Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

but the scientific dust has long since settled,

但是，自他逝世以來，那場科學(xué)上的紛爭早已平息了下來，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

and today we can see even his famous clash with the Inquisition in something like its proper perspective.

甚至他和宗教法庭的著名沖突，我們今天也能正確如實地看待。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

But, in contrast, it is only in modern times that Galileo has become a problem child for historians of science.

但是相比之下，只是在現(xiàn)代對于科學(xué)史家來說，伽利略才變成一個新的難題。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

The old view of Galileo was delightfully uncomplicated.

令人高興的是，過去對伽利略的看法并不復(fù)雜。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

He was, above all, a man who experimented:

他首先是個實驗工作者，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

who despised the prejudices and book learning of the Aristotelians,

他蔑視亞里士多德學(xué)派的偏見和空洞的書本知識。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

who put his questions to nature instead of to the ancients,

他向自然界而不是向古人提出問題，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

and who drew his conclusions fearlessly.

并大膽地得出自己的結(jié)論。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

He had been the first to turn a telescope to the sky,

他是第一個把望遠(yuǎn)鏡對準(zhǔn)天空的人，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

and he had seen there evidence enough to overthrow Aristotle and Ptolemy together.

觀察到的論據(jù)足以把亞里士多德和托勒密一起推翻。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

He was the man who climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropped various weights from the top,

他就是那個曾經(jīng)爬上比薩斜塔，從塔頂向下拋擲各種重物的人；

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

who rolled balls down inclined planes,

他就是那個使球體沿斜面向下滾動，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

and then generalized the results of his many experiments into the famous law of free fall.

然后將多次實驗結(jié)果概括成著名的自由落體定律的人。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

But a closer study of the evidence, supported by a deeper sense of the period,

但是，進(jìn)一步仔細(xì)研究，對那個時代的深化了解，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

and particularly by a new consciousness of the philosophical undercurrents in the scientific revolution,

尤其是以科學(xué)革命中哲學(xué)潛流的新意識為依據(jù)，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

has profoundly modified this view of Galileo.

就會極大地改變對伽利略的看法。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

Today, although the old Galileo lives on in many popular writings,

今天，雖然已故的伽利略繼續(xù)活在許多通俗讀物中，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

among historians of science a new and more sophisticated picture has emerged.

但在科學(xué)史家中間，一個新的更加復(fù)雜的伽利略的形象出現(xiàn)了。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

At the same time our sympathy for Galileo's opponents has grown somewhat.

與此同時，我們對伽利略的反對派的同情也有所增加。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

His telescopic observations are justly immortal;

伽利略用望遠(yuǎn)鏡所作的觀察確實是不朽的，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

they aroused great interest at the time, they had important theoretical consequences,

這些觀察在當(dāng)時引起了人們極大的興趣，具有重要的理論意義，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

and they provided a striking demonstration of the potentialities hidden in instruments and apparatus.

并充分顯示出了儀表和儀器的潛在力量。

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

But can we blame those who looked and failed to see what Galileo saw, if we remember that to use a telescope at the limit of its powers calls for long experience and intimate familiarity with one's instrument?

但是，如果我們想到，便用一架倍數(shù)有限的望遠(yuǎn)鏡需要長期的經(jīng)驗和對自己儀器的熟悉程度，那么我們怎么能去責(zé)備觀察了天空但沒有看到伽利略所看到的東西的那些人呢？

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

Was the philosopher who refused to look through Galileo's telescope more culpable than those who alleged that the spiral nebulae observed with Lord Rosse's great telescope in the eighteen-forties were scratches left by the grinder?

某位哲學(xué)家曾拒絕使用伽利略的望遠(yuǎn)鏡去觀察天空；到了19世紀(jì)40年代，有人硬把羅斯勛爵高倍望遠(yuǎn)鏡觀測到的螺旋狀星云說成是磨鏡工留下的磨痕。難道反對伽利略的哲學(xué)家比詆毀羅斯勛爵造謠者應(yīng)受到更大的譴責(zé)嗎？

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

We can perhaps forgive those who said the moons of Jupiter were produced by Galileo's spyglass if we recall that in his day, as for centuries before, curved glass was the popular contrivance for producing not truth but illusion, untruth;

如果我們回想一下伽利略之前幾個世紀(jì)期間，曲面鏡一直是一種用于產(chǎn)生幻影而不是產(chǎn)生真象的把戲裝置，那么我們就會原諒那些當(dāng)時把伽利略觀察到的木星衛(wèi)生說成是伽利略用他的小望遠(yuǎn)鏡變出來的人們，

Lesson 32 Galileo reborn

and if a single curved glass would distort nature, how much more would a pair of them?

何況一片曲面鏡就可歪曲自然，那么伽利略的兩片曲面鏡對自然的歪曲又該多大呢？

Lesson 33 Education

Education is one of the key words of our time.

教育是我們這個時代的關(guān)鍵詞之一。

Lesson 33 Education

A man without an education, many of us believe,

我們許多人都相信，一個沒有受過教育的人，

Lesson 33 Education

is an unfortunate victim of adverse circumstances,

是逆境的犧牲品，

Lesson 33 Education

deprived of one of the greatest twentieth-century opportunities.

被剝奪了20世紀(jì)最優(yōu)越的機會之一。