万物简史 第585期:生命的物质(11)

In an exceedingly distinguished¹ career, he would win two Nobel Prizes (for chemistry in 1954 and peace in 1962), but with DNA² he became convinced that the structure was a triple helix, not a double one, and never quite got on the right track. Instead, victory fell to an unlikely quartet of scientists in England who didn't work as a team, often weren't on speaking terms, and were for the most part novices³ in the field.

鲍林一生成就斐然，他两次获得诺贝尔奖（1954年获化学奖，1962年获和平奖）。可是在DNA研究方面，由于他错误地认定其结构是三链螺旋型，而不是二链螺旋型的，他的研究从未走上正轨，因而胜利的桂冠最终戴到了4位英国科学家的头上。这4位科学家不是一个小组，经常互不理睬，而且在很大程度是这一领域的新手。

Of the four, the nearest to a conventional boffin was Maurice Wilkins, who had spent much of the Second World War helping⁴ to design the atomic bomb. Two of the others, Rosalind Franklin and Francis Crick, had passed their war years working on mines for the British government — Crick of the type that blow up, Franklin of the type that produce coal.

他们4位中最称得上是普通的设计师的是莫利斯·威尔金斯，他在第二次世界大战期间的许多时间里待在密室中帮助设计原子弹。同一时期，他们中的另外两个，罗萨林·富兰克林和弗朗西斯·克里克任职于英国政府，研究采矿，后者负责爆破，前者负责采煤。

The most unconventional of the foursome was James Watson, an American prodigy⁵ who had distinguished himself as a boy as a member of a highly popular radio program called The Quiz Kids (and thus could claim to be at least part of the inspiration for some of the members of the Glass family in Franny and Zooey and other works by J. D. Salinger) and who had entered the University of Chicago aged⁶ just fifteen. He had earned his Ph.D. by the age of twenty-two and was now attached to the famous Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. In 1951, he was a gawky twenty-three-year-old with a strikingly lively head of hair that appears in photographs to be straining to attach itself to some powerful magnet just out of frame.

这4位科学家中，最不平常的是詹姆斯·沃森，他是一个堪称天才的美国人，他小时候是风靡一时的电台节目《儿童智力竞赛》的成员（可以说，他至少在某种程度上从J.D.塞林格的《弗兰妮与卓埃》中的格拉斯家族成员身上及其他一些著作受到了启发），他15岁就进了芝加哥大学，22岁就获得了博士学位，当时在剑桥大学著名的卡文迪许实验室工作。1951年，他刚刚23岁，长着一头乱蓬蓬的头发，在照片上看上去犹如被框外什么强大的磁铁拉拽着似的。

1 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。

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 novices   

n.新手( novice的名词复数 )；初学修士（或修女）；（修会等的）初学生；尚未赢过大赛的赛马

参考例句：

• The Russians are such novices in Africa. 在非洲的俄国人简直都是些毫无经验的生手。 来自辞典例句
• Where the primary track all novices, screams everywhere, ha ha good terror. 那里的初级道上全是生手，到处都是尖叫声，哈哈好恐怖的。 来自互联网

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 prodigy   

n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆

参考例句：

• She was a child prodigy on the violin.她是神童小提琴手。
• He was always a Negro prodigy who played barbarously and wonderfully.他始终是一个黑人的奇才，这种奇才弹奏起来粗野而惊人。

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。