精美英文欣赏:化学的历史

The History of Chemistry

Chemistry did not emerge as a science until after the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century and then only rather slowly and laboriously¹. But chemical knowdedge is as old as history, being almost entirely² concerned with the practical arts of living. Cooking is essentially³ a chemical process; so is the melting of metals and the administration of drugs and poisons. This basic chemical knowledge, which was applied⁴ in most cases as a rule of thumb, was nevertheless dependent on previous experiment. It also served to stimulate⁵ a fundamental curiosity about the processes themselves. New information was always being gained as artisans improved techniques to gain better results. The development of a scientific approach to chemistry was, however, hampered⁶ by several factors. The most serious problem was the vast range of material available and the consequent difficulty of organizing it into some system. In addition, there were social and intellectual difficulites, chemistry is nothing if not practical; those who practice it must use their hands, they must have a certain practical flair⁷. Yet in many ancient civilizations, practical tasks were primarily the province of a slave population. The thinker or philosopher stood apart from this mundane⁸ world, where the practical arts appeared to lack any intellectual content or interest. The final problem for early chemical science was the element of secrecy⁹. Experts in specific trades had developed their own techniques and guarded their knowledge to prevent others from stealing their livelihood¹⁰. Another factor that contributed to secrecy was the esoteric nature of the knowledge of a alchemists, who were trying to transform base metals into gold or were concerned with the hunt for the elixir¹¹ that would bestow¹² the blessing¹³ of eternal life. In one sense, the second of these was the more serious impediment because the records of the chemical processes that early alchemists had discovered were often written down in symbolic¹⁴ language intelligible¹⁵ to very few or in symbols that were purposely obscure.

化学的历史

化学在17 世纪的科技革命后才成为一门科学，其发展是缓慢而艰难的。 但化学知识却象人类历史一样古老，与人们实际生活密切相关。 做饭基本上是一个化学过程。 同样，金属熔炼、使用药品或毒剂也是如此。 人们在大多数情况下只是粗糙地运用这些基本化学知识，但这些基本知识的确是来自于前人的实验。 它们同时也激发了人们对化学本身的兴趣。 匠人们利用新技术来改良工艺，就增加了对化学的了解。 但是，化学科学方法的发展却有许多阻碍的因素。 其中最严重的问题就是要把浩如烟海的物质归纳为若干系统确实很困难。 此外，还有社会和知识的原因。 离开实际用途，化学就毫无价值；研究化学的人必须亲自动手，这就要求他们要有很强的动手能力。但在许多古代文明中，动手的活都是奴隶的行当。 思想家与哲学家与此劳碌决不沾边，因为在他们看来，实际操作技能低智而乏味。 最后，还有一个原因妨碍早期化学的发展，那就是保密。 某个行家一旦发现了新技术，就竭力保密以防被人偷了饭碗。 另一个原因加剧了知识封锁这是因为炼金术士的知识的神秘性。这些术士们要么想他便宜的金属变成黄金，要么期望找到一种长生不老药。从某种意义上说，这第二个因素带来了更严重的阻碍，因为早期术士们的研究成果记载于鲜为人知的或故意让人不懂的符号中。

1 laboriously   

adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地

参考例句：

• She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

6 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

7 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

8 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

9 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

10 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

11 elixir   

n.长生不老药，万能药

参考例句：

• There is no elixir of life in the world.世界上没有长生不老药。
• Keep your mind awake and active;that's the only youth elixir.保持头脑清醒和灵活便是保持年轻的唯一灵丹妙药。

12 bestow   

v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费

参考例句：

• He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
• What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我？

13 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

14 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

15 intelligible   

adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的

参考例句：

• This report would be intelligible only to an expert in computing.只有计算机运算专家才能看懂这份报告。
• His argument was barely intelligible.他的论点不易理解。