这种方式主管剑桥大学理论宇宙学中心的研究工作，为专家和通才们撰写了大量著作，并给从法国到斐济的专注的听众做过讲座。
霍金博士的朋友劳伦斯·克劳斯是一位宇宙学家，4月份，霍金博士受其邀请来到这儿，参加由亚利桑那州立大学“起源项目”主办的科技节。他发表的题为“我的时间简史”的演讲并不全是夸克和黑洞。他一度谈及科学发现的特殊乐趣。
第二天下午，霍金博士与我坐下来进行了一次非常有趣的访谈。唔，也许能称得上访谈吧。
会面前一周, 我将10个问题传送给霍金40岁的女儿露西·霍金。两年前，霍金博士生了一场重病，生命垂危，之后身体状况每况愈下。为了不让父亲过于劳累，霍金女士把这十个问题分几天念给父亲听。
我们碰面的时候，这位物理学家回放了他对问题的回答。只有最后一个问题的答案是现场回答的。尽管存在这些限制性因素，霍金博士本人仍坚持要做面对面的访谈，而不是通过邮件进行。
下面介绍一些有关第二个问题（与外星人有关）（编者注：此文为第一个问题）的背景信息。去年，露西·霍金担任亚利桑那州立大学“起源项目”的驻校作家。作为工作的一部分，她与亚利桑那州立大学物理学家保罗·戴维斯举办了一个以“亲爱的外星人”为主题的竞赛，邀请菲尼克斯的小学生们写文章，讲述自己会对那些试图与地球取得联系的外星人说点什么。
现在让我们来看看其中的一些问题。
问：5月初，您的女儿露西和亚利桑那州立大学的物理学家保罗·戴维斯将亚利桑那的一名学童想对宇宙中可能存在的外星人传达的信息发向了宇宙。而您曾经在别处说过，人类想与其他生命形式取得联系并不是一个好主意。考虑到这点，您有建议过露西不要这样做吗？假设说，就当是一个假想，如果您要向太空发一条信息，内容会是怎样的呢？
答：我先前确实说过与外星人取得联系不是一个好想法，因为外星人可能会比我们先进得多，人类文明可能因此毁于一旦。但“亲爱的外星人”这个竞赛依据的前提是不同的。
这个竞赛假定一种高智商的外星生命形式已经与我们取得了联系，我们需要作出回复。竞赛要求学龄儿童以一种创新和科学的方式进行思考，找到一种恰当的办法向好奇的外星人解释人类在地球上的生活。我深信，如果这些外星人与我们取得了联系，我们肯定希望给予回应。
我同时认为这也是对年轻人提出的一个有趣问题，因为它要求年轻人把人类和地球作为一个整体来思考，并要求学生认清我们自己以及我们所做过的一切。
问：考虑到您所经历过的一切，您想对那些被确诊患有重病，比如ALS症患者，说点什么呢？
答：我对其他有身体残疾的人的建议是，要集中精力去做身体的缺陷无法阻碍你完成的事情，不要去悲叹疾病给你带来的干扰，要身残志不残。
问：我对您的《时间简史》有点疑惑。您对其取得巨大成功感到惊讶吗？您认为大部分读者都能读懂它吗？或者说，只要读者感兴趣想要读这本书，您就觉得心满意足了吗？亦或者，换种说法：您的畅销书会对科学教育带来什么样的意义呢？
答：我也没想到《时间简史》会成为畅销书。它是我写的第一本受大众欢迎的书籍，引起了人们极大的兴趣。
最初，很多人觉得这本书很难读懂。因此，我决定尽力写出一个更通俗易懂的新版本。我也利用这个机会把自第一本书以来有关研究新进展的材料加了进去，并删掉了一些过于专业的东西，于是促成了《时间简史（普及版）》的问世。普及版稍微简短一些，其主要目的是想让它更易于被大众所理解。
问：地球在刚刚过去的几个月里发生了一些毁灭性的灾难。对于地震、革命与反革命运动，以及日本的核泄露事件，您有哪些感触呢？您和我们其他人一样感到强烈的震惊吗？
答：我去过日本几次，每次都受到了盛情款待。对于我那些遭受这场灾难的日本同事和朋友们，我深表悲痛。我希望全球共同为日本的灾后重建出一份力。作为地球物种之一的我们已经历了多次自然灾害，度过了许多艰难险境，我相信人类的精神能够承受可怕的苦难。
At the age of 21, the British physicist Stephen Hawking was found to have 2)amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease. While A.L.S. is usually fatal within five years, Dr. Hawking lived on and flourished, producing some of the most important cosmological research of his time.
In the 1960s, with Sir Roger Penrose, he used mathematics to 3)explicate the properties of black holes. In 1973, he applied Einstein’s general theory of relativity to the principles of 4)quantum mechanics. And he showed that black holes were not completely black but could leak radiation and eventually explode and disappear, a finding that is still 5)reverberating through physics and cosmology.
Dr. Hawking, in 1988, tried to explain what he knew about the boundaries of the universe to the 6)lay public in A Brief History of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes. The book sold more than 10 million copies and was on best-seller lists for more than two years.
Today, at 69, Dr. Hawking is one of the longest-living survivors of A.L.S., and perhaps the most inspirational. Mostly paralyzed, he can speak only through a computerized voice simulator.
On a screen attached to his wheelchair, commonly used words flash past him. With a cheek muscle, he signals an electronic sensor in his eyeglasses to transmit instructions to the computer. In this way he slowly builds sentences; the computer transforms them into the metallic, 7)otherworldly voice familiar to Dr. Hawking’s 8)legion of fans.
It’s an exhausting and time-consuming process. Yet this is how he stays connected to the world, directing research at the Center for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge, writing 9)prolifically for specialists and 10)generalists alike and lecturing to 11)rapt audiences from France to Fiji.
Dr. Hawking came here in April at the invitation of a friend, the cosmologist Lawrence Krauss, for a science festival sponsored by the Origins Project of Arizona State University. His lecture, “My Brief History,” was not all 12)quarks and black holes. At one point, he spoke of the special joys of scientific discovery.
The next afternoon, Dr. Hawking sat with me for a 13)rare interview. Well, a kind of interview, actually.
Ten questions were sent to his daughter, Lucy Hawking, 40, a week before the meeting. So as not to exhaust her father, who has grown weaker since a near-fatal illness two years ago, Ms. Hawking read them to him over a period of days.
During our meeting, the physicist played back his answers. Only one exchange, the last, was spontaneous. Yet despite the limitations, it was Dr. Hawking who wanted to do the interview in person rather than by e-mail.
Some background on the second query, the one about 14)extraterrestrials. For the past year, Lucy Hawking was writer 15)in residence at the Origins Project at Arizona State University. As part of her work, she and Paul Davies, a physicist at Arizona State, started a contest, “Dear Aliens,” inviting Phoenix schoolchildren to write essays about what they might say to space beings trying to contact Planet Earth.
Now let’s look at some of those questions.
Q. At the beginning of May, your daughter, Lucy, and Paul Davies, the Arizona State University physicist, sent a message into space from an Arizona schoolchild to potential extraterrestrials out there in the universe. Now, you’ve said elsewhere that you think it’s a bad idea for humans to make contact with other forms of life. Given this, did you suggest to Lucy that she not do it? Hypothetically, let’s say as a fantasy, if you were to send such a message into space, how would it read?
A. Previously I have said it would be a bad idea to contact aliens because they might be so greatly advanced compared to us, that our civilization might not survive the experience. The “Dear Aliens” competition is based on a different premise.
It assumes that an intelligent extraterrestrial life form has already made contact with us and we need to formulate a reply. The competition asks school-age students to think creatively and scientifically in order to find a way to explain human life on this planet to some 16)inquisitive aliens. I have no doubt that if we are ever contacted by such beings, we would want to respond.
I also think it is an interesting question to 17)pose to young people as it requires them to think about the human race and our planet as a whole. It asks students to define who we are and what we have done.
Q. Given all you’ve experienced, what words would you offer someone who has been diagnosed with a serious illness, perhaps A.L.S.?
A. My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically.
Q. I’m wondering about your book A Brief History of Time. Were you surprised by the enormous success of it? Do you believe that most of your readers understood it? Or is it enough that they were interested and wanted to? Or, in another way: what are the implications of your popular books for science education?
A. I had not expected A Brief History of Time to be a best seller. It was my first popular book and aroused a great deal of interest.
Initially, many people found it difficult to understand. I therefore decided to try to write a new version that would be easier to follow. I took the opportunity to add material on new developments since the first book, and I left out some things of a more technical nature. This resulted in a follow-up entitled A Briefer History of Time, which is slightly briefer, but its main claim would be to make it more accessible.
Q. Here on Earth, the last few months have just been devastating. What were your feelings as you read of earthquakes, revolutions, counter-revolutions and nuclear meltdowns in Japan? Have you been as personally shaken up as the rest of us?
A. I have visited Japan several times and have always been shown wonderful hospitality. I am deeply saddened for my Japanese colleagues and friends, who have suffered such a 18)catastrophic event. I hope there will be a global effort to help Japan recover. We, as a species, have survived many natural disasters and difficult situations, and I know that the human spirit is capable of enduring terrible hardships.
他和爱因斯坦一样，人生经历与科学成就同样为人乐道。
21岁时，英国物理学家史蒂芬·霍金被发现患上肌萎缩性脊髓侧索硬化症（简称ALS），也称卢伽雷氏病。ALS患者通常会在五年之内死亡，而霍金博士却顽强地活了下来，还进行了有关宇宙学的一些最为重要的研究，硕果累累。
20世纪60年代，他与罗杰·潘洛斯爵士一起利用数学法解释了黑洞的属性。1973年，他把爱因斯坦的广义相对论应用于量子力学原理。他还推理证明了黑洞并不是完全漆黑一团，它会对外泄露辐射，最终发生爆炸并消失，该发现在物理学和宇宙学领域至今仍具有深远意义。
1988年，霍金博士在自己撰写的《时间简史：从大爆炸到黑洞》一书中着力向普通民众解释他所了解的有关宇宙边界的知识。该书卖出了1000多万本，持续两年多稳居畅销书榜单。
如今，69岁的霍金博士是ALS症患者中最长寿的幸存者之一，可能也是最鼓舞人心的一位。他的大部分身体已瘫痪，只能通过由电脑控制的声音模拟器说话。
他的轮椅上安装了一个屏幕，屏幕上会闪现常用字词。他用颊肌对眼镜上的电子传感器发送信号并对电脑发送指令。通过这种方式，他能够缓慢地造句；电脑把这些指令转变成另类的金属声，霍金博士的一大批崇拜者对这种声音再熟悉不过了。
这是一个既累人又耗时的过程。但这就是他与外界联系的方式，他以这种方式主管剑桥大学理论宇宙学中心的研究工作，为专家和通才们撰写了大量著作，并给从法国到斐济的专注的听众做过讲座。
霍金博士的朋友劳伦斯·克劳斯是一位宇宙学家，4月份，霍金博士受其邀请来到这儿，参加由亚利桑那州立大学“起源项目”主办的科技节。他发表的题为“我的时间简史”的演讲并不全是夸克和黑洞。他一度谈及科学发现的特殊乐趣。
第二天下午，霍金博士与我坐下来进行了一次非常有趣的访谈。唔，也许能称得上访谈吧。
会面前一周, 我将10个问题传送给霍金40岁的女儿露西·霍金。两年前，霍金博士生了一场重病，生命垂危，之后身体状况每况愈下。为了不让父亲过于劳累，霍金女士把这十个问题分几天念给父亲听。
我们碰面的时候，这位物理学家回放了他对问题的回答。只有最后一个问题的答案是现场回答的。尽管存在这些限制性因素，霍金博士本人仍坚持要做面对面的访谈，而不是通过邮件进行。
下面介绍一些有关第二个问题（与外星人有关）（编者注：此文为第一个问题）的背景信息。去年，露西·霍金担任亚利桑那州立大学“起源项目”的驻校作家。作为工作的一部分，她与亚利桑那州立大学物理学家保罗·戴维斯举办了一个以“亲爱的外星人”为主题的竞赛，邀请菲尼克斯的小学生们写文章，讲述自己会对那些试图与地球取得联系的外星人说点什么。
现在让我们来看看其中的一些问题。
问：5月初，您的女儿露西和亚利桑那州立大学的物理学家保罗·戴维斯将亚利桑那的一名学童想对宇宙中可能存在的外星人传达的信息发向了宇宙。而您曾经在别处说过，人类想与其他生命形式取得联系并不是一个好主意。考虑到这点，您有建议过露西不要这样做吗？假设说，就当是一个假想，如果您要向太空发一条信息，内容会是怎样的呢？
答：我先前确实说过与外星人取得联系不是一个好想法，因为外星人可能会比我们先进得多，人类文明可能因此毁于一旦。但“亲爱的外星人”这个竞赛依据的前提是不同的。
这个竞赛假定一种高智商的外星生命形式已经与我们取得了联系，我们需要作出回复。竞赛要求学龄儿童以一种创新和科学的方式进行思考，找到一种恰当的办法向好奇的外星人解释人类在地球上的生活。我深信，如果这些外星人与我们取得了联系，我们肯定希望给予回应。
我同时认为这也是对年轻人提出的一个有趣问题，因为它要求年轻人把人类和地球作为一个整体来思考，并要求学生认清我们自己以及我们所做过的一切。
问：考虑到您所经历过的一切，您想对那些被确诊患有重病，比如ALS症患者，说点什么呢？
答：我对其他有身体残疾的人的建议是，要集中精力去做身体的缺陷无法阻碍你完成的事情，不要去悲叹疾病给你带来的干扰，要身残志不残。
问：我对您的《时间简史》有点疑惑。您对其取得巨大成功感到惊讶吗？您认为大部分读者都能读懂它吗？或者说，只要读者感兴趣想要读这本书，您就觉得心满意足了吗？亦或者，换种说法：您的畅销书会对科学教育带来什么样的意义呢？
答：我也没想到《时间简史》会成为畅销书。它是我写的第一本受大众欢迎的书籍，引起了人们极大的兴趣。
最初，很多人觉得这本书很难读懂。因此，我决定尽力写出一个更通俗易懂的新版本。我也利用这个机会把自第一本书以来有关研究新进展的材料加了进去，并删掉了一些过于专业的东西，于是促成了《时间简史（普及版）》的问世。普及版稍微简短一些，其主要目的是想让它更易于被大众所理解。
问：地球在刚刚过去的几个月里发生了一些毁灭性的灾难。对于地震、革命与反革命运动，以及日本的核泄露事件，您有哪些感触呢？您和我们其他人一样感到强烈的震惊吗？
答：我去过日本几次，每次都受到了盛情款待。对于我那些遭受这场灾难的日本同事和朋友们，我深表悲痛。我希望全球共同为日本的灾后重建出一份力。作为地球物种之一的我们已经历了多次自然灾害，度过了许多艰难险境，我相信人类的精神能够承受可怕的苦难。