异类之不一样的成功启示录 第64期:20世纪最为重要的工作

 　　Oppenheimer, by rights, was a long shot. He was just thirty-eight, and junior to many of the people whom he would have to manage.

　　选择奥本海默，确实是大胆的尝试。当时奥本海默38岁，比格罗夫斯手下的很多人都要年轻；He was a theorist, and this was a job that called for experimenters and engineers.

　　奥本海默是一个理论学家，而这是一项需要实验人员和工程师的工作；His political affiliations¹ were doggy: he had all kinds of friends who were Communists.

　　奥本海默的政治关系足以让人敬而远之：他很多形形色色的朋友都是共产主义者；Perhaps more importantly, he had never had an administrative² experience.

　　更令人惊讶的是，他没有一丁点的管理经验。

　　"He was a very impractical³ fellow," one of Oppenheimer's friends later said.

　　“他是一个不切实际的家伙，”奥本海默的一个朋友后来说，"He walked about with scuffed⁴ shoes and a funny hat, and, more important, he didn't know anything about equipment."“他穿着一双已经磨破的鞋子，戴着一顶怪异的帽子，而且，更重要的是，他对设备一窍不通。”

　　As one Berkeley scientist put it, more succinctly⁵: "he couldn't run a hamburg stand."伯克利的一位科学家说得更是切中要害：“他甚至不知道怎样推动一个汉堡包摊子。”

　　Oh, and by the way, in graduate school, he tried to kill his professor.

　　哦，这里顺便补充一下，在大学时候，他还差点杀了他的指导老师。

　　This was the resume of the man who was trying out for what might be said, without exaggeration, to be one of the most important jobs of the twentieth century.

　　但现在他迎来了一个新起点，他正在努力做一件——毫不夸张地说——一件20世纪最为重要的工作。

　　And what happened? The same thing had happened twenty years earlier at Cambridge: he got the rest of the world to see things his way.

　　结果如何？同样的事情曾经发生在20多年前的剑桥：他让世人见识了他的做事风格。

　　Here are Bird and Sherwin again: "Oppenheimer understood that Groves⁶ guarded the entrance of the Manhattan Project, and he therefore turned on all his charm and brilliance⁷.

　　再看看博德和舍温为他写的传记：“奥本海默知道曼哈顿计划由格罗夫斯把关，因此他开始竭尽所能，充分发挥自己的才华。

　　It was an irresistible⁸ performance."

　　这确实是一件不可抗拒的工作。”

　　Groves was smitten⁹. "‘He’s a genius,' Groves later told a reporter. ‘A real genius.'"格罗夫斯也深有感触，“‘他是一个天才，’格罗夫斯后来对一位记者说，‘一个真正的天才’”。

　　Groves was an engineer by training with a graduate degree from MIT, and Oppenheimer's grate insight was to appeal to that side of Groves.

　　格罗夫斯是一位从麻省理工大学毕业的工程师，奥本海默的远见卓识得到了格罗夫斯的青睐。

　　Bird and Sherwin go on: Oppenheimer was the first scientist Groves has met on his tour (of potential candidates) who grasped that building an atomic bomb required finding practical solutions to a variety of cross-disciplinary problems....

　　博德和舍温继续写道：“奥本海默认为原子弹的设计必须在多个学科中找出一条切实可行的操作方法，他是格罗夫斯发现的第一个（在众多的候选者中）提出这种观点的科学家......

　　Groves found himself nodding in agreement when Oppenheimer pitched the notion of a central laboratory devoted¹⁰ to his purpose,为了达到这个目标，奥本海默提出建立一个中心实验室，（格罗夫斯）发现自己不知不觉就认可了他的观点，where, as he later testified, 'we could come to grips with chemical, metallurgical, engineering and ordnance¹¹ problems that had so far received no consideration.

　　正如他后来证实的那样，‘一开始，我们就必须考虑化学、冶金学、工程学和军火等方面的问题，但很多问题依旧难以预料。’”

 

1 affiliations   

n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 )；附属机构；亲和性；接纳

参考例句：

• She had affiliations of her own in every capital. 她原以为自己在欧洲各国首府都有熟人。 来自辞典例句
• The society has many affiliations throughout the country. 这个社团在全国有很多关系。 来自辞典例句

2 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

3 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

4 scuffed   

v.使磨损( scuff的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚走

参考例句：

• I scuffed the heel of my shoe on the stonework. 我的鞋跟儿给铺好的石头磨坏了。
• Polly dropped her head and scuffed her feet. 波莉低下头拖着脚走开了。 来自辞典例句

5 succinctly   

adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地

参考例句：

• He writes simply and succinctly, rarely adding too much adornment. 他的写作风格朴实简练，很少添加饰词。 来自互联网
• No matter what question you are asked, answer it honestly and succinctly. 总之，不管你在面试中被问到什么问题，回答都要诚实而简明。 来自互联网

6 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

7 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

8 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

9 smitten   

猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• From the moment they met, he was completely smitten by her. 从一见面的那一刻起，他就完全被她迷住了。
• It was easy to see why she was smitten with him. 她很容易看出为何她为他倾倒。

10 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

11 ordnance   

n.大炮，军械

参考例句：

• She worked in an ordnance factory during the war.战争期间她在一家兵工厂工作。
• Shoes and clothing for the army were scarce,ordnance supplies and drugs were scarcer.军队很缺鞋和衣服，武器供应和药品就更少了。