He is regarded as having one of the brightest minds on the planet. But outstanding astrophysicist (天体物理学家) Stephen Hawking has admitted that he did not learn to read until he was eight years old.
In a public lecture at the Royal Albert Hall, Professor Hawking also admitted that he was not active in studying while at Oxford University, where he studied physics, and that only the diagnosis that he might die young from motor neurone (神经元) disease made him concentrate on his work.
Professor Hawking said: "My sister Philippa could read by the age of 4 but then she was definitely brighter than me." He said that he was unexceptional at school and was never further than halfway up his class. "My classwork was very untidy, and my handwriting was the despair of my teachers," he said. "But my classmates gave me the nickname Einstein, so presumably they saw signs of something better."
But he said that it was when doctors told him that he probably only had a few years to live at the age of 21 that galvanized him into focusing on his work and a period of productivity that resulted in some of his early breakthroughs. He said, "When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realize that life is worth living and there are lots of things you want to do."
