Stephen Hawking - who died aged 76 -battled motor neurone disease to become one of the most respected andbest-known scientists of his age.
斯蒂芬·霍金昨日逝世，享年76岁。他一生与运动神经元疾病抗争，成为这个时代最受尊重，最负盛名的科学家之一。
A man of great humour, he became a popularambassador for science and was always careful to ensure that the general publichad ready access to his work.
霍金极具幽默感，是广受欢迎的科普大使，他一直仔细慎重地确保普罗大众容易接触到他的作品。
His book A Brief History of Time became anunlikely best-seller although it is unclear how many people actually managed toget to the end of it.
虽然不清楚多少人能坚持读完整本《时间简史》，但他的这本著作还是奇迹般地跻身畅销书之列。
He appeared in a number of popular TV showsand lent his synthesised voice to various recordings.
他客串参加了好几个流行电视节目，还允许各种节目使用他的合成声音。
Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxfordon 8 January 1942. His father, a research biologist, had moved with his motherfrom London to escape German bombing.
斯蒂芬·威廉·霍金在1942年1月8日出生于英国牛津。他的父亲是一位研究生物学家,与霍金的母亲曾为了躲避德军的轰炸而搬离伦敦。
Hawking grew up in London and St Albansand, after gaining a first-class degree in physics from Oxford, went on toCambridge for postgraduate research in cosmology.
霍金的童年和少年时代在伦敦和圣奥尔本斯度过。他在牛津大学获得了物理学科的一等学位之后，以研究生身份前往剑桥大学，开始对宇宙学的研究。
As a teenager he had enjoyed horse-ridingand rowing but while at Cambridge he was diagnosed with a form of motor neuronedisease which was to leave him almost completely paralysed.
霍金在青少年时期非常喜欢骑马和划船。但是在剑桥读大学期间，他却被诊断出患有一种运动神经元疾病，这种疾病会导致他的身体几乎完全瘫痪。
He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease while at university, Image copyright REX FEATURES
在大学就读时，他被确诊患有运动神经细胞病。
As he was preparing to marry his firstwife, Jane, in 1964 his doctors gave him no more than two or three years oflife.
1964年，当他准备娶第一任妻子简时，医生判断他只剩下两三年时间了。
But the disease progressed more slowly thanexpected. The couple had three children, and in 1988 - although Hawking was bynow only able to speak with a voice synthesiser following a tracheotomy - hehad completed A Brief History of Time - a layman's guide to cosmology.
但是疾病的恶化过程比预期慢很多。霍金和简生了三个孩子。1988年，他还完成了《时间简史》—— 一本向普罗大众科普宇宙的指南。当时霍金已接受了气管切开术，术后他只能通过语音合成器说话。
It sold more than 10 million copies,although its author was aware that it was dubbed "the most popular booknever read".
该书销量超过了1000万册，尽管霍金知道它被称为“最读不下去的畅销书”。
Celebrity 名扬天下
Hawking discovered the phenomenon whichbecame known as Hawking radiation, where black holes leak energy and fade tonothing. He was renowned for his extraordinary capacity to visualise scientificsolutions without calculation or experiment.
霍金发现了黑洞向外界辐射能量并逐渐消失的现象，这种辐射后来被命名为霍金辐射。他闻名于世的才能在于无需借助计算或实验，而凭借直观视觉方法找出科学解决方案。
But it was perhaps his "theory ofeverything", suggesting that the universe evolves according towell-defined laws, that attracted most attention.
然而，得到关注最多的可能是他的“万物理论”，该理论认为宇宙按照明确的定律进化。
"This complete set of laws can giveus the answers to questions like how did the universe begin," he said."Where is it going and will it have an end? If so, how will it end? If wefind the answers to these questions, we really shall know the mind ofGod."
他说：“这套完整的定律可以解答一系列的问题，比如宇宙如何起源，正往何处去，并且是否会终结？如果会，又将如何终结？如果我们找到了这些问题的答案，就真正明白了上帝的想法。”
Hawking's celebrity status was acknowledgedeven by The Simpsons - he was depicted drinking at a bar with Homer, suggestinghe might steal Homer's idea that the universe is shaped like a doughnut.
霍金的名声甚至让他得到了出演动画片辛普森一家的机会。情节为他与主人公荷马在酒吧对饮，暗示他可能窃取了荷马的观点，认为宇宙的形状类似一个甜甜圈。
He also appeared as himself in anepisode of the BBC comedy series, Red Dwarf and as a hologram of his image inStar Trek: The Next Generation.
他也曾本色出演了BBC的喜剧《红矮星号》，并用全息影像的方式参演了《星际迷航：下一代》。
The rock group Pink Floyd used his distinctive synthesised voice forthe introduction to Keep Talking, on their 1994 album The Division Bell.
摇滚乐队平克弗洛伊德在1994的专辑《藩篱之钟》中，将霍金标志性的电子合成音作为歌曲《滔滔不绝》的序曲。
Undeterred by his condition, hecontinued his work as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at CambridgeUniversity, and in 2001, his second book - Universe in a Nutshell - waspublished.
疾病丝毫没有消磨他的意志，霍金坚持在剑桥大学担任卢卡斯教席数学教授，2001年他的第二本著作《果壳中的宇宙》出版。
Hebelieved the universe evolves according to well-defined laws,Imagecopyright PA
他认为宇宙是按照明确的定律演化的。
Erratic 性情古怪
He believed his illness brought somebenefits; he said before he developed the disease he had been bored with life.
他觉得疾病也带来了一些好处，比如他说到患病前本来已经对生活产生了倦怠。
But his condition inevitably made himdependent on others. He often paid tribute to his wife, who had looked afterhim for more than 20 years, and friends and relatives were shocked when he lefther for one of his nurses, whom he married in 1995.
但他的身体状况还是导致他的日常生活不得不依赖他人。他常常称赞照顾了他20多年的妻子，后来他却离开了妻子，并在1995年和一位照顾自己的女护士结了婚。这一决定令他的亲友们大为震惊。
By 2000, Hawking was a frequent visitorto the emergency department of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, seekingtreatment for a variety of injuries. Police questioned several people aboutallegations that he had been subjected to verbal and physical abuse over aperiod of years.
到了2000年，由于各种损伤，霍金经常前往剑桥艾登布鲁克斯医院接受急诊治疗。据称霍金多年来遭受了语言和肢体上的虐待，警方为此询问了若干人士。
He was known to be an erratic, almostreckless driver of his electric wheelchair, and Hawking insisted his injurieswere not caused by abuse. No action was taken.
霍金出了名地古怪，自己操控电动轮椅时几近鲁莽。霍金坚称他的伤情并非虐待所致。针对此事的调查不了了之。
In 2007, he became the firstquadriplegic to experience weightlessness on board the so-called "vomitcomet", a modified plane specially designed to simulate zero gravity. Hesaid he did it to encourage interest in space travel.
2007年，霍金成为首位在飞船上体验失重感觉的四肢瘫痪者。他坐上了一艘名为“呕吐彗星”的飞机，该飞机经过专门改造来模拟失重状态。他说此举是为了激发人们对太空旅行的兴趣。
"I believe that life on Earth is atan ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden nuclearwar, a genetically engineered virus, or other dangers. I think the human racehas no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage publicinterest in space."
“我相信地球上的生命正处在一种前所未有的危险状态中，他们可能被一场灾难彻底消灭，比如突如其来的核战争、基因工程病毒或其他危险。我认为如果人类不转移到太空，他们将会在未来被毁灭。因此我想激发公众对宇宙的兴趣。”
24.In 2014, the film The Theory ofEverything was released, based on Jane Hawking's account of their courtship andmarriage. Hawking himself met Eddie Redmayne as part of the actor's preparationfor taking on the role of the scientist.
2014年，电影《万物理论》正式上映。它以简的视角描述了她和霍金的恋爱与婚姻。在演员埃迪·雷德梅恩准备饰演霍金的过程中，霍金亲自会见了他。
Eddie Redmayne played Hawking in The Theory of Everything, Image copyright PA
在《万物理论》中，英国演员埃迪·雷德梅恩饰演了霍金。
In a series for the Discovery Channel,he said it was perfectly rational to assume there was intelligent lifeelsewhere but warned that aliens might just raid earth of its resources andthen move on.
在探索频道的一档系列节目中，霍金认为地外存在智慧生物的假设是完全合理的。但他说外星人可能只是掠夺地球的资源，然后就会离开。
He once wrote that he had motor neuronedisease for practically all his adult life but said that it had not stopped himhaving an attractive family and being successful in his work.
他曾经写道，他成年后的生活几乎一直与运动神经元疾病相伴，但他说，疾病并没有阻止他拥有幸福的家庭和成功的事业。
"It shows," he said,"that one need not lose hope."
霍金说：“这表明, 一个人永远不该对生活丧失希望。”
原文地址http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15555565