万物简史 第185期:爱因斯坦的宇宙(28)

 　　This was truly startling. The universe was expanding, swiftly and evenly in all directions. It didn't take a huge amount of imagination to read backwards¹ from this and realize that it must therefore have started from some central point. Far from being the stable, fixed², eternal void that everyone had always assumed, this was a universe that had a beginning. It might therefore also have an end.

　　这的确是令人吃惊的。宇宙在扩大，速度很快，而且朝着各个方向。你无须有多么丰富的想像力就能从这点往后推测，发现它必定是从哪个中心点出发的。宇宙远不是稳定的，固定的，永恒的，就像大家总是以为的那样，而是有个起点。因此，它或许也有个终点。

　　The wonder, as Stephen Hawking³ has noted⁴, is that no one had hit on the idea of the expanding universe before. A static universe, as should have been obvious to Newton and every thinking astronomer⁵ since, would collapse⁶ in upon itself. There was also the problem that if stars had been burning indefinitely in a static universe they'd have made the whole intolerably hot—certainly much too hot for the likes of us. An expanding universe resolved much of this at a stroke.

　　正如斯蒂芬·霍金指出的，奇怪的是以前谁也没有想到要解释宇宙。一个静止的宇宙会自行坍缩，这一点牛顿以及之后的每个有头脑的天文学家都应当明白。还有一个问题：要是恒星在一个静止的宇宙里不停燃烧，就会使整个宇宙酷热难当——对于我们这样的生物来说当然是太热了。一个不断膨胀的宇宙一下子把这个问题基本解决了。

　　爱因斯坦、乔布斯、居里夫人等伟人

　　Hubble was a much better observer than a thinker and didn't immediately appreciate the full implications of what he had found. Partly this was because he was woefully ignorant of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. This was quite remarkable⁷ because, for one thing, Einstein and his theory were world famous by now. Moreover, in 1929 Albert Michelson—now in his twilight⁸ years but still one of the world's most alert and esteemed⁹ scientists—accepted a position at Mount Wilson to measure the velocity¹⁰ of light with his trusty interferometer, and must surely have at least mentioned to him the applicability of Einstein's theory to his own findings.

　　哈勃擅长观察，不大擅长动脑子，因此没有充分认识到自己的发现的重大意义。在一定程度上，那是因为他可悲地不知道爱因斯坦的广义相对论。这是很有意思的，因为一方面爱因斯坦和他的理论在这时候已经世界闻名，另一方面，1929年，阿尔伯特·迈克尔逊——这时候已经进入暮年，但仍是世界上最敏锐、最受人尊敬的科学家之一——接受了威尔逊山天文台的一个职位，用他可靠的干涉仪来测量光的速度，至少可以肯定已经向哈勃提到过，爱因斯坦的理论适用于他的发现。

1 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 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。

8 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

9 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 velocity   

n.速度，速率

参考例句：

• Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
• The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。