9-12 诺贝尔大师自传：赫拉尔杜斯.胡夫特

Autobiography 1 of Nobel Prize Winner: Gerardus’t Hooft

“A man who knows everything.” This, reportedly, was my reply to a school teacher asking me what I'd like to become when I grow up.I was eight years old, or thereabouts1, and what I wanted to say was “professor,” but, still not knowing everything, I had forgotten that word. And what I really meant was “scientist,” someone who unravels2 the secrets of the fundamental Laws of Nature.

This perhaps was not such a strange wish. Science, after all, was in my family. Just about at that time, 1953, my grand-uncle, Frits Zernike had earned his Nobel prize for work that had led him to the invention of the phase contrast microscope. He had worked out the theory and singlehandedly3 constructed his microscope, with which he had stunned 3 biologists by showing them moving images of a living cell.

Was it the environment or was it in my genes 4 to choose to become a physicist 5? My grandmother adored scientists and by that she may have further determined 6 my choice, but I think that my mind was made up long before I could talk. A picture was taken of me, at the age of two, studying a wheel. I do not remember the event of course, but I do remember being fascinated by wheels when other kids were just running around, playing. My very earliest recollections are about being obsessed4 with phenomena 8 I observed. I watched the ants crawling in the sand, and wondered what life would be like if you were an ant. You would be able to go into the tiniest spaces between the pebbles 9, and those would be as big as houses for you. But, I realized, an ant's life must be totally different from ours. How fascinating Nature is.

Though born in Den 10 Helder, I spent my childhood in The Hague5. When I was eight, my family moved for a ten months' period to London, England, where for the first time I was forced to master a foreign language, English. Too late, my parents discovered that sending their children to a private school would have required registration 11 three years or more ahead. We went to a public school.

After primary school I went to the Dalton Lyceum, also in The Hague. It is a school system where students are given extra hours for studying homework material in the presence of teachers, and it worked well for me. After one year the choice was to be made between a non? classical and a classical continuation, the classical one including ancient Greek and Latin, which would take one year more, and it would be more demanding6. My uncle said the choice would be immaterial. “You don't need Latin and Greek for physics,” he said, “but it doesn't do any harm either.” I chose to take the challenge. Why? I think I couldn't stand the idea that some kids would learn things I didn't know. I never regretted the choice.

The final examinations at high school, 1964, were tough. I passed the examinations and went to the State University of Utrecht7. Leyden8 was closer to The Hague, but my uncle was teaching at Utrecht, and his lectures I desired to follow.

I wanted to go into what I saw as the heart of physics, the elementary particles. Unfortunately, my uncle had developed a dislike of the subject. He thought that statistical 12 physics was more to his liking 13.

There was a newly appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics who did specialize in subatomic particles, Martinus Veltman, or Tini, as he was normally called. When time came that I had to write an undergraduate thesis, somewhere in 1968, he was the person to advise me and judge me for it. Veltman naturally thought that those high grades of mine were just because of my family background, and if I were any good, he would first need some convincing. This never even bothered me, all I wanted was learn about elementary particles, and if he didn't think much of me, so be it.

注释：

1. thereabouts [5TZErEbauts] ad. 大约，左右，上下

2. unravel 2 [Qn5rAvEl] vt. 弄清，阐明，解决

3. singlehandedly [5siN^l5hAdidli] ad. 单独一人地，一人完成（或办理）地

4. obsess 7 [Eb5ses] vt. 迷住，使着迷

5. Hague [hei^] The～海牙（荷兰西部城市）（王宫和政府所在地，联合国国际法院等设此）

6. demanding [di5mB:ndiN] a. 要求高的，费力的，苛求的

7. Utrecht [5ju:trekt] 乌得勒支省（荷兰省名）

8. Leyden [5leidn] = Leiden 莱顿（荷兰西部城市）

诺贝尔大师自传：赫拉尔杜斯·胡夫特

我8岁左右时，一个老师问我长大后想做什么，据说我是这样回答的：“一个什么都知道的人。”我想说的是“教授”，但是，我忘记了这个词。教授仍然不是什么都知道。其实我真正想说的是“科学家”，他们揭开了大自然基本规律的秘密。

这也许不是一个不可思议的愿望。毕竟我生长在一个科学世家。大概就在当时，1953年，我的舅公弗里茨·塞尔尼克由于发明了相衬显微镜获得诺贝尔奖。他提出了相衬显微镜的原理，并单独一人做成了自己的显微镜。用这种显微镜，生物学家可以看到活细胞移动的图像，这使得他们大为吃惊。

是环境还是我的基因使我选择成为一名物理学家？我外祖母很敬慕科学家，因此，她可能对我的决定有较深的影响，但我认为早在我学会说话以前，我就拿定了主意。有一张照片照的是我两岁时正在研究轮子。当然我不记得这件事了，但是我确实记得，当其他孩子正到处乱跑玩耍时，我却对轮子特别着迷。我早年的回忆就是我被那些我看到的现象所迷住。我看蚂蚁在沙子里慢慢地爬行，就想知道，如果你是一只蚂蚁，那生活将会是什么样子。你可能就会进入沙砾之间最小的空隙中，而这些空隙对你来说就像房子一样大。但是，我知道，蚂蚁的生活肯定完全不同于我们的生活。大自然是多么迷人呀。

尽管我出生在登海尔德，但我的童年是在海牙度过的。在我8岁的时候，我们家去英国伦敦住了10个月，在那里我第一次被迫掌握一门外语——英语。我父母发现，要把他们的孩子送到私立学校读书需要提前3年或更长的时间注册。这一发现太迟了。这样我们就上了公立学校。

小学毕业后我去了多尔顿学府，也在海牙。根据那里的教学制度，学生们有一些额外的时间，在老师的帮助下学习课外资料。这很适合我。一年以后，我面临选择，是接受非古典文学艺术教育还是古典文学艺术教育。古典文学艺术教育包括古希腊文和拉丁文，这大约需要一年多时间，可能比较吃力。我舅舅认为选择并不重要。“你搞物理是不需要拉丁文和希腊文的，”他说，“但是这也没有什么坏处。”我决定接受挑战，为什么？我认为我不能忍受其他小孩知道的东西而我不知道。我从不后悔我的选择。

1964年的高中毕业考试异常难。通过考试后我进入了乌得勒支大学。莱顿大学离海牙更近，但我舅舅在乌得勒支大学教书，我很想听他讲课。

我想去从事基本粒子研究，我认为这是物理学的中心。遗憾的是，我舅舅对这一学科已经厌恶了。他认为他更喜欢统计物理。

那时有一位新近被任命为教授的理论物理学者马蒂纳斯·韦尔特曼，一般叫他蒂尼，他专攻亚原子粒子。大约是在1968年，我得写毕业论文的时候，他是指导我写论文并对我进行评判的人。韦尔特曼很自然地认为，我得的那些高分就是因为我的家庭背景；如果我真的那么好的话，他首先需要一些令人信服的东西。这从未令我感到不快，我所想的就是学习基本粒子；如果他不看好我，我也始终如一。