十分钟了解英语历史 科学英语

 The History of English in Ten Minutes. Chapter five. The English of Science or how to speak with gravity.

十分钟了解英语历史。第五章。科学的英语，或者说，怎样严谨地说话。

Before the 17th Century scientists weren’t really recognised – possibly because lab-coats had yet to catch on.

在17世纪以前，科学家是不被认可的，也许是因为实验室白大褂在当时还没流行起来。

But suddenly Britain was full of physicists¹ – there was Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle – and even some people not called Robert, like Isaac Newton. The Royal Society was formed out of the Invisible College – after they put it down somewhere and couldn’t find it again. 

不过突然之间，英国就涌现出了很多物理学家，有罗伯特?虎克，罗伯特?波伊尔，当然还有一些不叫罗伯特的人，譬如艾萨克·牛顿。“英国皇家学会”是在形同虚设的“无形学院”的基础上成立起来的。

At first they worked in Latin. After sitting through Newton’s story about the ‘pomum’ falling to the ‘terra’ from the ‘arbor’ for the umpteenth² time, the bright sparks realised they all spoke³ English and could transform our understanding of the universe much quicker by talking in their own language.

最开始他们用拉丁语工作。在耐着性子听了无数遍牛顿的故事（苹果从树上掉下来）后，这群“聪明的傻瓜”意识到他们都说的是英语，用英语来交换对宇宙的理解会更快捷。

But science was discovering things faster than they could name them. Words like ‘acid’, ‘gravity’, ‘electricity and ‘pendulum’ had to be invented just to stop their meetings turning into an endless game of charades⁴. 

但是科学探索出新事物的速度之快，远远超过了他们为这些事物命名的速度。像“酸”，“重力”，“电”，“钟摆”这些词不得不被发明出来，只是为了防止他们的会议变成一场无止尽的字谜游戏。

Like teenage boys, the scientists suddenly became aware of the human body – coining new words like ‘cardiac’ and ‘tonsil’, ‘ovary’, and ‘sternum’ - and the invention of ‘penis’ (1693), ‘vagina’ (1682) made sex education classes a bit easier to follow. Though  ‘clitoris’ was still a source of confusion.

就像十几岁的男孩一样，科学家们突然注意到了人类的身体，于是创造了像“心脏”，“扁桃体”，“卵巢”和“胸骨”的新词。还有1963年发明的“阴茎”一词和1682年发明的“阴道”一词，让性教育的课程更加易懂。虽然“阴蒂”这个词仍是一个造成困惑的源头。

1 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

2 umpteenth   

adj.第无数次（个）的

参考例句：

• W; `Qmp`tinW/ pron, det: For the umpteenth time, I tell you I don't know! 我告诉你多少次了，我不知道！ 来自辞典例句
• Vera: That's the umpteenth suggestion I've made which you've turned down. 薇拉：这不知是我提出的第几个建议了，你全部不接受。 来自互联网

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 charades   

n.伪装( charade的名词复数 )；猜字游戏

参考例句：

• She and her three brothers played charades. 她和3个兄弟玩看手势猜字谜游戏。 来自辞典例句
• A group of children were dressed to play charades. 一群孩子穿着夜礼服在玩字迷游戏。 来自辞典例句