欧美文化博览 阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦(41)

Looking in, a star would have been visible.

看,已经能够看到一颗行星。

One of the stars that was to be measured.

其中的一颗行星已经能够测量。

That star would have been very carefully centered on crosshair in the eyepiece.

那颗星在准星目镜中会被非常小心地集中。

Once that was done, the scales could be read in the X and Y directions and a very precise position could be assigned to the star.

一旦完成,就可以以X和Y的指向阅读，这颗行星就可以非常精确的被定位。

From those numbers, it could be determined¹ whether the star had appeared to change position.

从这些数字来看,它可以确定这颗恒星是否准备改变位置。

Einstein has predicted that the warped² space around the sun will create an optical illusion,

爱因斯坦曾预测,围绕太阳的扭曲空间将会创建一种错觉,

making the stars appear to move outward ever so slightly.

使星星似乎稍稍向外移动。

Einstein predicted much less than a millimeter.

爱因斯坦预测远远小于一毫米。

This is not an easy measurement to make.

这不是一个简单测量就能得出的结论。

Unlike most theories that people put forth³,

不像人们提出的大多数理论,

Einstein's General Relativity makes very specific prediction, very tight, very...

爱因斯坦的广义相对论做出了非常具体的预测,非常紧密,非常…

It's got to be this and if it's not that, the entire foundation of the idea has got to be discarded.

必须是这个,如果不是,整个基础的想法都必须被放弃。

Extremely precise, painstaking⁴ measurements.

辛勤测量带来的绝对精确。

There was no wiggle room in Einstein's Relativity because the idea,

在爱因斯坦的相对论的想法中没有回旋的余地,

the idea that gravity is the manifestation⁵ of the curvature of space and time.

这个想法就是展示重力是曲率的空间和时间。

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 warped   

adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
• The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

5 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。