万物简史 第443期:小生物的世界(14)

 　　Botanists¹ and zoologists² were much slower to admire its virtues⁴. 植物学家和动物学家要过长得多的时间才看到它的优点。

　　It's not hard to see why. 原因不难明白，

　　On Woese's model, the worlds of botany and zoology⁵ are relegated⁶ to a few twigs⁷ on the outermost⁸ branch of the Eukaryan limb. 按照沃斯的模式，植物界和动物界都被挂在真核细胞这根主枝最外缘一根分枝的几根小枝上。

　　Everything else belongs to unicellular beings. 除此以外，别的一切都属于单细胞生物。

　　These folks were brought up to classify in terms of gross morphological similarities and differences, Woese told an interviewer in 1996. “这些人向来就是完全按照形态上的异同来进行分类的，”沃斯1966年在接受采访时说，

　　"The idea of doing so in terms of molecular⁹ sequence is a bit hard for many of them to swallow." “对许多人来说，按照分子顺序来分类的观点是不大容易接受的。”

　　In short, if they couldn't see a difference with their own eyes, they didn't like it. 总而言之，要是他们不亲眼看到有什么不同之处，他们就不会喜欢。

　　And so they persisted with the traditional five-kingdom division, 因此，他们坚持比较普通的五界分类法。

　　an arrangement that Woese called "not very useful" in his milder moments and "positively¹⁰ misleading" much of the rest of the time. 对于这种安排，沃斯在脾气好的时候说是“不大有用”，更经常说是“完全把人引入歧途”。

　　"Biology, like physics before it," Woese wrote, “像之前的物理学一样，”沃斯写道，

　　"has moved to a level where the objects of interest and their interactions often cannot be perceived through direct observation." “生物学已经发展到一个水平，有关的物体及相互作用往往不是通过直接观察所能看到的。”

　　In 1998 the great and ancient Harvard zoologist³ Ernst Mayr 1998年，哈佛大学伟大的动物学家厄恩特·迈尔

　　(who then was in his ninety-fourth year and at the time of my writing is nearing one hundred and still going strong) （他当时已经94岁高龄；到我写这本书的时候，他快到100岁了，依然身强力壮）

　　stirred the pot further by declaring that there should be just two prime divisions of life—"empires" he called them. 更是唯恐天下不乱，宣称生命只要分成两大类——即他所谓的“帝国”。

　　In a paper published in the Proceedings¹¹ of the National Academy of Sciences, 迈尔在《国家科学院公报》上发表的一篇论文中说，

　　Mayr said that Woese's findings were interesting but ultimately misguided, noting that 沃斯的发现很有意思，但绝对是错误的，并指出，

　　"Woese was not trained as a biologist and quite naturally does not have an extensive familiarity with the principles of classification," “沃斯没有接受过当生物学家的训练，对分类原则不大熟悉，这是很自然的”。

　　which is perhaps as close as one distinguished¹² scientist can come to saying of another that he doesn't know what he is talking about. 一位杰出的科学家对别人发表这样一番评论，差不多是在说，那个人简直不知道自己在说什么。

1 botanists   

n.植物学家，研究植物的人( botanist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Botanists had some difficulty categorizing the newly found plant. 植物学家们不大容易确定这种新发现的植物的种类。 来自辞典例句
• Botanists refer this flower to the rose family. 植物学家将这花归入蔷薇科。 来自辞典例句

2 zoologists   

动物学家( zoologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Zoologists refer barnacles to Crustanceans. 动物学家把螺蛳归入甲壳类。
• It is now a source of growing interest for chemists and zoologists as well. 它现在也是化学家和动物学家愈感兴趣的一个所在。

3 zoologist   

n.动物学家

参考例句：

• Charles darwin was a famous zoologist.查尔斯达尔文是一位著名的动物学家。
• The zoologist had spent a long time living with monkeys.这位动物学家与猴子一起生活了很长时间。

4 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

5 zoology   

n.动物学，生态

参考例句：

• I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
• The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。

6 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
• I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

8 outermost   

adj.最外面的，远离中心的

参考例句：

• He fired and hit the outermost ring of the target.他开枪射中了靶子的最外一环。
• The outermost electron is shielded from the nucleus.原子核对最外层电子的作用受到屏蔽。

9 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

10 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

11 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

12 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。