万物简史 第343期:孤独的行星(8)

 　　Throughout his youth, the young Haldane helped his father with experiments. 在整个年轻时代，小霍尔丹一直是他父亲做实验的帮手。

　　By the time he was a teenager, the two often tested gases and gas masks together, taking turns to see how long it took them to pass out. 到10来岁的时候父子俩经常一起测试气体和防毒面具，轮流观察要经过多长时间他们才会昏死过去。

　　Though J. B. S. Haldane never took a degree in science (he studied classics at Oxford), 小霍尔丹没有获得过科学方面的学位（他在牛津大学学的是古典学课程），

　　he became a brilliant scientist in his own right, mostly in Cambridge. 但凭着自己的能力成了一位杰出的科学家，大部分时间里在剑桥为政府工作。

　　The biologist Peter Medawar, who spent his life around mental Olympians, called him "the cleverest man I ever knew." 一生跟智力超群的人打交道的生物学家彼得·梅达沃称他为“我见过的最聪明名的人”。

　　Huxley likewise parodied¹ the younger Haldane in his novel Antic Hay, 赫胥黎也以小霍尔丹为原型在小说《古怪的圆圈舞》里塑造人物，

　　but also used his ideas on genetic² manipulation of humans as the basis for the plot of Brave New World. 还以他关于遗传决定人的本性的思想为基础，设计了小说《美妙的新世界》里的情节。

　　Among many other achievements, Haldane played a central role in marrying Darwinian principles of evolution to the genetic work of Gregor Mendel 在其他成就方面，小霍尔丹还把达尔文的进化论与格雷戈尔·孟德尔在遗传方面的成就结合起来，

　　to produce what is known to geneticists as the Modern Synthesis. 提出了被遗传学家称之为“新途径”的理论。

　　Perhaps uniquely among human beings, 与众不同的是，

　　the younger Haldane found World War I "a very enjoyable experience" and freely admitted that he "enjoyed the opportunity of killing³ people." 小霍尔丹觉得第一次世界大战是“一次很愉快的经历”，直言不讳地承认他“喜欢有个杀人的机会”。

　　He was himself wounded twice. 他本人也受过两次伤。

　　After the war he became a successful popularizer of science and wrote twenty-three books (as well as over four hundred scientific papers). 战争结束以后，他成功地成为一名科学普及工作者，写了23本书（以及400多篇科学论文）。

　　His books are still thoroughly⁴ readable and instructive, though not always easy to find. 他的书至今依然可读性很强，很有教育意义，虽然不总是容易找得找。

　　He also became an enthusiastic Marxist. 他还成了一名热忱的马克思主义者。

1 parodied   

v.滑稽地模仿，拙劣地模仿( parody的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• All these peculiarities of his style have been parodied by his assailants. 他的所有这些风格特征都受到攻击者模仿嘲弄。 来自互联网
• The above examples are all slightly parodied versions of classical dance steps. 上述例子都可以说是经典舞步的模仿版本。 来自互联网

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。