雙語暢銷書《艾倫圖靈傳》第2章:下一個星期(25)
The School Certificate passed, the system allowed him a small part to play, that of the 'maths brain'. There was no mathematical sixth at Sherborne, as at some schools, notably Winchester. There was a science sixth for whom mathematics, Alan's best subject, was regarded as subsidiary. Nor was Alan promoted to the sixth form immediately; he was held back in the fifth for the autumn of 1928, but allowed to join the sixth form for their mathematics classes. These were taught by a young master, Eperson, just a year down from Oxford and a gentle, cultured person, the kind of master who would constantly be played up by the boys. Here was the chance for the system to redeem itself at last, the spirit breaking through the letter of the law. And in a negative way, Eperson did what Alan wanted, by leaving him alone:21
舍爾伯尼的六年級沒有數學課，就像其它學校，比如溫徹斯特一樣。但六年級有一門科學課，艾倫最擅長的數學，在這門課上會起一些作用。但艾倫並沒有升到六年級，他在1928年秋天留級到五年級，但學校允許他參加六年級的科學課。這門課的老師，是年輕的剛從劍橋畢業的埃普森，他是一個溫文爾雅的人，也就是經常會被學生們戲弄的那種。而艾倫則因此得到了一個突破體制的機會，那就是埃普森用一種消極的方式，實現了艾倫的願望：不管他。
All that I can claim is that my deliberate policy of leaving him largely to his own devices and standing by to assist when necessary, allowed his natural mathematical genius to progress uninhibited …
我深思熟慮之後，決定要這麼做。就讓他和他的儀器們在一起吧，讓他天生的數學天賦隨意發揮，我只在他需要的時候幫助他……
He found that Alan always preferred his own methods to those supplied by the text book, and indeed Alan had gone his own way all the time, making few concessions to the school system. During the machinations over the School Certificate, or even before, he had been studying the theory of relativity from Einstein's own popular account.22 This employed only elementary mathematics, but gave full rein to ideas which went far beyond anything in the school syllabus. For if Natural Wonders had introduced him to the post-Darwinian world, Einstein took him into the twentieth century revolution of physics. Alan produced a small red Memo Book of notes, which he gave to his mother.
他發現，相比於教科書上的方法，艾倫總是更喜歡他自己想出來的方法。一直以來，艾倫都在劍走偏鋒，他從來不向體制妥協。在參加認證考試時期，也或許是在這之前，他就開始從愛因斯坦的著作中學習相對論了。雖然這隻需要基礎數學，但其思想的高度，卻遠遠超出了學校大綱所有內容。如果說是《自然奇蹟》把艾倫帶進了後達爾文世界，那麼愛因斯坦則把他帶進了20世紀的物理革命。艾倫就此寫了一本紅色的小備忘錄，給他的母親。
