Hawking's thesis crashes university website due to popularity
For the first time ever, British scientist Stephen Hawking's doctoral thesis is available for public download.
It has proven to be so popular that it broke the internet - mere hours after being made public.
So many people are now trying to access the important 1966 essay that the website has crashed.
The thesis was made available on Monday.
Jacaranda FM News could easily download the thesis shortly after it was first made public, however it's a totally different story now.
The University of Cambridge says the doctoral thesis by the world's most recognisable scientist is the most requested item in Apollo with the catalogue record alone attracting hundreds of views per month.
"In just the past few months, the University has received hundreds of requests from readers wishing to download Professor Hawking's thesis in full," the university says on its website.
It has already been accessed over 60 000 times, according to the BBC.
Professor Hawking said: "By making my PhD thesis Open Access, I hope to inspire people around the world to look up at the stars and not down at their feet; to wonder about our place in the universe and to try and make sense of the cosmos. Anyone, anywhere in the world should have free, unhindered access to not just my research, but to the research of every great and enquiring mind across the spectrum of human understanding.
"Each generation stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before them, just as I did as a young PhD student in Cambridge, inspired by the work of Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell and Albert Einstein. It's wonderful to hear how many people have already shown an interest in downloading my thesis - hopefully they won't be disappointed now that they finally have access to it!"
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