万物简史 第173期:爱因斯坦的宇宙(16)

 　　With his pipe, genially¹ self-effacing manner, and electrified² hair, Einstein was too splendid a figure to remain permanently³ obscure,

　　爱因斯坦常手拿烟斗，和蔼可亲，不爱露面，一头乱发，真是个非凡人物。这样的人物不可能永远默默无闻。

　　and in 1919, the war over, the world suddenly discovered him.

　　1919年，战争结束了，世界突然发现了他。

　　Almost at once his theories of relativity developed a reputation for being impossible for an ordinary person to grasp.

　　几乎同时，他的相对论以普通人无法搞懂出了名。

　　Matters were not helped, as David Bodanis points out in his superb book E=mc^2,

　　结果正如戴维·博丹尼斯在他出色的《E=mc^2》一书中指出的，根本不解决问题，

　　when the New York Times decided⁴ to do a story, and,

　　《纽约时报》决定写一篇报道，

　　for reasons that can never fail to excite wonder—sent the paper's golfing correspondent, one Henry Crouch⁵, to conduct the interview.

　　由于永远令人想不通的原因派了该报一个名叫亨利·克劳奇的高尔夫运动记者去负责这次采访。

　　爱因斯坦与卓别林

　　Crouch was hopelessly out of his depth, and got nearly everything wrong.

　　这次采访令克劳奇力不从心，他差不多把什么都搞错了。

　　Among the more lasting⁶ errors in his report was the assertion that Einstein had found a publisher daring enough to publish a book that only twelve men "in all the world could comprehend."

　　他的报道里有许多令人难忘的错误，其中之一，他断言，爱因斯坦找了个胆子很大的出版商，敢于出版一本全世界只有12个人看得懂的书。

　　There was no such book, no such publisher, no such circle of learned men, but the notion stuck anyway.

　　当然，根本不存在这样的书，根本不存在这样的出版商，也根本不存在这么狭小的学术界，但这种看法已深入了人心。

　　Soon the number of people who could grasp relativity had been reduced even further in the popular imagination,

　　过不多久，在人们的想像中，搞得懂相对论的人数又少了许多，

　　and the scientific establishment, it must be said, did little to disturb the myth.

　　应当指出，科学界对这种神话没有去加以澄清。

1 genially   

adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地

参考例句：

• The white church peeps out genially from behind the huts scattered on the river bank. 一座白色教堂从散布在岸上的那些小木房后面殷勤地探出头来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Well, It'seems strange to see you way up here,'said Mr. Kenny genially. “咳，真没想到会在这么远的地方见到你，"肯尼先生亲切地说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 electrified   

v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The railway line was electrified in the 1950s. 这条铁路线在20世纪50年代就实现了电气化。
• The national railway system has nearly all been electrified. 全国的铁路系统几乎全部实现了电气化。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。