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

舍尔伯尼的六年级没有数学课，就像其它学校，比如温彻斯特一样。但六年级有一门科学课，艾伦最擅长的数学，在这门课上会起一些作用。但艾伦并没有升到六年级，他在1928年秋天留级到五年级，但学校允许他参加六年级的科学课。这门课的老师，是年轻的刚从剑桥毕业的埃普森，他是一个温文尔雅的人，也就是经常会被学生们戏弄的那种。而艾伦则因此得到了一个突破体制的机会，那就是埃普森用一种消极的方式，实现了艾伦的愿望：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 …

我深思熟虑之后，决定要这么做。就让他和他的仪器们在一起吧，让他天生的数学天赋随意发挥，我只在他需要的时候帮助他……

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.

他发现，相比于教科书上的方法，艾伦总是更喜欢他自己想出来的方法。一直以来，艾伦都在剑走偏锋，他从来不向体制妥协。在参加认证考试时期，也或许是在这之前，他就开始从爱因斯坦的著作中学习相对论了。虽然这只需要基础数学，但其思想的高度，却远远超出了学校大纲所有内容。如果说是《自然奇迹》把艾伦带进了后达尔文世界，那么爱因斯坦则把他带进了20世纪的物理革命。艾伦就此写了一本红色的小备忘录，给他的母亲。