万物简史 第523期:丰富多彩的生命(19)

 Disputes and reorderings of much the same type can be found in all the other realms of the living, 同样的争吵，同样的重新分类，也发生在所有别的生物领域，

so keeping an overall tally¹ is not nearly as straightforward² a matter as you might suppose. 因此要得出个总数完全不是你想像的那么容易。

In consequence, the rather amazing fact is that we don't have the faintest idea, 结果，究竟有多少东西生活在我们这颗行星上，我们心里无数，

"not even to the nearest order of magnitude," in the words of Edward O. Wilson — of the number of things that live on our planet. 用爱德华·O·威尔逊的话来说，“连个最接近的大概数”都不知道。这是个非常令人吃惊的事实。

Estimates range from 3 million to 200 million. 据估计，这个数字是从300万—2亿不等。

More extraordinary still, according to a report in the Economist³, 更加不可思议的是，据《经济学家》杂志的一篇报道说，

as much as 97 percent of the world's plant and animal species may still await discovery. 世界上多达97%的植物和动物物种尚待发现。

Of the organisms that we do know about, more than 99 in 100 are only sketchily⁴ described, 在已知的生物中，100种当中有99种以上只有一个简单的描述，

a scientific name, a handful of specimens⁵ in a museum, and a few scraps⁶ of description in scientific journals" is how Wilson describes the state of our knowledge. “一个科学名称，博物馆里的几个样品，科学杂志上的零星说明。”威尔逊是这样描述我们的知识状态的。

In The Diversity of Life, he estimated the number of known species of all types, 在《生命的多样性》一书中，他估计已知的各类物种，

plants, insects, microbes, algae⁷, everything — at 1.4 million, but added that that was just a guess. 植物、昆虫、微生物、藻类以及一切——为l40万种，但接着说那只是一个推测。

Other authorities have put the number of known species slightly higher, at around 1.5 million to 1.8 million, 别的权威认为已知的物种数量要稍稍多一点儿，大约在150万—180万种不等，

but there is no central registry of these things, so nowhere to check numbers. 但这些东西没有个集中记录的地方，因此无法去哪里核对数字。

In short, the remarkable⁸ position we find ourselves in is that we don't actually know what we actually know. 总之，我们实际上不知道我们实际上知道些什么。这就是我们目前令人不可思议的状态。

 

1 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

2 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 sketchily   

adv.写生风格地，大略地

参考例句：

• Christoffel's major concern was to reconsider and amplify the theme already treated somewhat sketchily by Riemann. Christoffel主要关心的是重新考虑和详细论述Riemann已经稍为粗略地讨论过的题目。 来自辞典例句
• The dishes were only sketchily washed. 盘子仅仅是大致地洗了一下。 来自互联网

5 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

7 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。