第7章 元素那些事 Elemental Matters · 第1讲S1

1. 老师，讲稿里说 'chemistry as an earnest and respectable science'，这里的 'earnest' 到底是指化学家性格严肃，还是指化学这门学科很认真、很严谨呀？
2. Robert Boyle 写的《怀疑的化学家》这本书，为什么能成为化学和炼金术的分界线？它具体是怎么把这两者区分开的呢？
3. 文中提到早期的过渡期是 'erratic' 的，还举了那个既写矿物学著作又想变隐形的德国科学家做例子，这说明了当时科学家们的状态有什么特点？
4. 为什么那个德国科学家 John Bechler 会相信能从人尿里蒸馏出黄金？讲稿里提到的 'similarity of color' 在这里起了什么作用？
5. 作者用 Hennig Brand 从尿液中提炼磷这个例子，是想说明早期化学科学具有什么样的本质特性？

1. Teacher, when the text says 'chemistry as an earnest and respectable science', does 'earnest' refer to chemists being serious-minded people, or does it mean the science itself is rigorous and serious?
2. Why was Robert Boyle's book 'The Skeptical Chemist' considered the dividing line between chemistry and alchemy? How exactly did it distinguish between the two?
3. The text mentions that the early transition period was 'erratic' and uses the German scientist who wrote on mineralogy but also believed in invisibility as an example. What does this reveal about the state of scientists at that time?
4. Why did the German scientist John Bechler believe he could distill gold from human urine? What role did the 'similarity of color' play in his conclusion?
5. By using the example of Hennig Brand discovering phosphorus from urine, what essential characteristic of early chemical science is the author trying to illustrate?

1 00:00:10,740 --> 00:00:11,900 Hello everyone, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,720 and welcome to the first lesson of chapter 7, 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:16,220 Elemental Matters. 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,080 Together we will go through these statements and see if 5 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:21,520 they are true or false. 6 00:00:22,780 --> 00:00:23,380 Now, 7 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:27,400 chemistry as an earnest and respectable science is 8 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,800 often said to date from 1661, 9 00:00:30,140 --> 00:00:34,120 when Robert Boyle of Oxford published The Skeptical 10 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:34,780 Chemist, 11 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:38,220 the first work to distinguish between chemists and 12 00:00:38,220 --> 00:00:39,220 alchemists. 13 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:51,340 但是这个 serious 不是指神情非常严肃为人非常严肃 14 00:00:51,340 --> 00:00:54,360 不好相处的意思而是指认真的 15 00:00:57,930 --> 00:01:03,210 化学作为一门严肃而又受人尊敬的科学人 16 00:01:03,340 --> 00:01:08,460 们现在一般说是从 1661 年开始的 to date from means to 17 00:01:08,460 --> 00:01:11,380 start from a certain time 那 18 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,560 为什么说作为一门严肃而又所人尊敬的科学难道还有 19 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,080 什么科学不是 earnest and respectable 20 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:24,500 这么说是因为在刚开始的时候 chemistry and alchemy 21 00:01:24,500 --> 00:01:29,620 were closely related chemistry was not separated from 22 00:01:29,620 --> 00:01:34,140 alchemy and alchemy was not considered a science was 23 00:01:34,140 --> 00:01:39,160 not serious and respectable science 这位科学家写的 24 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:45,460 这本书 The Skeptical Chemist Skeptical meanstending 25 00:01:45,460 --> 00:01:48,900 to disagree with what other people tell you or tending 26 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:52,680 to not believe S C,skeptical, 27 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,780 is the British spelling of the word The American 28 00:01:55,780 --> 00:02:00,300 spelling is S K They are pronounced in the same way and 29 00:02:00,300 --> 00:02:02,440 they mean the same thing 30 00:02:03,300 --> 00:02:04,080 For example, 31 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,720 I'm extremely skeptical about what I read in the press 32 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,680 我对报刊上读到的文字是持高度的怀疑态度 33 00:02:12,260 --> 00:02:16,640 Chemist is the old spelling of chemist 现在其实就是拼 34 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:23,420 写成 che 而不是 y 就是化学家怀疑的化学家作者在这本 35 00:02:23,420 --> 00:02:28,280 书中对当时欧洲的化学思想表示了怀疑正是这种怀疑 36 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:33,070 推动了化学使它成为真正的一门科学 It's the first 37 00:02:33,070 --> 00:02:36,750 work to distinguish between chemists and alchemists 38 00:02:36,750 --> 00:02:40,810 To distinguish means to tell the difference To tell 39 00:02:40,810 --> 00:02:41,330 them apart, 40 00:02:41,730 --> 00:02:49,870 to separate them 这本书是首次把化学家和炼金术士分 41 00:02:49,870 --> 00:02:53,810 开的一部著作 But it was a slow and often erratic 42 00:02:53,810 --> 00:02:58,490 transition 但是这个转变的过程 Transition 是指过渡 43 00:02:58,490 --> 00:03:02,750 这个状态转变的过程是非常缓慢的而且是 44 00:03:02,750 --> 00:03:08,390 erraticerratic 现在是第三次见到他了第一次的时候 45 00:03:08,390 --> 00:03:13,250 讲的是牛顿他是一个 erratic professor 性格怪异仿佛 46 00:03:13,250 --> 00:03:18,410 无常的一个 profess orerratic means not following any 47 00:03:18,410 --> 00:03:22,670 pattern or plan but happens in a way that is not regular 48 00:03:22,670 --> 00:03:24,610 就是没有什么规律可循的 49 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:31,740 所以早期的时候这个过渡的过程是非常缓慢而且经历 50 00:03:31,740 --> 00:03:36,060 了好多次的反复并不是一下子就分开的 into 51 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,840 the 18th centuryscholars could feel utterly 52 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,700 comfortable in both campslike the German John and 53 00:03:43,700 --> 00:03:47,460 Betta who produced an unexceptionable work on 54 00:03:47,460 --> 00:03:52,060 minoritycalled Physical Subterrane a but who also was 55 00:03:52,060 --> 00:03:55,340 certain thatgiven the right materials he could make 56 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:56,340 himself invisible 57 00:03:57,660 --> 00:04:03,200 一直到了 18 世纪这已经过去了好几十年了当时的科学 58 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,660 家依然是 Feel comfortable in both camps Both camps 59 00:04:07,660 --> 00:04:14,040 means in both alchemy and chemistry 在两个阵营他们 60 00:04:14,260 --> 00:04:19,780 都觉得非常的舒适都觉得适得其所这个在我们现在看 61 00:04:19,780 --> 00:04:24,520 来是 oddlyodd 就是很奇怪的可是他们不觉得觉得很正 62 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:30,880 常他们可以脚踩两条船脚踩炼金术和科学两条船比如 63 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:34,080 这个德国的科学家 who 64 00:04:34,210 --> 00:04:37,190 produced an unexceptionable work on 65 00:04:37,190 --> 00:04:42,120 mineralogyunexceptionable 这是第二次见到这个词 66 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,360 第一次见到的时候我就提醒大家这个词很容易跟另外 67 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:47,300 一个词混淆 68 00:04:47,980 --> 00:04:50,880 我们先把 un 去掉这样就变成 69 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:56,580 exceptionableexceptionable It means open or liable 70 00:04:56,580 --> 00:05:00,200 to debate or liable to objection It means 71 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,540 objectionable or debatable 可争议的可以提出反对意 72 00:05:04,540 --> 00:05:10,620 见的跟它很相似的一个词就是 exceptional 这只是词 73 00:05:10,620 --> 00:05:14,520 型很相似意思是完全没有什么联系的 Exceptional 74 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:15,880 means unusually good 75 00:05:16,730 --> 00:05:20,930 那我们上一回见到这个词是在这个句子里边讲欧文 76 00:05:20,930 --> 00:05:25,050 Owen would never again do important research but the 77 00:05:25,050 --> 00:05:28,050 latter half of his career was devoted to one 78 00:05:28,050 --> 00:05:31,890 unexceptionable pursuit for which we can all be 79 00:05:31,890 --> 00:05:32,370 grateful 80 00:05:33,140 --> 00:05:37,400 这里讲的是他建自然历史博物馆这件无可争议的一件 81 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:37,880 好事 82 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:39,600 好了 83 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:44,300 这位德国的科学家他创作了一部矿物学方面的无可争 84 00:05:44,300 --> 00:05:50,030 议的著作叫做 Physical Subterranean 那这两个词并不 85 00:05:50,030 --> 00:05:54,960 是英语但是我们看过去却并不陌生但是因为英语中的 86 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,540 科学的用词很多也都是拉丁文的词根的所以呢看过去 87 00:06:00,540 --> 00:06:04,720 都很相似比如说这个 physical 我们熟悉的那个词那个 88 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,060 英语是 physics 物理学 89 00:06:07,580 --> 00:06:12,300 而 subterranean 是有两个部分构成的一个是 sub means 90 00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:17,460 below 还有这个 terranean 假如大家见过以下这两个词 ……（后略，完整文稿见视频页字幕）