第4章 万物的尺度 The Measure of Things · 第6讲S3

1. 讲稿里说Mason和Dixon那条线后来有了'symbolic importance'，这具体是指啥呀？是不是说这条线在南北战争前成了自由州和奴隶州的分界线？
2. 为什么讲稿里说他们解决边界纠纷没多大名声，反而天文测量让他们在英格兰获得了'spoiled aristocrats'般的喝彩？这里的acclaim和boundary dispute有啥对比关系？
3. 文中提到1761年的金星观测数据太多反而成了讽刺（irony），因为数据间存在'contradictory'（矛盾）且'impossible to resolve'。为啥观测得越多，反而越没法解决科学难题了？
4. James Cook最后成功测绘了澳洲并'claim Australia for the British crown'，这里的claim具体是什么意思？他是怎么通过观测金星来帮天文学家算出日地距离的？
5. 最后说Mason和Dixon虽然回到了英国成了'seminal events'（重大事件）的主角，但'remarkably little is known about either man'。为啥他们在科学史上这么重要，我们却对他们了解得这么少？

1. What exactly does 'symbolic importance' mean here? Does it refer to the line serving as the dividing boundary between free states and slave states before the Civil War?
2. Why did the lecture say their astronomical surveys brought them more acclaim in England than settling the boundary dispute? What's the contrast between the acclaim and the 'spoiled aristocrats' mentioned?
3. The text mentions an irony in the 1761 Venus transit measurements: having too many observations made the data contradictory and impossible to resolve. Why did collecting more data actually make the scientific problem harder to solve?
4. James Cook successfully charted Australia and 'claimed Australia for the British crown'. What does 'claim' mean in this context, and how did his Venus transit observations help astronomers calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun?
5. At the end, it says Mason and Dixon were central to 'seminal events' in 18th-century science, yet 'remarkably little is known about either man'. Why is it that despite their importance, we know so little about these two men?

1 00:00:05,900 --> 00:00:09,100 The result was the famous Mason and Dixon line, 2 00:00:09,340 --> 00:00:12,920 which later took on symbolic importance as the 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,620 dividing line between the slave and free states. 4 00:00:17,810 --> 00:00:20,510 测量的结果就是确定了一条线, 5 00:00:20,610 --> 00:00:23,230 就是著名的 Mason and Dixon line。 6 00:00:23,450 --> 00:00:27,670 这条线后来就 took on symbolic importance, 7 00:00:28,270 --> 00:00:32,370 具有了象征意义,具有了象征的重要性, 8 00:00:32,370 --> 00:00:37,970 因为他们成了美国南北的分界线 Dividing the line 9 00:00:37,970 --> 00:00:44,550 between the slave and free states 北方是自由州南方是 10 00:00:44,550 --> 00:00:50,510 续奴州也就是南方的白人奴隶主可以拥有奴隶这 11 00:00:51,950 --> 00:00:56,350 就是 Mason and Dixon line 就这里实现的部分这 12 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,200 后来是一个延长线在南北内战之前 13 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,700 这就是 free states 跟 slave states 的边界。 14 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,400 Although the line was their principal task, 15 00:01:12,940 --> 00:01:18,200 they also contributed several astronomical surveys. 16 00:01:19,090 --> 00:01:20,670 Principal means major, 17 00:01:20,830 --> 00:01:24,230 尽管这条线是他们主要的工作, 18 00:01:24,490 --> 00:01:28,710 主要的任务,他们也进行了一些天文测量, 19 00:01:34,570 --> 00:01:42,530 这个测量包括本世纪最精确的一度经线程度的测量 an 20 00:01:42,530 --> 00:01:45,930 achievement that brought them far more acclaim in 21 00:01:45,930 --> 00:01:49,330 England than the settling of a boundary dispute 22 00:01:49,330 --> 00:01:56,680 between spoiled aristocratsacclaim 表示 praise 大声 23 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,040 的赞扬喝彩这 24 00:01:59,550 --> 00:02:05,050 项成果为他们赢得的喝彩要远远超过解决边界纠纷这 25 00:02:05,050 --> 00:02:05,490 件事 26 00:02:06,430 --> 00:02:09,830 这里说到 a boundary dispute between spoiled 27 00:02:09,830 --> 00:02:14,330 aristocratsaristocrats 是贵 28 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:19,440 族前面说的那两个人就是英国的贵族他们分别都拥有 29 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,820 一大块的殖民地 a spoiled person, 30 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:25,300 especially a child, 31 00:02:25,620 --> 00:02:29,940 is rude and behaves badlybecause they have always been 32 00:02:29,940 --> 00:02:33,860 given what they want and allowed to do what they want 指 33 00:02:33,860 --> 00:02:35,460 的是那种被惯坏了的, 34 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,100 没有约束的这些小孩尤其是小孩, 35 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,160 当然大人也一样所以 36 00:02:41,220 --> 00:02:45,220 我们这里 spurge aristocrats 可以理解为是缺乏教养 37 00:02:45,220 --> 00:02:46,120 的 back 38 00:02:47,690 --> 00:02:48,250 in Europe, 39 00:02:48,410 --> 00:02:51,430 Maskelyne and his counterparts in Germany and 40 00:02:51,430 --> 00:02:55,010 Francewere forced to the conclusion that the transit 41 00:02:55,010 --> 00:03:00,330 measurements of 1761 回到 42 00:03:01,130 --> 00:03:01,670 欧洲呢 43 00:03:13,260 --> 00:03:17,300 这里指的是他的同行们马 44 00:03:18,290 --> 00:03:24,970 斯基林和他在德国和法国的同行们被迫得出这个结论 45 00:03:26,050 --> 00:03:30,950 M askely 代表的是英国所以这里三国的科学家们被迫 46 00:03:30,950 --> 00:03:35,910 承认 The transit measurements of 7061 were 47 00:03:35,910 --> 00:03:41,930 essentially a failure1761 年的金星零日测量活动是 48 00:03:41,930 --> 00:03:44,500 一个失败 One of the problems, 49 00:03:44,740 --> 00:03:45,180 ironically, 50 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:50,240 was that there were too many observationswhich, 51 00:03:50,460 --> 00:03:51,520 when brought together, 52 00:03:51,700 --> 00:03:54,860 often proved contradictory and impossible to 53 00:03:54,860 --> 00:04:01,080 resolveirony 指的是一种具有讽刺意味的情况比如说 54 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:05,060 it is quite an irony that the powerful Qin dynasty 55 00:04:05,060 --> 00:04:11,040 lasted only 15 years 具有讽刺意味的是这个强大的秦 56 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:17,420 王朝只延续了 15 年 contradictory 是相互矛盾的在 57 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:23,230 存在的种种问题之中有一项相当的具有讽刺意味也就 58 00:04:23,230 --> 00:04:25,100 是 there were too many observations 59 00:04:26,420 --> 00:04:28,380 计划了太多的观测点, 60 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,080 当这些观测点的数据集中整理的时候, 61 00:04:32,420 --> 00:04:34,920 发现它们之间 contradictory, 62 00:04:34,940 --> 00:04:38,900 相互矛盾,相互抵触,无法分辨是非, 63 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,420 impossible to resolve, 64 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,020 resolve 是解决,根本没有办法解决。 65 00:04:44,020 --> 00:04:44,960 The 66 00:04:46,750 --> 00:04:50,090 successful charting of a Venetian transit fell 67 00:04:50,090 --> 00:04:53,550 instead to a little known Yorkshire born sea captain 68 00:04:53,550 --> 00:04:54,850 named James Cook, 69 00:04:55,110 --> 00:04:59,910 who watched the 1769 transit from a sunny hilltop in 70 00:04:59,910 --> 00:05:00,430 Tahiti, 71 00:05:00,670 --> 00:05:04,650 and then went on to chart and claim Australia for the 72 00:05:04,650 --> 00:05:05,390 British crown. 73 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,440 Venetian transit means the transit of Venus. 74 00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:13,860 Venetian 是 Ven us 的形容词形式。 75 00:05:13,860 --> 00:05:20,080 这场惊心临日观测活动的唯一成功案例要属约克郡出 76 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:25,580 生的一个名叫 James Cook 的船长这位船长之前是 77 00:05:25,580 --> 00:05:30,420 Little No on 名不见经状当然到后来就很有名了 Who 78 00:05:30,420 --> 00:05:35,220 watched the 1769 transit from a sunny hilltop in Tahiti 79 00:05:35,220 --> 00:05:41,340 他在太平洋的一个岛就叫大西地的一个岛上从一座阳 80 00:05:41,340 --> 00:05:47,080 光灿烂的山顶上记录了 1769 年金星临日的过程 81 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:52,440 然后呢 and then went on to chart and claim Australia for 82 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:57,440 the British crown to chart Australia 这就是他到达澳 83 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:02,800 洲并且测绘了澳洲周围的海岸线图然后 84 00:06:03,190 --> 00:06:07,090 再 claim Australia for the British crown to claim 85 00:06:07,090 --> 00:06:10,350 something means to declare that something belongs to 86 00:06:10,350 --> 00:06:17,330 someoneclaim 这里是宣布什么东西归什么人所有他就 87 00:06:17,330 --> 00:06:23,470 代表英国王室宣布澳洲归英国所有这个 British 88 00:06:23,470 --> 00:06:27,850 crowncr own 是皇冠的意思在 89 00:06:28,170 --> 00:06:32,730 这里指的是英国王室 This is the famous James Cook 90 00:06:32,730 --> 00:06:36,670 Captain Cook 就是库克船长 Now 91 00:06:37,530 --> 00:06:40,890 this is the real British crownwith jewels and 92 00:06:40,890 --> 00:06:42,430 everything This 93 00:06:43,420 --> 00:06:49,770 is Tahiti on world map 这是太平洋上的大西地岛现在已 ……（后略，完整文稿见视频页字幕）