纪录片《重力错乱》 第03期 牛顿和苹果的故事

But there's something missing in our understanding of what gravity is and how gravity works.

然而我们对引力的属性和机理的认识上还有所不足。

Getting to the bottom of the problem has vexed¹ scientists as far back as the Ancient Greeks.

弄清问题的底细早，在古希腊时期就已经困扰着科学家们了。

But in the late 1600s, in a small village in Lincolnshire,

但到了17世纪后期，在林肯郡的一个小村庄里，

the question of gravity was tackled head on by one of the granddaddies of modern physics.

引力的问题被现代物理之父之一迎面解决了。

This is the home of Sir Isaac Newton.

这里是艾萨克·牛顿爵士的故居。

Film about gravity-apple.

有关引力-苹果的版本。

It's a cliche² but the story goes that it was in this orchard³ that Newton was sat, thinking about the universe,

这是个老掉牙的故事了，但这故事据说是牛顿坐在这个果园里，思考着宇宙，

and an apple fell on Newton's head, and got him thinking about what it is that makes the apple fall,

一个苹果砸在了牛顿的头上，使他考虑到是什么让苹果掉下来的，

what force pulls the apple towards the ground?

是什么力量把苹果拉到地面上来的。

Newton suggested the apple falls because of a force of attraction that naturally exists between the apple and the Earth.

牛顿想到了苹果掉下是由于吸引力，天然存在与苹果与地球之间的吸引力。

It's this force that we know as gravity.

这就是我们所熟知的引力。

But Newton's real genius was not to just stop with the apple but to ask the question,

牛顿是个了不起的天才，不是仅停留在苹果上，而是提出问题，

is the same force that causes the apple to fall here on Earth

造成苹果掉到地面的同样的力

also responsible for the movement of much bigger things out there in the cosmos⁴?

也同样引起宇宙间大得多的物体的运动吗？

1 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

3 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

4 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？