艾萨克·牛顿：最后的魔术师（2013）

to view the vivid and intense colours produced.
几个世纪以来，白光一直被视为
For centuries, white light was considered
宇宙之中最纯淨的能量
the purest form of energy in the universe,
代表著上帝的力量
a symbol of God’s power.
牛顿却证明出白光…
Newton was about to prove that white light…
…并不纯淨
..was not pure.
每个人都知道，如果让阳光通过三稜镜，
Everybody knew that if you let sunlight shine through a prism,
三稜镜会把阳光色散为七彩的光谱
the prism divides it into a spectrum of colours.
但大家所不知道的是接下来发生的事
What they didn’t know was what happens next
如果你拿第二个三稜镜放在部分的光束之中
if you put a second prism into a piece of the beam.
牛顿发现光谱中的颜色
Newton showed that the colours of the spectrum
不能再分解下去
could not be split any further.
它们才是最基本的
They were elemental.
白光是合成的
White light was composite.
牛顿马上就看出来白光本身并不纯淨
Newton saw right away that white itself is not pure.
白光是混合起来的
White is a mixture.
牛顿用可以重现的证明，粉碎了当时
Newton had shattered one of the most fundamental beliefs of his time
最基本的看法之一
with demonstrable proof.
在牛顿之前，三稜镜只是个玩具
Before Newton, a prism was just a toy.
现在他让它变成了一种工具
Now he had made it into a tool
对我们世界及外太空的研究
that would transform the study of our world
全面改观
and outer space.
我们关于宇宙的知识有百分之九十甚至更多
90 percent or more of our knowledge of the universe
是从天空、恆星和行星收集来的光线
has come from collecting light from the sky and stars and planets,
再进行分光，实际上就是利用三稜镜
and splitting it, effectively, through a prism.
可以由此得知关于行星大气的组成
They can tell us about the composition of planetary atmospheres
或是恆星本身的成分
or the composition of stars.
也可以利用这个方法找出行星旋转的速率
They can tell us about the rotation rates of planets.
全都是从牛顿观察颜色的方法衍生出来的
All of that derives from Newton’s looking at the colours.
而当时的牛顿仍是安于命定中的没没无闻
And yet Newton still seemed destined for obscurity.
他对于发行他所发现的成果兴趣缺缺
He showed no interest in publishing his findings
似乎对于因此而带来的喝采感到鄙视
and seemed to despise the acclaim it could bring.
我对于大众的崇拜一点慾望也没有
I do not see what is desirable in public esteem,
就算我能轻易获得并且维持声望不坠
were I able to acquire and maintain it.
只会增加我认识的人
It would only increase my acquaintance,
降低我重要的研究分量
the thing I chiefly study to decline.
牛顿的隐遁就要被破坏掉了，
Newton’s reclusiveness was about to be shattered,
这要归功于他对光的贡献
thanks to his obsession with light
和那个有实际用途的小发明
and a practical little invention.
在1660年代中期，
By the mid-1660s,
望远镜是个简单的管状物，长达20英吋
telescopes were simple tubes, up to 20-feet-long,
使用一系列的镜片来加强影像
using a series of lenses to magnify the image.
牛顿想出了崭新的方法
Newton tried a radical new approach.
反射式的望远镜利用内部的镜子，使得管子大大的减短
The reflecting telescope uses mirrors inside a much shorter tube
使得光线得以足够的弯曲
so that the beam of light is bent often enough
这让镜片可以非常靠近
that the lenses can be much closer together.
这非常有用，因为现在你可以把它带上船，
That’s wonderful. Now you can take it on-board ship,
事实上，你可以带著它在全国跑来跑去
and, indeed, you can carry it around the country.
牛顿对他的望远镜感到非常骄傲
Newton was extremely proud of his telescope.
我亲手打造的
I did it myself.
如果我要等别人帮我制♥作♥工具或其他东西，
If I had waited for others to make my tools and things for me,
我可能什麽事都做不了！
I would never have made anything.
牛顿的反射式望远镜只有六英吋长
Newton’s reflecting telescope was only six-inches-long,
而且和十倍长的折射式望远镜
yet it was as powerful as lens telescopes
效果相当
ten-times the length.
完全可以带著走
It was totally portable
准备用来进行导航的彻底改革
and ready to revolutionise navigation.
望远镜和时钟就是你在海上告诉你在何处
The telescope and the clock are what is needed
所必需的东西
to tell you where you are at sea.
直到GPS出现，
And until GPS,
一直都是在海上航行所必要的物件
it was still the way that it was done if you were on a sailing ship.
1671年，牛顿的数学老师艾萨克·巴罗
In 1671, Newton’s mathematics don Isaac Barrow
最终让牛顿引起世界上
finally brought Newton to the attention
第一个科学组织
of the world’s first scientific organisation,
在伦敦的皇家学会的注意
the Royal Society in London.
成员包括当时最伟大的心灵
Its members included great minds of the time
像是克里斯多佛·雷恩和天文学家爱德蒙·哈雷，
such as Christopher Wren and astronomer Edmund Halley,
同时也是非常古怪的人
as well as a fair few eccentrics.
他们是一群绅士和贵族
They are a collection of gentlemen and nobility
而且他们的兴趣涵盖广泛
and what they are interested in covers the spectrum,
从荒诞不经到崇论宏议的都有
from the ludicrous to the high-powered.
他们会对观察他们自己的精♥液♥感到兴趣，
They are interested in looking at their own sperm,
他们对发现的东西完全著迷
which they found completely fascinating
我可以确定，他们回到家一定会自己试试看
and I’m sure they went away and tried at home.
你可以看到爱德蒙·哈雷在写有关大♥麻♥的论文
You have Edmund Halley writing a paper on cannabis.
怎麽让苹果长得更好，
You have How to Develop a Better Apple,
如何乾洗衣物
How to Wash Your Laundry
和如何处置痛风
and How to Deal With the Gout.
当时是在一个充满神奇奥秘…
You’re in a world of magical mystery…
…无关痛痒和纯科学，全都混在一起
..nonsense and science, all mixed up together.
对于早期的皇家学会，没有什麽东西是被限制的
There is nothing that is off-limits for the early Royal Society.
牛顿那具精巧的望远镜红极一时
Newton’s compact telescope was a hit.
那个只活在自己世界的人，受到皇家学会的热烈欢迎
The man who lived in his head was hailed by the Royal Society
尤其是他亲手做出来的作品
for what he had made with his hands.
牛顿也很开心
Newton was delighted.
我很讶异看到我的一项发明
I was surprised to see so much care taken
会引起那麽多人的关注
about securing an invention of mine
相对于我迄今的贡献是那麽微不足道
for which I had hitherto had so little value.
1672年的元月，皇家学会马上接受
Newton was accepted into the Royal Society
牛顿成为会员
in January, 1672,
他终于发表他在三稜镜实验中的发现
and he finally published his findings from the prism experiments
作为他的光与色彩的理论
as his Theory of Light and Colours.
牛顿无疑就是他的作品中重要的角色
Newton was in no doubt about the importance of his work.
如果不是在大自然之中的运作下，
My theory of light and colour is the oddest,
进行了考虑最周全的检测
if not the most considerable detection which has been made
我的光和色彩的理论是最古怪的
in the operations of nature.
牛顿的论文现在必须经过
Newton’s paper would now have to be reviewed
皇家学会的实验评议员罗伯特·虎克
by the curator of experiments at the Royal Society,
的复审才行
Robert Hooke.
虎克是倍受敬重的自然哲学家和发明者，
Hooke was a highly respected natural philosopher and inventor,
他是藉由他亲手做的显微镜观察而画的
famous for his drawings of insects, lice and house flies
昆虫、虱子和苍蝇闻名的
as seen through his homemade microscope.
虎克左右了牛顿的
Hooke would rule on the credibility
光与色彩理论的可信性
of Newton’s Theory of Light and Colour.
我仔细读完牛顿先生关于颜色和折射的论文，
I have perused Mr Newton’s discourse about colours and refractions,
我一点都不会对
and I was not a little pleased
他的观察所得有任何好感或好奇
with the niceness and curiosity of his observations.
关于他因此而解决颜色现象的假设
Yet as to his hypothesis of solving the phenomena of colours thereby,
我认为，我也没有看到
I confess, I cannot see yet
任何坚若磐石的论证
any undeniable argument
来让我相信是准确无误的
to convince me of the certainty thereof.
罗伯特·虎克复审论文
Robert Hooke peer-reviewed it
并且认用一点用处都没有
and said it was worthless.
我想牛顿从来没有因为这件事而原谅他
I don’t think Newton ever forgave him for that.
我被复审论文
I’ve been peer-reviewed.
你不可能原谅把你的论文退回来的那个傢伙
You do never forgive the person who rejected your paper!
我有义务来让你满意吗？
Am I bound to satisfy YOU?
你似乎会这麽想，这并不足以构成抗♥议♥的条件
It seems you thought it not enough to make objections
除非你也对我的侮辱，是因为我解答问题的能力
unless you could also insult me for my ability to answer them.
他非常，非常迅速保卫自己的智慧财产，
He’s very, very quick to defend his intellectual property,
他在对付像罗伯特·虎克这种人
and he does it in a kneejerk way, I think,
是没有深思熟虑
with people like Robert Hooke.
我想这里头一定有来自于他自己的自我信念
There’s certainly an element of paranoia that derives, I think,
偏执的成份在作祟
from his own self-belief.
牛顿对于答应将论文付印而深感懊悔
Newton regretted having ever permitted his paper to be published.
我发现我把它印出来对我根本就没有用
I find from what little use I have made of the press
因为我不能享有从前那种平静自♥由♥的生活，直到我可以忍♥受它
that I shall not enjoy my former serene liberty till I have done with it.
我打算淡然处之！
I intend to be solicitous no further!
每次只要有人批评他，任何时候任何人胆敢不同意他，
Every time anybody criticised him, any time anybody dared disagree with him,
他就会想逃避
he went into retreat.
我告诉皇家学会，我会忙于其他的研究主题，