TED演讲:哲学早餐俱乐部(7)

 　　The British Association would later be the first  英国科学进步协会也是后来

　　of the major national science organizations in the world to admit women as full members. 第一个接收女性成为正式会员的主流国家学术团体。

　　Up to the 19th century, natural philosophers were expected to pay for their own equipment and supplies. 上至19世纪，自然哲学家是需要自己支付实验设备和物资的。

　　Occasionally, there were prizes, such as that given to John Harrison in the 18th century, 偶尔会有奖金，如约翰·哈里森在18世纪的时候

　　for solving the so-called longitude¹ problem,  解决了所谓的“经度问题”而获得的奖金，

　　but prizes were only given after the fact, when they were given at all. 但是仅仅当工作完成之后才能获得全部的奖金。

　　On the advice of the philosophical² breakfast club,  在哲学早餐俱乐部的建议下，

　　the British Association began to use the extra money generated by its meetings to give grants 英国进步科学协会开始利用举办会议时多出来的钱

　　for research in astronomy, the tides, fossil fish, shipbuilding, and many other areas. 赞助天文学、潮汐、鱼类化石、造船业和其它很多领域的研究。

　　These grants not only allowed less wealthy men to conduct research, 这些基金不仅让不那么富有的人也能参与到科学研究中来，

　　but they also encouraged thinking outside the box,  还鼓励人们寻找新挑战，

　　rather than just trying to solve one pre-set question.  而不是去解决预置好的问题。

　　Eventually, the Royal Society and the scientific societies of other countries followed suit, 最终，皇家协会和其他国家的科学团体都开始效仿，

　　and this has become -- fortunately it's become -- a major part of the scientific landscape today. 并且成为--很幸运的--今天科学研究领域的基础形式。

　　So the philosophical breakfast club helped invent the modern scientist. 哲学早餐俱乐部帮助创造了现代科学家。

　　That's the heroic part of their story. There's a flip³ side as well. 这是他们的英雄故事。当然凡事都有反面。

　　They did not foresee at least one consequence of their revolution. 至少有一件事情是他们当时没有预见到的。

　　They would have been deeply dismayed by today's disjunction between science and the rest of culture. 如果他们看到今天科学和其他大众文化的分离，他们或许会深深失望。

1 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

2 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

3 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。