The University of Cambridge’s website crashed after world-renowned physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking’s doctoral thesis was made available online for the first time ever.
The University of Cambridge has published three digital versions of the British scientist’s 1966 Ph.D. thesis on Monday. Hawkings at the age of 24 had written the 134-page thesis with the title ‘Properties of Expanding Universes.”
According to varsity, Hawking, now 75, had submitted his doctoral thesis in October 1965 when he was 23. It was approved in February 1966.
The unprecedented demand overwhelmed the varsity’s servers and subsequently crashed its website.
Web users who flocked the University of Cambridge’s Open Access Week 2017 commented that the downloading was crashing.
According to a varsity spokesperson, the University of Cambridge Library repository page linking to the Hawking’s 1966 thesis was visited more than 4,10,000 times on a single day after it was published.
According to reports,more than 60,000 people have downloaded the thesis within 24 hours.
Due to a large number of visitors, people found difficulty in opening the repository page or three PDF versions of the Hawking’s 134-page thesis easily loaded as of Tuesday afternoon.
Expand your #Universe - delve into the mind of Stephen Hawking and read his PHD Thesis! https://t.co/xKgElMyA6Z#phdlife#MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/EbUje9sxAJ
— CambridgeDigitalLib (@CamDigLib) October 23, 2017
According to reports, the PDF is worth a visit. The PDF’s have scan copy of vintage typewritten glory, handwritten equations, ink stamps of the university and most importantly every page has a signature attest of the noted scientist Hawkings.
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Proud to add Stephan Hawking's PHD Thesis to help @CamOpenAccess celebrate #openaccessweek #oaweek2017https://t.co/xKgElMyA6Z #inspire pic.twitter.com/1EG1cwk898
— CambridgeDigitalLib (@CamDigLib) October 23, 2017
Several noted media houese quoted Hawkings as saying, “It’s wonderful to hear how many people have already shown an interest in downloading my thesis.”