万物简史 第476期:生命在前进(18)

 　　"I have never encountered such s in a book by a professional," Fortey wrote later. “一位专业人员在书里竟然如此怒气冲冲，我可从来没有碰到过，”福泰后来写道，

　　"The casual reader of The Crucible¹ of Creation, unaware² of the history, “《创造的熔炉》的普通读者要是不了解历史，

　　would never gather that the author's views had once been close to (if not actually shared with) Gould's." 绝不会知道作者的观点一度如此接近（如果不是完全相同的话）古尔德的观点。”

　　When I asked Fortey about it, he said: "Well, it was very strange, quite shocking really, because Gould's portrayal³ of him had been so flattering. 当我向福泰问起这件事时。他说：“哎呀，这是很怪的，真的令人吃惊，因为古尔德还是挺器重他的。

　　I could only assume that Simon was embarrassed. 我只能猜测，西蒙的处境比较尴尬。

　　You know, science changes but books are permanent, 你要知道，科学是不断变化的，只有书本是永久的。

　　and I suppose he regretted being so irremediably associated with views that he no longer altogether held. 我估计，他后悔跟他现在完全不再持有的观点有着不可抹去的联系。

　　There was all that stuff about 'oh fuck, another phylum' and I expect he regretted being famous for that." 他说过‘哦，真该死，这里面没有一个新的门呀！’这类话。我估计他后悔因此出了名。”

　　What happened was that the early Cambrian fossils began to undergo a period of critical reappraisal. 结果，早先寒武纪的化石开始被吹毛求疵地重新评估，

　　Fortey and Derek Briggs—one of the other principals in Gould's book—used a method known as cladistics to compare the various Burgess fossils. 福泰和德里克·布里格斯——古尔德书里的另一位重要人物——使用了一种所谓进化分支学的方法，把各种布尔吉斯化石进行比较。

　　In simple terms, cladistics consists of organizing organisms on the basis of shared features. 简单来说，进化分支学就是按照共同的特点将动物进行分类。

　　Fortey gives as an example the idea of comparing a shrew and an elephant. 福泰把鼩鼱和大象进行比较来作为例子。

　　If you considered the elephant's large size and striking trunk you might conclude that it could have little in common with a tiny, sniffing⁴ shrew. 要是你考虑大象个儿很大，鼻子醒目，你就会得出结论，它与小小的、以鼻吸气的鼩鼱毫无共同之处。

　　But if you compared both of them with a lizard⁵, you would see that the elephant and shrew were in fact built to much the same plan. 但是，要是你把二者与蜥蜴进行比较，你就会发现大象和鼩鼱实际上是按照基本相同的横剖面来构建的。

　　In essence, what Fortey is saying is that Gould saw elephants and shrews where they saw mammals.  实际上，福泰是在说，古尔德看待大象和鼩鼱，就像他和布里格斯看待哺乳动物一样。

1 crucible   

n.坩锅，严酷的考验

参考例句：

• The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
• Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。

2 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

3 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

4 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。