TED演讲:梵高《星月夜》背后隐藏的数学理论(1)

 　　One of the most remarkable¹ aspects of the human brain is its ability to recognize patterns and describe them. 人的大脑有一个惊人的特性，就是能认出事物运作的模式并描述它。

　　Among the hardest patterns we've tried to understand is the concept of turbulent flow in fluid dynamics². 其中让我们最难了解的是流体力学中紊流的概念。

　　The German physicist³ Werner Heisenberg said, When I meet God, I'm going to ask him two questions:  德国物理学家维尔纳·海森堡说，当我见到上帝时，我要问他两个问题：

　　why relativity and why turbulence⁴? I really believe he will have an answer for the first. 相对论和紊流为什么存在？我很相信他可以回答前者。

　　As difficult as turbulence is to understand mathematically, 用数理方法理解紊流相当困难，

　　we can use art to depict⁵ the way it looks. 但是我们可以把它画出来。

　　In June 1889, Vincent van Gogh painted the view just before sunrise from the window of his room at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum⁶ in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence,  1889年六月，梵高画了日出前从圣雷米疗养院窗户望出去的景色，

　　where he'd admitted himself after mutilating his own ear in a psychotic episode. 他将自己耳朵割除后住在那个精神病院。

　　In "The Starry⁷ Night," his circular brushstrokes create a night sky filled with swirling⁸ clouds and eddies⁹ of stars. 在画作《星月夜》里，他用漩涡状的笔触画出充满卷云和涡状星星的夜空。

　　Van Gogh and other Impressionists represented light in a different way than their predecessors¹⁰, seeming to capture its motion,  梵高和后期印象派画家以另一种形式呈现光影，而前期画家则是著重於刻画动作，

　　for instance, across sun-dappled waters, or here in star light that twinkles and melts through milky¹¹ waves of blue night sky. 例如：阳光斑驳的水面在湛蓝夜空中，加上乳白色波浪线条画出摇曳的星光。

　　The effect is caused by luminance, the intensity¹² of the light in the colors on the canvas. 这个效果是光的亮度，也就是油画中色彩强度造成的。

　　The more primitive¹³ part of our visual cortex, which sees light contrast and motion,  我们视觉皮质里比较原生的部分判断光线对比和物体运动，

　　but not color, will blend two differently colored areas together if they have the same luminance. 而非辨识色彩也就是将两种不同颜色但同样亮度的区域混在一起。

1 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。

2 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

3 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

4 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

5 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

6 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

7 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。

8 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

9 eddies   

（水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Viscosity overwhelms the smallest eddies and converts their energy into heat. 粘性制服了最小的旋涡而将其能量转换为热。
• But their work appears to merge in the study of large eddies. 但在大旋涡的研究上，他们的工作看来却殊途同归。

10 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

12 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

13 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。