Posted on Wednesday 9th Mar 2016
Scientist Stephen Hawking has paid tribute to the teacher who inspired his early steps into scholarship.
He says Dikran Tahta at St Albans School opened his eyes to maths, which he describes as the "blueprint of the universe".
"My handwriting was bad, and I could be lazy. Many teachers were boring. Not Mr Tahta," said the physicist.
Prof Hawking was speaking ahead of this weekend's award of the Global Teacher Prize.
"His classes were lively and exciting. Everything could be debated. Together we built my first computer, it was made with electro-mechanical switches," said Prof Hawking.
"Thanks to Mr Tahta, I became a professor of mathematics at Cambridge, a position once held by Isaac Newton."
Prof Hawking said that "behind every exceptional person, there is an exceptional teacher".
Latest News
20/05/19Kent's best and worst secondary schools based on 2018 GCSE results
Statistics from the Department for Education show how well schools in Kent performed in last year's exams
14/05/19Family jumps to defence of Chilton Primary School in Ramsgate after child escapes under gate
The child was quickly returned to the school and is now safe and well
10/05/19Shrinking break times in English schools 'impacting social skills'
Afternoon break virtually eliminated and older pupils losing over an hour a week, finds study
07/05/19Don't blame teachers for letting down excluded pupils - blame ministers | Gaby Hinsliff
Something is going very wrong for vulnerable kids – but is the school to blame? Schools should be accountable for exclusions, but so should the ministers who have cut vital services
03/05/19Hinds asks heads how to solve special-needs budget squeeze
Schools are facing "knock-on pressure" as demand for special-needs support rises, England's Education Secretary, Damian Hinds, is expected to admit to head teachers later.