翻译练习6

Unit2TheNatureofScientificReasoningbyJacobBronowski1Whatistheinsightinwhichthescientisttriestoseeintonature?Canitindeedbecalledeitherimaginativeorcreative?Totheliterarymanthequestionmayseemmerelysilly.Hehasbeentaughtthatscienceisalargecollectionoffacts;andifthisistrue,thentheonlyseeingwhichscientistsneedtodois,hesupposes,seeingthefacts.Hepicturesthem,thecolorlessprofessionalsofscience,goingofftoworkinthemorningintotheuniverseinaneutral,unexposedstate.Theythenexposethemselveslikeaphotographicplate.Andtheninthedarkroomorlaboratorytheydeveloptheimage,sothatsuddenlyandstartlinglyitappears,printedincapitalletters,asanewformulaforatomicenergy.2MenwhohavereadBalzacandZola1arenotdeceivedbytheclaimsofthesewritersthattheydonomorethanrecordthefacts.ThereadersofChristopherIsherwood2donottakehimliterallywhenhewrites“Iamacamera.”Yetthesamereaderssolemnlycarrywiththemfromtheirschool-daysthisfoolishpictureofthescientistfixingbysomemechanicalprocessthefactsofnature.Ihavehadofallpeopleahistoriantellmethatscienceisacollectionoffacts,andhisvoicehadnoteventheironicraspofonefilingcabinetreprovinganother.3Itseemsimpossiblethatthishistorianhadeverstudiedthebeginningsofascientificdiscovery.TheScientificRevolutioncanbeheldtobeginintheyear1543whentherewasbroughttoCopernicus,perhapsonhisdeathbed,thefirstprintedcopyofthebookhehadfinishedaboutadozenyearsearlier.Thethesisofthisbookisthattheearthmovesaroundthesun.WhendidCopernicusgooutandrecordthisfactwithhiscamera?Whatappearanceinnaturepromptedhisoutrageousguess?Andinwhatoddsenseisthisguesstobecalledaneutralrecordoffact?4LessthanahundredyearsafterCopernicus,Keplerpublished(between1609and1HonorédeBalzac(1799—1850)andÉmileZola(1840—1902)were19th-centuryFrenchnovelists.2ChristopherIsherwoodwasanEnglishnovelistandplaywright(1904—1986)whosewritingwasthebasisforthemusicalCabret.1619)thethreelawswhichdescribethepathsoftheplanets.TheworkofNewtonandwithitmostofourmechanicsspringfromtheselaws.3Theyhaveasolid,matter-of-factsound.Forexample,Keplersaysthatifonesquarestheyearofaplanet,onegetsanumberwhichisproportionaltothecubeofitsaveragedistancefromthesun.Doesanyonethinkthatsuchalawisfoundbytakingenoughreadingsandthensquaringandcubingeverythinginsight?Ifhedoes,then,asascientist,heisdoomedtoawastedlife;hehasaslittleprospectofmakingascientificdiscoveryasanelectronicbrainhas.5ItwasnotthiswaythatCopernicusandKeplerthought,orthatscientiststhinktoday.Copernicusfoundthattheorbitsoftheplanetswouldlooksimpleriftheywerelookedatfromthesunandnotfromtheearth.Buthedidnotinthefirstplacefindthisbyroutinecalculation.Hisfirststepwasaleapofimagination—tolifthimselffromtheearth,andputhimselfwildly,speculativelyintothesun.“Theearthconceivesfromthesun,”hewrote;and“thesunrulesthefamilyofstars.”Wecatchinhismindanimage,thegestureofthevirilemanstandinginthesun,witharmsoutstretched,overlookingtheplanets.PerhapsCopernicustookthepicturefromthedrawingsoftheyouthwithoutstretchedarmswhichtheRenaissanceteachersputintotheirbooksontheproportionsofthebody.PerhapshehadseenLeonardo’s4drawingsofhislovedpupilSalai.Idonotknow.Tome,thegestureofCopernicus,theshiningyouthlookingoutwardfromthesun,isstillvividinadrawingwhichWilliamBlake5in1780basedonallthese:thedrawingwhichisusuallycalledGladDay.6Kepler’smind,weknow,wasfilledwithjustsuchfancifulanalogies;andweknowwhattheywere.Keplerwantedtorelatethespeedsoftheplanetstothemusicalintervals.Hetriedtofitthefiveregularsolidsintotheirorbits.Noneoftheselikenessesworked,andtheyhavebeenforgotten;yettheyhavebeenandtheyremainthesteppingstonesofeverycreativemind.Keplerfeltforhislawsbywayofmetaphors,hesearchedmysticallyforlikenesseswithwhatheknewineverystrange3NicolausCopernicus(1473—1543)wasaPolishastronomer.JohannesKepler(1571—1630)wasaGermanastronomer.IsaacNewton(1642—1727)wasanEnglishphysicistandmathematician.4LeonardodaVinci(1452—1519)wasanItalianartist,inventoranddesigner.5WilliamBlake(1757—1827)wasanEnglishpoet,artistandengraver.cornerofnature.Andwhenamongtheseguesseshehituponhislaws,hedidnotthinkoftheirnumbersasthebalancingofacosmicbankaccount,butasarevelationoftheunityinallnature.Tous,theanalogiesbywhichKeplerlistenedforthemovementoftheplanetsinthemusicofthespheresarefarfetched.YetaretheymoresothanthewildleapbywhichRutherfordandBohr6inourowncenturyfoundamodelfortheatomin,ofallplaces,theplanetarysystem?7Noscientifictheoryisacollectionoffacts.Itwillnotevendotocallatheorytrueorfalseinthesimplesenseinwhicheveryfactiseithersoornotso.TheEpicureansheldthatmatterismadeofatomstwothousandyearsagoandwearenowtemptedtosaythattheirtheorywastrue.Butifwedosoweconfusetheirnotionofmatterwithourown.JohnDalton7in1808firstsawthestructureofmatteraswedotoday,andwhathetookfromtheancientswasnottheirtheorybutsomethingricher,theirimage:theatom.MuchofwhatwasinDalton’smindwasasvagueastheGreeknotion,andquiteasmistaken.Buthesuddenlygavelifetothenewfactsofchemistryandtheancienttheorytogether,byfusingthemtogivewhatneitherhad:acoherentpictureofhowmatterislinkedandbuiltupfromdifferentkindsofatoms.Theactoffusionisthecreativeact.8Allsc