万物简史 第177期:爱因斯坦的宇宙(20)
英语课
Every object that has mass creates a little depression in the fabric 1 of the cosmos 2.
凡有质量的物体在宇宙的底垫上都能造成一个小小的凹坑。
Thus the universe, as Dennis Overbye has put it, is "the ultimate sagging 3 mattress 4."
因此，正如丹尼斯·奥弗比说的，宇宙是个“最终的下陷底垫”。
Gravity on this view is no longer so much a thing as an outcome,
从这个观点来看，引力与其说是一种东西，不如说是一种结果，
"not a 'force' but a byproduct of the warping 5 of spacetime," in the words of the physicist 6 Michio Kaku, who goes on:
用物理学家米奇奥·卡库的话来说：“不是一种‘力’，而是时空弯曲的一件副产品。”卡库接着又说：
"In some sense, gravity does not exist; what moves the planets and stars is the distortion of space and time."
“在某种意义上，引力并不存在；使行星和恒星运动的是空间和时间的变形。”
Of course the sagging mattress analogy can take us only so far because it doesn't incorporate the effect of time.
当然，以下陷的底垫来作比喻，只能帮助我们理解到这种程度，因为没有包含时间的作用。
But then our brains can take us only so far
话虽这么说，其实我们的大脑也只能想像到这个地步。
because it is so nearly impossible to envision a dimension comprising three parts space to one part time,
因为这几乎是不可能的——若要想像空间和时间以3:1的比例
all interwoven like the threads in a plaid fabric.
像线织成一块格子地垫那样织成一份时空。
爱因斯坦的珍贵照片
At all events, I think we can agree that this was an awfully 7 big thought for a young man staring out the window of a patent office in the capital of Switzerland.
无论如何，我想我们会一致认为，对于一位凝视着瑞士首都专利局窗外的年轻人来说，这确实是个了不起的见解。
Among much else, Einstein’s general theory of relativity suggested that the universe must be either expanding or contracting.
爱因斯坦的广义相对论提出了许多见解。其中，他认为，宇宙心总是或者膨胀或者收缩的。
But Einstein was not a cosmologist, and he accepted the prevailing 8 wisdom that the universe was fixed 9 and eternal.
但是，爱因斯坦不是一位宇宙学家，他接受了流行的看法，即宇宙是固定的，永恒的。
More or less reflexively, he dropped into his equations something called the cosmological constant,
多少出于本能，他在自己的等式里加进了他所谓的宇宙常数。
which arbitrarily counterbalanced the effects of gravity, serving as a kind of mathematical pause button.
他把它作为一种数学暂停键，武断地以此来抵消引力的作用。
Books on the history of science always forgive Einstein this lapse 10,
科学史书总是原谅爱因斯坦的这个失误，
but it was actually a fairly appalling 11 piece of science and he knew it.
但这其实是科学上一件很可怕的事。
He called it "the biggest blunder of my life."
他把它称之为“我一生中所犯的最大错误”。
n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织
- The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
- I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
n.宇宙；秩序，和谐
- Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
- Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？
下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度
- The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
- We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。
n.床垫，床褥
- The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
- The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。
n.翘面，扭曲，变形v.弄弯，变歪( warp的现在分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，
- Tilting, warping, and changes in elevation can seriously affect canals and shoreline facilities of various kinks. 倾斜、翘曲和高程变化可以严重地影响水渠和各种岸边设备。 来自辞典例句
- A warping, bending, or cracking, as that by excessive force. 翘曲，弯曲，裂开：翘曲、弯曲或裂开，如过强的外力引起。 来自互联网
n.物理学家，研究物理学的人
- 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。
adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地
- Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
- I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的
- She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
- This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。
adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的
- Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
- Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。
n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效
- The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
- I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。
标签：
万物简史