万物简史 第556期:达尔文的非凡见解(5)

 It wasn't until the younger Darwin was back in England and read Thomas Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population 直到年轻的达尔文回到英格兰并读到托马斯·马尔萨斯的《人口论》

(which proposed that increases in food supply could never keep up with population growth for mathematical reasons) （认为呈算术级增长的食物供给永远也满足不了呈几何级增长的人口）之后，

that the idea began to percolate¹ through his mind that life is a perpetual struggle and that natural selection was the means by which some species prospered³ while others failed. 进化论的观念才开始在他的心中萌生。他意识到，生命是一个持续不断的竞争的过程，自然选择决定了某些物种繁荣，某些物种衰败。

Specifically what Darwin saw was that all organisms competed for resources, 说得具体一些，达尔文观察到，所有的生物都为了争夺资源而相互竞争，

and those that had some innate⁴ advantage would prosper² and pass on that advantage to their offspring. 那些天生具有优势的生物才会繁荣昌盛，并且将这种优势遗传给他们的后代。

By such means would species continuously improve. 通过这种方式，物种持续不断地得到了改进。

It seems an awfully⁵ simple idea — it is an awfully simple idea — but it explained a great deal, and Darwin was prepared to devote his life to it. 这似乎是一种再简单不过的看法——这确实也是一个十分简单的看法，但是它解释了太多的问题，而达尔文准备将他的一生奉献给这种理论。

"How stupid of me not to have thought of it!" T. H. Huxley cried upon reading On the Origin of Species. 在阅读《物种起源》时，T.H.赫胥黎曾喊着说：“我怎么这么愚蠢，竟然没有想到这一点！”

It is a view that has been echoed ever since. 从那以后，这种感叹声就一直不绝于耳。

Interestingly, Darwin didn't use the phrase "survival of the fittest" in any of his work (though he did express his admiration⁶ for it). 有趣的是，在他的所有著作里，达尔文并没有使用“最适应者生存”这个词（虽然他确实对这个词由衷地赞赏）。

The expression was coined five years after the publication of On the Origin of Species by Herbert Spencer in Principles of Biology in 1864. 它是1864年由赫伯特·斯宾塞在他的《生物学原理》一书里创造的，那是在《物种起源》发表5年以后。

Nor did he employ the word evolution in print until the sixth edition of Origin 直到《物种起源》第6次印刷的时候，他才开始使用这个词。

(by which time its use had become too widespread to resist), preferring instead "descent with modification⁷." 达尔文也没有使用“进化”这个词（那时这个词已经用得很广泛，有极大的诱惑力），而是代之以“后代渐变”。

Nor, above all, were his conclusions in any way inspired by his noticing, during his time in the Galapagos Islands, an interesting diversity in the beaks⁸ of finches. 尤其重要的是，他的结论也绝不是他在加拉帕戈斯群岛期间注意到那里的效舌鸫的嘴多种多样，受到了启发才得出来的。

 

1 percolate   

v.过滤，渗透

参考例句：

• The rain will percolate through the soil.雨水渗入土中。
• New fashions took a long time to percolate down.新时尚要很长时间才能在大众中流行起来。

2 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

3 prospered   

成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。

4 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

5 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

6 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

7 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

8 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网