纪录片《费马最后的定理》 第26期 难以置信的启示

In desperation, Andrew called for help

绝望之中，安德鲁求助他人。

He invited his former student Richard Taylor to work with him in Princeton, but no solution came.

他邀请他的前学生理查德·泰勒来和他在普林斯顿进行研究，但没有解决问题。

after a year of failure, Andrew was ready to abandon his flawed proof.

经过一年的的失败，安德鲁准备要放弃他那有缺陷的证明。

In September, I decided¹ to go back and look one more time at the original structure of Flach and Kolyvagin

九月份，我决定回去再看多一次弗拉赫和科里瓦金的结构

to try and pinpoint² exactly why it wasn't working, try and formulate³ it precisely⁴.

力图搞清楚究竟是怎么运作的，尝试要精确地用公式表达。

One can never really do that in mathematics

在数学当中是不可能那么做的，

but I just wanted to set my mind at rest that it really couldn't be made to work.

但我只是想让我的头脑接受，那确实是怎么也行不通了。

And I was sitting here at this desk.

我就坐在这张书桌这儿。

It was a Monday morning, September 19th and I was trying convincing myself that it didn't work,

那是星期一的早晨，9月19日，试着让自己确信那是不可行的，

just seeing exactly what the problem was when suddenly,

只是要确切了解症结在哪里，突然间

totally unexpectedly, I had this incredible revelation.

完全出乎意料地，我得到了这令人难以置信的启示。

I realised what was holding me up was exactly what would resolve the problem

我意识到让我停驻的正是可以解决问题的

I'd had in my Iwasawa theory attempt three years earlier.

我三年前就应该将伊娃沙娃理论的尝试进行到底的。

It was the most important moment of my working life.

那是我工作生涯中最重要的时刻。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

3 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

4 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。