异类之不一样的成功启示录 第63期:意图毒害导师的天才

 　　When he was nine, he once told one of his cousins, "ask me a question in Latin and I will answer you in Greek."9岁那年，他对堂兄妹们说：“你们用拉丁文问我一个问题，我就能用希腊语回答你们。”

　　Oppenheimer went to Harvard and then on to Cambridge University to pursue a doctorate¹ in physics.

　　奥本海默先是进入哈佛大学，然后又到剑桥大学攻读物理学博士学位。

　　There, Oppenheimer, who struggled with depression in his entire life, grew despondent².

　　这时的奥本海默却变得越来越沮丧，虽然他一生都在和挫折做斗争。

　　His gift was for theoretical physics, and his tutor, a man named Patrick Blackett, who had won a Nobel Prize in 1948,他的天赋本来在理论物理方面，但他的导师，一个叫帕特里克.布莱克特（PatrickBlakett，1948年获得诺贝尔奖）的人，was forcing him to attend to the minutiae³ of experimental physics, which he hated.

　　却让他做一些繁琐的物理实验，这是他最憎恨的。

　　He grew more and more emotionally unstable⁴, and then, in an act so strange that to this day no one has properly made sense of it,他的情绪越来越不稳定，最后他做出了一个令人匪夷所思的举动，Oppenheimer took some chemicals from the laboratory and tried to posion his tutor.

　　这天，他趁着没人注意，从实验室带出了一些化学药剂，图谋毒死他的导师。

　　Blackett, luckily, found out that something was amiss.

　　幸运的是，布莱克特发现事情异常。

　　The university was informed.

　　学校获悉这件事情，

　　Oppenheimer was called on the carpet.

　　把奥本海默叫到了办公室。

　　And what happened next is every bit as unbelievable as the crime itself.

　　然而，随后发生的一切却像这个罪行一样让人难以致信。

　　Here is how the incident is described in American Prometheus,下面是凯.博德和马丁.舍温写的奥本海默传记《美国的普罗米修斯》一书Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin's biography of Oppenheimer:

　　对该事件的描述：

　　"After protracted⁵ negotiations⁶, it was agreed that Robert would be put on probation⁷“经过漫长的谈判，最终同意罗伯特留校察看，and have regular sessions with a prominent Harley Street psychiatrist⁸ in London."并且让伦敦哈里街最有名的精神病专家对他进行鉴定。”

　　Probation? Here we have two very brilliant young students who run into a problem that imperils their college careers.

　　留校察看？在这里我们看到了两个才华横溢的年轻学子，他们面临着同样的问题，他们的大学生涯都陷入了绝境。

　　Langan's mother has missed a deadline for his financial aid.

　　兰根的母亲错过了为他申请经济资助的最后期限；Oppenheimer has tried to poison his professor.

　　奥本海默图谋毒死他的导师。

　　To continue on, they are acquired to plead their cases to authority.

　　如果继续大学生涯，他们就必须向学校解释自己的所作所为。

　　And what happens? Langan gets his scholarship taken away, and Oppenheimer gets sent to a psychiatrist.

　　最终的结果呢？兰根的奖学金化为了泡影，而奥本海默被送到了精神病专家那里。

　　Oppenheimer and Langan might both be geniuses, but in other ways, they could not be more different.

　　奥本海默和兰根也许都是天才，但是在很多方面，他们之间却存在着天壤之别。

　　The story of Oppenheimer's appointment to be scientific director of the Manhattan Project twenty years later20年后，奥本海默被指定为曼哈顿计划的科学带头人，is perhaps an even better example of this difference.

　　这也许是这种区别最为典型的例子。

　　The general in charge of the Manhattan Project was Leslie Groves⁹, and he scoured¹⁰ the country,负责曼哈顿计划的是莱斯利·格罗夫斯（LeslieGroves）将军，他寻遍了美国，trying to find the right person to lead the atomic-bomb effort.

　　希望找到一位合适的人选领导原子弹研究。

 

1 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

2 despondent   

adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的

参考例句：

• He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。
• I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

3 minutiae   

n.微小的细节，细枝末节；（常复数）细节，小事( minutia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the minutiae of the contract 合同细节
• He had memorized the many minutiae of the legal code. 他们讨论旅行的所有细节。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

5 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

8 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

9 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

10 scoured   

走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮

参考例句：

• We scoured the area for somewhere to pitch our tent. 我们四处查看，想找一个搭帐篷的地方。
• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。