第4章 万物的尺度 The Measure of Things · 第5讲S3

1. 讲稿里说达瓦索布尔把马斯克莱恩写成了‘minion’（笨蛋）和‘villain’（恶棍），这到底是啥意思？为啥她要把这个人写得这么坏呢？
2. 文中提到马斯克莱恩‘be indebted to him’，我知道debt是债务，但这里说‘欠他’是指真的借钱吗？还是指别的贡献？
3. 为了‘称量地球’，为什么必须找一座‘sufficiently regular shape’（形状足够规则）的山？如果山是不规则的，为啥就算不出质量？
4. Charles Mason 和 Maskline 是怎么成为朋友的？他们之前一起做的‘passage of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun’具体是个啥天文现象？
5. 哈雷先生为啥要观测‘金星临日’？这和最后算出‘地球到太阳的距离’有啥关系？中间那个三角测量是咋用的？

1. The transcript says Darwall Sobel portrayed Maskline as a 'minion' (idiot) and a 'villain'. What exactly does that mean, and why did she paint him in such a bad light?
2. The text mentions that Maskline is 'be indebted to him'. I know 'debt' means money owed, but does this mean they actually owed him money, or is it referring to some other kind of contribution?
3. To 'weigh the earth', why was it necessary to find a mountain with a 'sufficiently regular shape'? If the mountain was irregular, why would that make it impossible to calculate its mass?
4. How did Charles Mason and Maskline become friends? What exactly was the astronomical event they worked on together, the 'passage of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun'?
5. Why did Mr. Halley propose observing the 'transit of Venus'? How does that observation help us calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and how was triangulation used in that process?

1 00:00:06,930 --> 00:00:10,310 在达瓦索布尔的著作 Longitude 中, 2 00:00:10,310 --> 00:00:13,430 马斯克莱恩被称为尼尼和威尼, 3 00:00:13,670 --> 00:00:17,770 为了失败地欣赏传统作者 John Harrison 的聪明度。 4 00:00:18,070 --> 00:00:24,370 这也许是这样的,但在她的书中并没有其他提到的其 5 00:00:24,370 --> 00:00:24,710 他方式。 6 00:00:25,050 --> 00:00:28,310 尤其是为了他成功的计划, 7 00:00:28,410 --> 00:00:29,190 为了抵挥地球。 8 00:00:29,780 --> 00:00:34,000 M askeline realized that the number of the problemlay 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,420 with finding a mountain of sufficiently regular shape 10 00:00:37,420 --> 00:00:39,020 to judge its mass 11 00:00:40,090 --> 00:00:45,550 有一位女作家叫 Darvel Sobel 她写了一本畅销书 12 00:00:45,550 --> 00:00:46,450 Longitude 13 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,160 M askeline 在这本书里面被写成了一个 min i 和 14 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:57,620 villainmin i 是闯祸笨蛋 villain 是恶棍 15 00:00:58,290 --> 00:01:01,590 为什么把他写得这么坏呢是因为 16 00:01:07,190 --> 00:01:10,390 因为他不能欣赏中 17 00:01:10,420 --> 00:01:14,540 表将 John Harrison 的杰出的卓越的才华 18 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:20,020 关于这个 John Harrison 和 Muskline 之间的恩怨还有这 19 00:01:20,020 --> 00:01:25,010 个中表将跟这个金豆有什么关系这个说来话长我们没 20 00:01:25,010 --> 00:01:29,940 有时间在这里讲大家有兴趣的话可以去网络上搜这篇 21 00:01:29,940 --> 00:01:35,380 文章叫我为钟狂钟就是钟表那个钟 And 22 00:01:36,750 --> 00:01:42,750 this may be so This 指的是前面说的这种情况说他不能 23 00:01:42,750 --> 00:01:44,890 欣赏 John Harrison 的才华 24 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:51,900 不能欣赏他做出的贡献这个批评也许确实有道理 But 25 00:01:52,220 --> 00:01:56,440 we are indebted to him in other ways not mentioned in her 26 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,740 book Be indebted to 我们在这个词里边可以看到 27 00:02:00,740 --> 00:02:06,420 debtdebt 本来是债务的意思 being indebted to 表示欠 28 00:02:06,420 --> 00:02:07,380 某人债务 29 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:13,020 当然我们不可能欠他什么钱他这里指的意思是说他对 30 00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:18,040 我们也是有帮助的其实他对我们是有贡献的他在其他 31 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,380 方面对人类是有贡献的但是这些方面呢在这本书里面 32 00:02:22,380 --> 00:02:27,320 就根本没有提 not least for his successful scheme to 33 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:32,180 weigh the earth not least means in particular 尤其是他 34 00:02:32,180 --> 00:02:36,920 为了测量地球的体重而提出的非常成功的一个方案 35 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:43,100 scheme means plan or program Maskline realized that 36 00:02:43,100 --> 00:02:46,980 the nub of the problemlay with finding a mountain of 37 00:02:46,980 --> 00:02:51,520 sufficiently regular shapenub means the essence or 38 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:58,870 the core Maskline 意识到问题的核心在于必须找到一 39 00:02:58,870 --> 00:03:05,950 座外形非常规则的山这样才可以 judge its mass 才可以 40 00:03:05,950 --> 00:03:09,150 估算它的质量前面我们说了 41 00:03:10,700 --> 00:03:17,400 要算出这个山的质量然后算出万有引力常数这样的话 42 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:23,130 就可以算出地球的质量了那问题是山的质量怎么算出 43 00:03:23,130 --> 00:03:23,540 来呢 44 00:03:23,830 --> 00:03:30,470 如果这个山是 s ufficiently regular 尤其是它是圆锥 45 00:03:30,470 --> 00:03:31,050 形的 46 00:03:31,590 --> 00:03:35,170 这样的话我们就可以算出它的体积我们 47 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:41,210 知道了这个山的底座那个直径然后知道了山的高度这 48 00:03:41,210 --> 00:03:44,020 样就可以算出它的体积算 49 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:50,340 出体积以后呢我们再测量出这个山的一个体积单位的 50 00:03:50,340 --> 00:03:56,240 重量我们可以在山上搬一些石头称一下这部分石头的 51 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,600 重量那假设这座山的密度几乎是一样的话 52 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,200 这样的话就可以估算出整座山的质量了 53 00:04:07,260 --> 00:04:08,800 At his urging, 54 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:13,160 the Royal Society agreed to engage a reliable figure to 55 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,560 tour the British Isles to see if such a mountain could be 56 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:16,880 found 57 00:04:17,850 --> 00:04:25,050 在他的催促之下 Urging 就是敦促催促皇家天文学会同 58 00:04:25,050 --> 00:04:30,390 意 Engage a reliable figure To engage means to employ or 59 00:04:30,390 --> 00:04:35,090 to hire someone to do a particular job A reliable figure 60 00:04:35,330 --> 00:04:40,130 找一个靠谱的人 Figure 不是数字的意思而是 61 00:04:40,130 --> 00:04:40,750 character 62 00:04:40,870 --> 00:04:45,230 一个人 To tour the British Isles means to travel around 63 00:04:45,230 --> 00:04:50,450 the British Isles British Isles 是物列颠群岛英国是 64 00:04:50,450 --> 00:04:55,250 有两个大岛再加上几百个小岛构成的派 65 00:04:55,280 --> 00:05:00,240 一个人到英国四处去查访看看能不能找到这样的一座 66 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:01,440 山 M 67 00:05:01,860 --> 00:05:05,460 askeline knew just such a person M 68 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:10,600 askeline 心中正好有一个合适的人选他就是 The 69 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,180 Astronomer and Surveyor Charles Mason 70 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:19,380 他是天文学家兼土地测量员 Charles Mason Surveyor, 71 00:05:19,540 --> 00:05:22,540 我们之前学过 survey,survey, 72 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,580 一个是名词 survey,survey 是动词, 73 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:27,380 是测量、勘探的意思。 74 00:05:27,820 --> 00:05:30,280 所以 surveyor 是测量员。 75 00:05:30,820 --> 00:05:34,900 M askeline and Mason had become friends 11 years 76 00:05:34,900 --> 00:05:38,860 earlier while engaged in a project to measure an 77 00:05:38,860 --> 00:05:41,400 astronomical event of great importance, 78 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,800 the passage of the planet Venus across the face of the 79 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:51,740 Sun.Maskline 和 Mason 十一年前就已经成为朋友了他 80 00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:52,200 们 81 00:05:52,260 --> 00:05:56,440 是怎么成为朋友的呢是 while engaged in a project 82 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:00,500 together 当时他们共同从事一个项目 83 00:06:01,020 --> 00:06:05,300 这个项目就是 to measure an astronomical event of 84 00:06:05,300 --> 00:06:10,710 great importance 测量一个非常重要的天文事件那就 85 00:06:10,710 --> 00:06:15,340 是 the passage of the planet Venus across the face of the 86 00:06:15,340 --> 00:06:21,440 sunpassage 并不是大家比较熟悉的那个篇章的意思它 87 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:27,260 是 pass 的名词 pass 就是穿过通过所以这个 passage 也 88 00:06:27,260 --> 00:06:33,480 就是穿过通过的意思这个重要的天文事件呢就是金星 89 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,540 从太阳表面穿过其实 90 00:06:40,170 --> 00:06:46,150 呢这只是看起来好像金星从地球表面上穿过实际上不 91 00:06:46,150 --> 00:06:52,530 可能的它的原理就跟日食是差不多的我们知道当太阳 92 00:06:52,530 --> 00:06:55,710 月亮和地球排成一条直线的时候 93 00:06:56,450 --> 00:07:01,690 月球就会把太阳挡住所以我们在地球上看太阳的时候 94 00:07:01,690 --> 00:07:06,590 就会发现它被挡住了一点然后过了一会儿呢它又露出 95 00:07:06,590 --> 00:07:12,230 来了那是因为运行的位置改变大家就不再同一条直线 96 00:07:12,230 --> 00:07:12,650 上了 97 00:07:12,810 --> 00:07:19,8 ……（后略，完整文稿见视频页字幕）