欧美文化博览 阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦(33)

Hilbert thought that physics was much too important to be left to the physicists¹,

希尔伯特认为物理太重要了,这些物理学家必须留下,

so the mathematicians³ should take care of it.

因此数学家们应该照顾好它。

Stakes are very high here.

赌注很高。

All or nothing. To unlock the secret of light,

拥有一切或一无所有。揭开光的神秘,

to unlock the secret of gravity.

揭开重力的秘密。

Nobody can ever say that Einstein is not a fantastic mathematician² because at that moment the problem is distilled⁴ into pure mathematics.

没有人说爱因斯坦不是一位神奇的数学家,因为在那一刻问题被净化成纯粹的数学。

Several times, Einstein thought he had it.

爱因斯坦认为有好几次他就是这样。

When he submitted one of the versions to the Prussian Academy,

当他向普鲁士学院提交了一个版本,

he wrote his son in Switzerland,

他给在瑞士的儿子写信,

you know, you will later understand this was a great day that changed history and your father was,you know, producing it.

你知道,你以后会明白这是一个改变历史的伟大日子,你父亲,你知道,是这一切的缔造者。

But it turned out again to be an erroneous version,

但是很快结果再次变成一个错误的版本,

he had to change it a week later once more.

一个星期后他不得不再一次进行修改。

He had tried many alleys⁵ before and they turned out to be deadends.

他尝试过许多方法不过结果都是死路一条。

How long do you wait developing this idea, writing the paper,

在出版前你花多少时间等待开发这个想法,开始写论文,

working out all the consequences before publishing it?

计算出所有的后果吗?

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 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

3 mathematicians   

数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗？ 来自英汉文学
• Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分

4 distilled   

adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• The televised interview was distilled from 16 hours of film. 那次电视采访是从16个小时的影片中选出的精华。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gasoline is distilled from crude oil. 汽油是从原油中提炼出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。