第4章 万物的尺度 The Measure of Things · 第8讲S3

1. 老师，讲稿里说重力是 'elemental' 且 'unrobust' 的，这两个词具体啥意思呀？为什么用 'unrobust' 来形容重力很微弱？
2. Cavendish 做实验的时候要求 'delicacy was the key word'，这里的 delicacy 是‘精致’的意思吗？为什么做这种测量实验需要‘精细灵敏’？
3. 文中提到 'an adjoining room' 用来观察，这个 adjoining 和隔壁的 next to 有啥区别？为什么 Cavendish 非要隔着墙用望远镜看，不能直接进屋里吗？
4. 那个数字 '13 billion trillion pounds' 读起来太绕了，到底有多少个零呀？还有 metric ton 和 US ton 到底差多少，为啥要特意区分？
5. 现在的仪器都能测出细菌的重量了，为什么讲稿说科学家 'have not significantly improved on Cavendish's measurements'，难道 Cavendish 算得比我们还准吗？

1. Teacher, what do 'elemental' and 'unrobust' mean here? Why use 'unrobust' to describe gravity as weak?
2. Does 'delicacy' mean 'exquisite' in this context? Why is 'precision and sensitivity' so crucial for this measurement experiment?
3. What's the difference between 'an adjoining room' and 'the next room'? Why did Cavendish have to observe through a telescope from the next room instead of going in?
4. The number '13 billion trillion pounds' is so confusing, how many zeros are there exactly? And what's the difference between a metric ton and a US ton?
5. Since modern machines can weigh a single bacterium, why does the text say scientists 'have not significantly improved on Cavendish's measurements'? Is Cavendish's calculation more accurate than ours?

1 00:00:06,860 --> 00:00:07,980 At an elemental level, 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:12,600 gravity is extraordinarily unrobust.Elemental, 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:13,880 我们先看一下 element, 4 00:00:14,140 --> 00:00:16,780 element 是基本元素的意思, 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,600 那么 elemental,it means fundamental and basic, 6 00:00:20,820 --> 00:00:25,140 有基本的,基础的,跟那个 elementary 那个词比较像, 7 00:00:25,300 --> 00:00:27,640 大家可能比较熟悉这个 elementary, 8 00:00:27,660 --> 00:00:29,420 elementary school,小学。 9 00:00:29,420 --> 00:00:33,820 Unrobust,它的反义词是 robust, 10 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:39,110 或者也可以读作 robust It means strong and healthy, 11 00:00:39,330 --> 00:00:44,480 therefore unrobust means weak 在基础的层面上, 12 00:00:44,660 --> 00:00:49,780 重力是极其微弱的 Each time you pick up a book from a 13 00:00:49,780 --> 00:00:50,140 table, 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,160 or a dime from the floor You effortlessly overcome the 15 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,780 combined gravitational exertion of an entire planet 16 00:00:58,510 --> 00:01:04,590 a dime 是美元的一角钱一毛钱十美分的一个硬币 17 00:01:05,260 --> 00:01:10,440 effortlessly 先看 efforteffort 是你付出的努力就你 18 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:15,420 花的力气你花的心思都是 efforteffortlessly 毫不费 19 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:17,080 劲因为这个 less 20 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:24,130 这个是否定的后缀 exertion 同样先看它的动词 I 21 00:01:24,130 --> 00:01:28,890 exerted all my strength to move the box 我使出了全身力 22 00:01:28,890 --> 00:01:33,810 气去搬这个箱子 Exert 就表示用力因此它的名字 23 00:01:33,810 --> 00:01:38,610 Exertion 就跟 Effort 非常相似 It means great effort 每 24 00:01:38,610 --> 00:01:44,970 次你从桌子上拿起一本书或者从地板上捡起一枚硬币 25 00:01:44,970 --> 00:01:51,190 你都毫不费力地克服了整个星球整个行星也就是整个 26 00:01:51,190 --> 00:01:56,370 地球的全部的引力 What Cavendish was trying to do was 27 00:01:56,370 --> 00:01:59,670 measure gravity at this extremely featherweight 28 00:01:59,670 --> 00:02:06,260 level Cavendish 试图要做的实验就是要在这样一个极 29 00:02:06,260 --> 00:02:12,940 其微量的极其微小的层面上去测量 gravity 测量重力 30 00:02:12,940 --> 00:02:17,980 这个 featherweight 是指拳击比赛中的雨量级选手雨 31 00:02:17,980 --> 00:02:22,340 量级就比那个轻量级比 lightweight 体重还要轻一些 32 00:02:22,340 --> 00:02:28,790 的在这呢就是指微小的 delicacy was the key 33 00:02:28,790 --> 00:02:33,530 worddelicacy 的形容词就是这个 delicatedelicate 34 00:02:33,530 --> 00:02:40,330 here means precise and sensitive 精细精确十分灵敏的 35 00:02:40,330 --> 00:02:44,910 可能大家以前在别的地方学过这个 delicate 它可能会 36 00:02:44,910 --> 00:02:50,990 表示其他的意思比如说娇弱的但是在这儿它是精细灵 37 00:02:50,990 --> 00:02:56,950 敏那要完成这个实验呢精细灵敏这是很关键的 38 00:03:03,230 --> 00:03:10,070 在安放仪器的这个屋子里边是不允许有任何一点点的 39 00:03:10,070 --> 00:03:13,960 干扰连低声细语都不可以 40 00:03:25,310 --> 00:03:29,110 An adjoining room means the room next to the room 41 00:03:29,110 --> 00:03:30,130 containing the apparatus 42 00:03:30,670 --> 00:03:35,470 在安放仪器的那个房间隔壁叫 adjoining room 就隔壁 43 00:03:35,470 --> 00:03:36,130 旁边 44 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,840 Covindish 就必须要在旁边的一个房间里面进行观察 45 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,580 它是通过 telescope 通过一个望远镜进行观察的 Aimed 46 00:03:46,580 --> 00:03:51,100 through a peephole 这个望远镜是通过一个洞伸出去往 47 00:03:51,100 --> 00:03:52,720 里边看这个 people, 48 00:03:52,940 --> 00:03:57,000 我们现在的 people 是安装在门上的这种猫眼, 49 00:03:57,100 --> 00:03:59,000 就是可以从里边往外看, 50 00:03:59,100 --> 00:04:00,620 但是外面看不进来。 51 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,460 那以前的 people 只是一个小洞。 52 00:04:05,070 --> 00:04:09,110 The work was incredibly exacting and involved 17 53 00:04:09,110 --> 00:04:11,830 delicate interconnected measurements, 54 00:04:12,310 --> 00:04:15,610 which together took nearly a year to complete. 55 00:04:16,650 --> 00:04:19,570 Exacting means very demanding, 56 00:04:19,870 --> 00:04:21,450 demanding a lot of effort, 57 00:04:21,690 --> 00:04:23,470 careful work,or skills. 58 00:04:25,110 --> 00:04:28,670 这项实验难度极大,要求又极高。 59 00:04:29,990 --> 00:04:36,550 里边牵涉到 17 个非常精细而且相互间都有联系的数 60 00:04:36,550 --> 00:04:36,850 据。 61 00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:41,220 测量工作一共花了一年时间才完成。 62 00:04:41,220 --> 00:04:41,960 at 63 00:04:44,710 --> 00:04:48,230 last he had finished his calculations Kevin Dish 64 00:04:48,230 --> 00:04:51,390 announced that the earth weighed a little over 13 65 00:04:51,390 --> 00:04:55,330 billion trillion pounds or 6 billion trillion metric 66 00:04:55,330 --> 00:04:59,330 tons to use the modern measure a metric ton is 1, 67 00:04:59,570 --> 00:05:01,230 000 kilograms or 2, 68 00:05:01,450 --> 00:05:07,430 205 pounds 我们先看一下这个数字是怎么读出来的到 69 00:05:07,430 --> 00:05:12,250 这儿就是后面有三个零的这是千 thousand 到这儿后面 70 00:05:12,250 --> 00:05:13,990 是六个零的这是 million, 71 00:05:14,210 --> 00:05:19,840 是百万这儿呢,后面是九个零的这个是 billion, 72 00:05:20,020 --> 00:05:26,320 就是十亿再往这儿,后面有十二个零这个是 trillion, 73 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,240 就是兆再 74 00:05:28,340 --> 00:05:28,880 到这儿, 75 00:05:28,940 --> 00:05:33,340 本来还是有一个专门的单词但是人们觉得已经很晕了 76 00:05:33,340 --> 00:05:35,500 不愿意再用新的词所以呢, 77 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,120 一般来说就继续用 trillion 那到这儿, 78 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,680 因为有一千个 trillion 所以是 a thousand trillion 而 79 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,600 这里呢是 a million trillion 80 00:05:45,220 --> 00:05:48,860 到这儿就是 billion trillion 所以这是 13 billion 81 00:05:48,860 --> 00:05:50,060 trillion pounds 82 00:05:51,380 --> 00:05:55,460 如果换算成公制单位换算成 metric tons 83 00:05:55,860 --> 00:06:00,147 就是公吨的话那就是 6 billion trillion metric tons 为 84 00:06:00,147 --> 00:06:03,920 什么 tons 前面要加上 metric 因为 85 00:06:03,990 --> 00:06:09,530 ton 是非常混乱的一个单位如果不加的话会让人觉得 86 00:06:09,530 --> 00:06:16,330 可能是 US ton 美吨 US ton 又叫做 short ton 就是短吨因为 87 00:06:16,330 --> 00:06:23,390 它比较少一点相当于 2000 pounds 也就是 2000 磅 907. 88 00:06:23,810 --> 00:06:29,177 2 公斤这个就是 pounds 就是这个 pounds 这是简写那为 89 00:06:29,177 --> 00:06:33,290 什么这个 pounds 会写成这个 lb 好像一点都不像那这是 90 00:06:33,290 --> 00:06:36,490 因为这个 lb 这个是拉丁文的简写 91 00:06:37,980 --> 00:06:42,990 ton 还可能是 British ton 就是英吨它叫 long tongue 你 92 00:06:42,990 --> 00:06:45,630 看这个 long tongue 比 short tongue 要多 93 00:06:46,620 --> 00:06:51,620 那我们大家用的我们最熟悉的是 metric tongue 是公吨 94 00:06:51,620 --> 00:06:56,560 我们用的是公智单位在以前的课程里边我们有一次专 95 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:02,820 ……（后略，完整文稿见视频页字幕）