万物简史 第212期:把铅撵出去(1)

 　　10 Getting The Lead Out

　　第十章 把铅撵出去

　　In the late 1940s, a graduate student at the University of Chicago named Clair Patterson (who was, first name notwithstanding, an Iowa farm boy by origin) was using a new method of lead isotope¹ measurement to try to get a definitive² age for the Earth at last. Unfortunately all his samples came up contaminated—usually wildly so. Most contained something like two hundred times the levels of lead that would normally be expected to occur. Many years would pass before Patterson realized that the reason for this lay with a regrettable Ohio inventor named Thomas Midgley, Jr.

　　20世纪40年代末，芝加哥大学一位名叫克莱尔·彼得森（尽管姓彼得森，他原先是艾奥瓦州的一个农家孩子）的研究生在用一种新的铅同位素测量法，对地球的确切年龄作最后的测定。不幸的是，他的岩石样品全部给污染了──而且还污染得很厉害。大多数样品里的铅含量超过正常浓度的大约200倍。许多年以后，彼得森才明白，问题出在俄亥俄州一个名叫小托马斯·米奇利的人身上。

　　铅的危害

　　Midgley was an engineer by training, and the world would no doubt have been a safer place if he had stayed so. Instead, he developed an interest in the industrial applications of chemistry. In 1921, while working for the General Motors Research Corporation in Dayton, Ohio, he investigated a compound called tetraethyl lead (also known, confusingly, as lead tetraethyl), and discovered that it significantly reduced the juddering condition known as engine knock.

　　米奇利是一名受过训练的工程师，要是他一直当工程师，世界本来会太平一些。但是，他对化学的工业用途发生了兴趣。1921年，他在位于俄亥俄州代顿的通用汽车研究公司工作期间，对一种名叫四乙铅的化合物作了研究，发现它能大大减少震动现象，即所谓的发动机爆震。

　　Even though lead was widely known to be dangerous, by the early years of the twentieth century it could be found in all manner of consumer products. Food came in cans sealed with lead solder³. Water was often stored in lead-lined tanks. It was sprayed onto fruit as a pesticide⁴ in the form of lead arsenate. It even came as part of the packaging of toothpaste tubes. Hardly a product existed that didn't bring a little lead into consumers' lives. However, nothing gave it a greater and more lasting⁵ intimacy⁶ than its addition to gasoline.

　　到20世纪初，大家都知道铅很危险，但它仍然以各种形式存在于消费品之中。罐头食品以焊铅来封口；水常常储存在铅皮罐里；砷酸铅用做杀虫剂喷洒在水果上。铅甚至还是牙膏管子的组成材料。几乎每一件产品都会给消费者的身体里增加一点儿铅。然而，人接触机会最多、接触时间最长的，还是添加在汽油里的铅。

1 isotope   

n.同位素

参考例句：

• The isotope ratio is directly used for comparing oils or gases.同位素比率直接用于比较各种石油或天然气。
• How to apply a radio isotope?如何运用放射性同位素？

2 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

3 solder   

v.焊接，焊在一起；n.焊料，焊锡

参考例句：

• Fewer workers are needed to solder circuit boards.焊接电路板需要的工人更少了。
• He cuts the pieces and solders them together.他把那些断片切碎，然后把它们焊在一起。

4 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

5 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

6 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。