万物简史 第161期:爱因斯坦的宇宙(4)

 　　Undaunted—well, perhaps mildly daunted—Planck turned to other matters.

　　普朗克没有泄气——哎呀，也许稍稍有点胆怯，开始把注意力转向别的问题。

　　Planck was often unlucky in life.

　　生活中，普朗克屡遭不幸，

　　His beloved first wife died early, in 1909, and the younger of his two sons was killed in the First World War.

　　1909年，他的第一任爱妻早逝，两个儿子中的最小的一个死于一战。

　　He also had twin daughters whom he adored.

　　他宠爱的双胞胎女儿们，

　　One died giving birth.

　　其中一个死于分娩，

　　The surviving twin went to look after the baby and fell in love with her sister's husband. They married and two years later she died in childbirth.

　　另一个在照顾她姐姐遗腹时，爱上了她的姐夫并喜结连理，两年后，普朗克唯一的一个女儿竟也死于分娩。

　　坚强，普朗克！！

　　In 1944, when Planck was eighty-five, an Allied¹ bomb fell on his house and he lost everything-papers, diaries, a lifetime of accumulations.

　　1944年，那时普朗克已经85岁了，联军的一枚炸弹击中了他的房子，为此，他失去了一切——论文、日记和毕生积蓄。

　　The following year his surviving son was caught in a conspiracy² to assassinate³ Hitler and executed.

　　翌年，他仅存的儿子在一次密谋刺杀希特勒的行动中被抓并被杀害。

　　We shall turn to these ourselves in a moment, but first we must make a slight (but relevant!) detour⁴ to Cleveland, Ohio,

　　这方面的事，我们等一会儿再说，先稍稍地（而又恰当地）换个方向，前往俄亥俄州的克利夫兰，

　　and an institution then known as the Case School of Applied⁵ Science.

　　去一家当时被称为凯斯实用科学学校的机构。

　　There, in the 1880s, a physicist⁶ of early middle years named Albert Michelson, assisted by his friend the chemist Edward Morley,

　　19世纪80年代，那里有一位刚到中年的物理学家，名叫阿尔伯特·迈克尔逊。他在他的朋友化学家爱德华·莫雷的协助之下，

　　embarked⁷ on a series of experiments that produced curious and disturbing results that would have great ramifications⁸ for much of what followed.

　　进行了一系列试验。那些试验得出了很有意思而又令人吃惊的结果，将对以后的许多事情产生重大的影响。

1 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

2 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

3 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

4 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

5 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。

6 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

7 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

8 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》