万物简史 第8期:引言(8)

 　　And ocean salinity¹ of course represented only the merest sliver² of my ignorance.

　　当然，海水的咸度只是我不知道的事情中的极小部分。

　　I didn't know what a proton was, or a protein, didn't know a quark from a quasar,我不知道什么是质子，什么是蛋白质，不知道夸克和类星体有什么区别，didn't understand how geologists³ could look at a layer of rock on a canyon⁴ wall and tell you how old it was, didn't know anything really.

　　不理解地质学家怎么只要看一眼峡谷壁上的一层岩石，就能说出它的年龄--我确实什么也不知道。

　　"I became gripped by a quiet, unwonted urge to know a little about these matters and to understand how people figured them out.

　　我心里渐渐迫切想要知道一点儿这些问题，尤其想懂得人家是怎样测算出来的。

　　That to me remained the greatest of all amazements-how scientists work things out.

　　科学家们是怎样解决这些问题的--这对我来说始终是最大的奇事。

　　How does anybody know how much the Earth weighs or how old its rocks are or what really is way down there in the center?

　　他们怎么知道地球的重量，怎么知道岩石的年龄，怎么知道地心深处实际上是什么东西？

　　How can they know how and when the universe started and what it was like when it did?

　　他们怎么知道宇宙是怎样开始的，什么时候开始的，它开始的时候又是什么样子的？这到底是怎么回事--尤其是在经过回想以后？

　　How do they know what goes on inside an atom?

　　他们怎么知道原子内部的情况？

　　And how, come to that-or perhaps above all-can scientists so often seem to know nearly everything科学家怎么往往好像差不多什么都知道，

　　but then still can't predict an earthquake or even tell us whether we should take an umbrella with us to the races next Wednesday?

　　而又仍不能预测地震，甚至不能准确地告诉我们下星期三看比赛时该不该带雨伞？

　　So I decided⁵ that I would devote a portion of my life,three years, as it now turns out,于是，我决定今生要拿出一部分时间--结果是花了三年时间to reading books and journals and finding saintly,patient experts prepared to answer a lot of outstandingly dumb questions.

　　--来读书看报，寻访很有耐心、 德高望重、愿意回答许多特别傻的问题的专家。

　　The idea was to see if it isn't possible to understand and appreciate我倒想要看看，是不是有可能在不大专门或不需要很多知识的，而又不完全是很肤浅的层面上，-marvel at, enjoy even-the wonder and accomplishments⁶ of science at a level that isn't too technical or demanding, but isn't entirely⁷ superficial either.

　　理解和领会--甚至是赞叹和欣赏--科学的奇迹成就。

　　That was my idea and my hope, and that is what the book that follows is intended to be.

　　这曾经是我的想法，我的希望，本书就是按照这个意图来写的。

　　Anyway, we have a great deal of ground to cover and much less than 650,000 hours in which to do it, so let's begin."反正，我们要涉及的范围很广，而办这件事又远远用不着100万个小时，因此我们就开始吧。"

1 salinity   

n.盐分；咸度；盐浓度；咸性

参考例句：

• In the sea water sampled the salinity is two parts per thousand.在取样的海水中，盐度为千分之二。
• In many sedimentary basins the salinity of the formation water increases with depth or compaction.在许多沉积盆地中，地层水的含盐量随深度或压实作用而增高。

2 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

3 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

4 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

5 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。

6 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。