数据之美 一张图观2000年文化迁移

 　　They may look like flight paths around North America and Europe. Or perhaps nighttime satellite photos, with cities lit up like starry¹ constellations².

　　这些线条也许看上去很像北美和欧洲之间的航线，或是夜间卫星图，城市像星座一样被点亮。

　　But look again.

　　但请再瞧一瞧。

　　These animations³ chart the movement of Western culture over the past 2,000 years, researchers report Friday in the journal Science.

　　根据一研究团队在周五《科学》杂志上的报告，这些动画其实纪录了过去2000年间西方文化的迁移。

　　To make these movies, art historian Maximilian Schich and his colleagues mapped the births and deaths of more than 150,000 notable artists and cultural leaders, such as famous painters, actors, architects, politicians, priests and even antiquarians (people who collect antiques).

　　为了制作出这些影像，艺术史学家马克西米兰·舒尺和他的团队在地图上标出了15多万位艺术名人和文化领袖的出生和死亡地点，其中不乏著名的画家、演员、建筑师、政治家、牧师，甚至是古文物收藏家。

　　A shimmering⁴ blue dot lights up each new birth, while red dots represent each death.

　　地图上闪闪发亮的蓝点代表出生地点，红点则代表死亡地点。

　　We can watch as artists flock from rural areas to urban centers like London, Paris, Rome and Berlin after the Renaissance⁵. Then in the late 17th century, people start to catapult from Europe into the eastern U.S. and then eventually leapfrog over to the West Coast.

　　我们可以看到，艺术家在文艺复兴之后纷纷从乡村迁往伦敦、巴黎、罗马和柏林等中心城市。而到了17世纪后叶，他们很快从欧洲迁往美国东部，最后争相迁往西海岸。

　　"We're interested in the shape of the coral reef of culture," says Schich, of the University of Texas. "We are taking a systems biology approach to art history."

　　舒尺来自德克萨斯大学，他表示，“我们对文化所呈现的外形很感兴趣。我们采用了一种系统生物学的方法来研究艺术史。”

　　After mapping the births and deaths, Schich and his team analyzed⁶ demographic data to build a model for how people and their cultural achievements ebb⁷ and flow across continents.

　　标出出生和死亡地点后，舒尺和他的团队对人口数据进行了分析建模，借此反映艺术家及他们的文化成就是如何在大陆间变迁。

　　Right now the team has only maps for the U.S. and Europe. But Schich hopes to extend these visualizations beyond the Western world.

　　目前团队仅绘制了美国和欧洲地区的地图。但舒尺希望继续利用这种可视化方式呈现西方世界以外的地区。

　　And the model isn't just fun to look at. The data also reveal trends and patterns in human migration⁸ over the past two millennia⁹.

　　该模型不只是看上去有意思而已，其数据反映了人类在过去2000年间的迁移趋势和模式。

　　The models are the latest application of a rapidly growing field, called network science — which uses visualizations to find the underlying¹⁰ patterns and trends in complex data sets.

　　该模型是网络科学的最新应用成果。网络科学利用可视化技术反映复杂数据集的潜在模式和趋势，目前该领域的发展速度很快。

1 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

2 constellations   

n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人）

参考例句：

• The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转，要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分

3 animations   

n.生气( animation的名词复数 )；兴奋；动画片；（指电影、录像、电脑游戏的）动画制作

参考例句：

• You'll see your team cheerleaders and mascot performing new animations as well. 你会看到啦啦队队长跟吉祥物也都会有全新的动作。 来自互联网
• Ability to create simple movie and animations using graphic & multimedia software. 能够用平面和多媒体软件制作简单的电影及动画。 来自互联网

4 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

5 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

6 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

10 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。