The term supernova was coined in the 1930s by a memorably odd astrophysicist named Fritz Zwicky. Born in Bulgaria and raised in Switzerland, Zwicky came to the California Institute of Technology in the 1920s and there at once distinguished himself by his abrasive personality and erratic talents.

超新星这个名字，是一位脾气极其古怪的天文物理学家在20世纪30年代创造的，他的名字叫弗里茨·兹威基。他出生在保加利亚，在瑞士长大，20世纪20年代来到加州理工学院，很快以粗暴的性格和卓越的才华闻名遐迩。

He didn't seem to be outstandingly bright, and many of his colleagues considered him little more than "an irritating buffoon." A fitness buff, he would often drop to the floor of the Caltech dining hall or other public areas and do one-armed pushups to demonstrate his virility to anyone who seemed inclined to doubt it.

他似乎并不特别聪明，他的许多同事认为他只不过是个"恼人的小丑"。他是个健身狂，经常会扑倒在加州理工学院饭厅或别的公共场所的地板上做单臂俯卧撑，向任何表示怀疑的人显示他的男子气概。

He was notoriously aggressive, his manner eventually becoming so intimidating that his closest collaborator, a gentle man named Walter Baade, refused to be left alone with him. Among other things, Zwicky accused Baade, who was German, of being a Nazi, which he was not. On at least one occasion Zwicky threatened to kill Baade, who worked up the hill at the Mount Wilson Observatory, if he saw him on the Caltech campus.

他咄咄逼人，最后变得如此气势汹汹，连他最亲密的合作者--性格温和的沃尔特·巴德--也不愿意跟他单独在一起。兹威基还指责巴德是个纳粹分子，因为他是德国人。其实，他不是。巴德在山上的威尔逊山天文台工作。兹威基不止一次扬言，要是他在加州理工学院校园里碰上，他要把巴德杀了。