There are some great questions

自从人类眼中闪耀出智慧之光

that have intrigued and haunted us

就有几个重要的问题

since the dawn of humanity.

让我们为之着迷

天外有何奥秘

人类从何而来

万物由何组成

The story of our search to answer those questions

我们寻找答案的旅程

is the story of science.

就是科学的故事

Of all human endeavours,

在人类所有的成就中

science has had the greatest impact on our lives,

科学对生活的影响最为深刻

on how we see the world,

影响了我们对这个世界

on how we see ourselves.

以及对我们自身的看法

Its ideas, its achievements, its results,

它的思想 成就 结晶

are all around us.

无处不在

So, how did we arrive at the modern world?

我们是如何建立起现代社会呢

Well, that is more surprising and more human

其过程比你想象的

than you might think.

更神奇 更人性

The history of science

科学的历史

is often told as a series of eureka moments.

常被讲成是一个个的灵光一现

The ultimate triumph of the rational mind.

理性思维的最终胜利

But the truth is that power and passion,

但事实却是 权力与激情

rivalry and sheer blind chance

竞争与纯粹的偶然

have played equally significant parts.

对科学同样重要

In this series,

在这个系列中

I'll be offering a different view of how science happens.

我将会从另一个视角讲述科学的历程

It's been shaped as much

实验室内外

by what's outside the laboratory as inside.

对其影响都同等重要

This is the story of how history made science,

这是一个历史造就科学

and science made history,

科学成就历史

and how the ideas that were generated changed our world.

以及思想改变世界的故事

It is a tale of...

这个故事充满了

权力

and

以及

激情

This time, one of the oldest questions we've asked:

本集讲述了我们关心的最古老的问题

天外有何奥秘

These days, you have to drive a long way

如今 要想像先人那样观察星空

to go and see the night sky the way that our ancestors did.

你必须开车到很远的地方去

One of science's great achievements was to create artificial light.

科学的伟大成就之一就是人造光

But unfortunately it does tend to blot out the beauty of the cosmos.

不幸地是 它同时使浩瀚的星空黯淡了

It's very peaceful and quiet here, which is rather surprising

这里一片宁静 相当令人惊讶

because you and I are actually on a giant rock,

因为事实上你我正处于一块巨大的石头上

越靠近两极地区速度越小 在极点处为0

这里说法有误 地球赤道地区自转速度为1600千米每小时

which is spinning through empty space at at least 1,000 miles an hour.

它至少以1600千米每小时的速度自转

And with our companion, the Moon,

同时和我们的伙伴月亮一起

we are also hurtling round the Sun at a terrifying

我们还围绕着太阳以骇人的

67,000 miles an hour.

每小时11万千米的速度疾驰

And that's not all,

除此之外

because we are part of a huge galaxy called the Milky Way,

因为我们还身处于巨大的星系 银河系中

which consists of hundreds of billions of stars.

它由数千亿颗恒星组成

Out there, we have seen the birth and death of stars,

在那里 我们目睹了恒星的诞生与消亡

heard the whisper of creation.

聆听了造物者的絮语

We now realise our universe is a place

我们现在知道身处的这个宇宙

of unimaginable strangeness.

充满了难以想象的神奇

It is so hard to understand

它是如此的难以琢磨

that it's not surprising that, for most of history,

因此我们不必奇怪 在过去很长时间

there was a very different view of what is out there.

人们关于宇宙的理解与现在大为不同

This is the story of how we came to know

这个故事讲述了我们如何一步步

what we do know about this bizarre and dazzling universe.

揭开了这个奇异而炫目的宇宙的面纱

For me, the story begins in Prague,

在我看来 这个故事开始于布拉格

in the opening days of the 17th century,

十七世纪之初

a defining moment in the creation of modern science.

那个现代科学诞生的决定性时刻

It was here that three critical factors came together.

在这里 三个关键因素汇聚到了一起

Men with daring ideas.

大胆的思想者

Collectors of evidence.

证据的收集者

And someone prepared to pay for it all.

还有乐于资助他们的人

Europe was in turmoil.

当时欧洲正处于动乱中

Forces of religious and political change

宗教及政治力量的更迭

were sweeping across the continent.

席卷了整个欧洲大陆

These were violent and dangerous times.

这是充满了暴力与危险的时代

But, out of all this tumult would emerge a new vision of the cosmos.

但是 在这乱世中新的宇宙观诞生了

It all started when a couple of the age's more unusual thinkers

这一切源于两个当时不同寻常的思想家

came to work at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II.

开始为罗马大帝鲁道夫二世效劳

In those days, Prague was a major centre of power and culture.

当时 布拉格是重要的政治与文化中心

The Emperor Rudolph was hungry for new discoveries.

鲁道夫大帝急需新奇的发现

New ideas to dazzle and impress his fellow rulers.

新鲜的思想去震慑同时期的统治者们

His enormous wealth and patronage

他巨大的财富和慷慨的赞助

drew to Prague one of the brightest stars of the age,

将当时最优秀的科学家之一吸引到了布拉格

the astronomer Tycho Brahe,

天文学家第谷·布拉赫

an eccentric Danish nobleman.

一个古怪的丹麦贵族

Tycho was a wonderfully colourful character.

第谷是一个极富传奇色彩的人物

When he was a student,

还在读书时

he lost a large chunk of his nose in a duel

他在一次决斗中失去了一大块鼻子

and had it replaced with a metal one.

然后用一个金属鼻子取而代之

Legend has it he kept a dwarf under his table,

传说他在自己的桌子下养了一个侏儒

and he believed that that dwarf was clairvoyant.

他坚信这个侏儒能够通灵

He also apparently kept an elk,

他同时养了一头麋鹿

which fell down the stairs when drunk, and died.

它有一次喝醉了摔下楼梯 死了

There is however one thing about Tycho which is absolutely certain

但是关于第谷有一件事情是千真万确的

he was a passionate stargazer.

他是一位狂热的观星家

Science needs evidence,

科学需要证据

and Tycho was a new sort of data gatherer.

而第谷是一位开创性的数据收集者

He built a vast observatory,

他建造了一座巨大的天文台

and equipped it with the best instruments money could buy.

并在其中配备了当时能买到的最好的设备

And so was his commitment,

他献身于此

night after night for over 20 years.

一夜又一夜地坚持了20多年

He was putting together a unique body of evidence

他收集了一整套独一无二的

that would in time reveal the secrets of how the planets move.

最终能够揭示行星运动奥秘的证据

Right. So we've got the Moon over there.

好 所以我们可以看到月亮在那边

Now this is how you'd make an observation with Tycho's Quadrant.

使用第谷象限仪进行观测的方法是这样的

It is of course pointing at the Moon.

首先当然是指向月亮

You take the sighting arm.

你抬起瞄准臂

You sight it exactly upon the Moon.

将它对准月亮

You would look through the upper slit

通过上狭缝观测时

across the upper part of that central brass peg... - Yeah.

要和中央铜丝上部对齐 -明白

Then the lower slit through the lower peg,

通过下狭缝观测时与下部对齐

so the upper and the lower cusps of the Moon,

所以月亮的上下边缘

the points of the Moon, were between them.

月亮的指向 就在这两个观测狭缝之间

You've got it lined up, essentially.

原理上说 就是要和它对齐

Absolutely lined up.

分毫不差

OK. So I get that as 15 degrees...

好的 读数是15度

- and 40 minutes of arc. - That sounds perfectly reasonable.

-40分 -听上去很合理

OK. And that is logged as the Moon,

好的 接下来记录下来 月亮

on the 26th of May at just past ten o'clock.

在5月26日刚过10点时

Just past ten o'clock.

刚过10点

So he would go on plotting these details throughout the night.

所以他要整晚不停地记录这些细节

Yes. Not just the Moon, the Moon would set,

是的 不止是月亮 月亮肯定要记录

but you'd do it for planets,

还有行星

as things appropriately came in the sky,

还有依此在天空出现的天体

and build up these great observing logs of raw data.

然后由原初数据 积累了浩瀚的观测记录

And out of that, of course, is what the heart of science is.

它所体现的是科学的精髓

Tycho starts his tradition of science,

第谷开创了科学的新守则

not just being about information and theories, about data.

不仅仅要有信息和理论 还要有数据

Information and analysis from fresh observations.

从原始观测结果中得到信息 再加以分析

Books of it, presumably? - Absolutely.

无数的数据 我猜 -当然

Having seen you in action now,

看过你的操作

what I'd like to do now

我现在想做的是

is look at a star, the pole star, the north star.

观测一颗恒星 北极星

The pole star, which of course everything rotates around,

北极星 一切恒星旋转的中心

the star over here.

就是这颗

What Tycho was doing represents something really important

第谷的工作方法 体现了促使科学产生的

in the emergence of science

一些极其重要的东西

a commitment to cold, hard, obstinate facts.

对冰冷无情却又不可改变的事实的忠诚

I can see it now I'm lining it up with that and...

我想我现在对准那颗星了

That is 51 degrees and 36 arc minutes.

那是51度36分

Right, excellent. So that's my first star.

好极了 那是我观测的第一颗恒星

It is indeed. Not bad at all.

确实 很不错

Thank you. I've got 776 to go.

谢谢 还有776颗在等着我

- Congratulations! - Thank you.

恭喜 -谢谢

It's a shame that the craftsmen who built such beautiful instruments,

遗憾的是 制造如此精妙仪器的工匠

and men like Tycho who used them,

和仪器的使用者 如第谷

get so little credit.

得到的荣誉却如此之少

Because the evidence that he gathered would, in time,

因为他收集到的证据 用不了多久

undermine a belief system that had dominated Western thoughts

就会破坏一个已经统治西方思想

for over 2,000 years.

长达两千多年的思想体系

Many early civilisations

很多早期文明

developed sophisticated ideas about the heavens.

都发展出对天体的精妙解读

But the Western view was, above all,

但是西方的观点 归根到底

defined in ancient Greece.

来源于古希腊

You can get a sense of Greek cosmology if you come here.

来到这里 你能感受到希腊人的宇宙观

This is the sacred site of Delphi.

这是希腊圣地德尔菲

Its famous oracle drew people from all over the Greek world.

它著名的神谕吸引了希腊时代各地的信徒

This is the Temple of Apollo,

这里是阿波罗神庙

and it's where you'd have come

来到这里

and often received extremely cryptic advice.

你常常聆听到神秘的神谕

It is also where you would have found the Omphalos,

在这里你还可以看到阿波罗神殿圆石

a stone which marked the centre of the world,

这块石头标志着世界中心

and therefore for many Greeks, the centre of the cosmos.

因此对很多希腊人来说 也是宇宙中心

Down the centuries, Greek philosophers argued long and hard

几个世纪以来 希腊哲学家长期而激烈地

about the shape of the universe and what is out there

争论着宇宙的形状和天外的奥秘

until, in the end, one particular view became dominant.

直到最终 一个特定的看法成了主流

Around the fourth century BC,

公元前四世纪左右

a number of Greeks developed a model of the universe

一群希腊人得出了一个宇宙模型

in which the Earth was stationary and everything else

其中地球是静止的 其他所有一切

moved in giant, perfect circles around the stationary Earth.

都在以地球为圆心的巨大正圆轨道上运动

The perfect circular orbits of the other planets

其他星球的正圆轨道

reflecting the perfection of the gods that had put them there.

表明将它们放置到那里的诸神的尽善尽美

It was simple, intuitive and, of course, it was wrong.

这个模型简单 符合直觉 但是错误

Yet it endured.

然而它长盛不衰

So why did this idea persist for so long?

那么为什么这个想法有如此长久的生命力

Well, it's partly because it's comforting to be at the centre of things.

部分原因是因为在宇宙的中心让人欣慰

But also because the alternative made absolutely no sense.

也因为其他观点毫无道理

If we really are on a rock hurtling through space,

如果我们真是位于在宇宙中飞驰的石头上

then surely we would be constantly buffeted by huge winds.

大风岂不会终年刮个不休

So, commonsense said the Earth must be stationary

逻辑告诉我们 地球是静止的

with everything going round it.

其他星球围绕地球旋转

But there was a problem with this idea, a pretty fundamental one.

但是这个观点有个问题 一个根本性问题

A remarkable discovery, made just over a century ago,

一个世纪前 一个惊人的发现

gives us a striking insight into the Greek view of the cosmos.

让我们进一步了解希腊人的宇宙观

It was the result of a freak storm.

一切由一场暴风雨引起

Battered by strong winds, a group of sponge divers

一群采集海绵的潜水员 被困在强风中

took shelter on the small Greek island of Antikythera.

他们在希腊的安提凯希拉小岛避难

When the storm finally subsided,

当暴风雨退去

one of the divers decided to explore the unfamiliar waters.

一个潜水员打算探索一下这个陌生水域

There were no sponges,

底下没有海绵

but strewn across the seabed were the remains of an ancient shipwreck.

而是散落在海底的沉船残骸

Its cargo 2,000 years old.

货物已有两千年历史

They also found a strange bronze mechanism,

他们找到的一件奇怪的青铜仪器

which would turn out to be one of the rarest and,

是一件极为罕见的宝物

in its own way,

又以其独特

most precious treasures ever recovered from the ancient world.

成为迄今发现的最为珍贵的古代遗物

It is a beautifully engineered scientific instrument,

那是一个制作精良的科学仪器

with wheels and cogs carved from bronze.

他的轮盘和齿轮由青铜雕刻而成

Nothing like this would be made for another thousand years.

与之媲美的仪器 一千中年都没能出现

But its exact purpose has long been a puzzle.

其用途 一直是一个谜

Michael Wright has spent more than 20 years

迈克尔·莱特用了20多年

attempting to create a model of the original,

尝试制作一个复制品

and to understand its workings.

并理解它的工作原理

Hello. - Hello.

你好 -你好

Nice to meet you. And this is the mechanism, is it?

幸会 就是这个仪器吗

This is the mechanism. - Do you mind if I twiddle?

就是这个仪器 -我能动一下吗

Of course, have a go. You won't break it.

当然 试试吧 弄不坏的

So what's it doing when I turn this?

我转这个把手会发生什么

This is the representation of the sky

这按照人们的想象

as people tended to think of it.

重现了天体的运行

You can picture, if you like,

你可以想象

the Earth being at the centre of the dial,

地球在表盘的中央

and the planets and the Sun and Moon going round us.

其他行星 太阳以及月亮围绕地球旋转

- That's the Moon there. - That's the Moon.

那里是月亮 -那是月亮

- And as the Moon goes round. - That's presumably what, full moon?

当月亮运行 -那是什么 满月吗

That's full moon because it's opposite the sun pointer.

那是满月因为正好在太阳对面

What impresses me is,

让我吃惊的是

- so somebody designed this well over 2,000 years ago. - Yes.

两千年前有人发明了这仪器 -是啊

Built it well over 2,000 years ago.

两千年前制造的

Of course, the bit you're looking at here is my restoration.

当然 你所见的是我的复原品

So, I don't guarantee the original was exactly like this,

不能保证和原仪器完全一样

but I do say with some confidence it was along these lines.

但我能很自信的说和原仪器基本相同

That is very clever!

巧夺天工啊

But what this mechanism illustrates

仪器所展现的

is how the Greeks wrestled with a tricky astronomical problem.

是希腊人如何应对一个棘手的天文问题

One that comes about if you think that the Earth is

把地球想成宇宙中心

at the centre of the universe.

而带来的问题

It's this.

就是这个

The planets sometimes appear to move backwards in the night sky.

行星有时候会在夜空中逆行

(行星在天空中相对于恒星向东的运动 称为顺行 反之称为逆行)

It's a problem that the Greeks recognised and agonised over.

希腊人意识到这个问题 并倍感头痛

Most of the time, they're going forwards,

大部分时候 他们在顺行

which is sort of what I would expect, some of them going fast.

和假设相符 有些速度相当快

Ooh and that one's... Which one's that?

看那个 那是哪颗行星

Oh, that's Mars. Now we see it's stopped.

那是火星 我们看到它停了下来

And there it goes backwards.

然后开始倒退

All the planets have these phases of going backwards. - Right.

所有行星都有逆行阶段 -是的

But Mars has a particularly bold one.

但是火星的尤为明显

In general, you see them moving a little further east every night.

大部分时间 它们每晚会向东移动一点

But there come times with each of the planets

但每个行星都会在某一时刻

when they seem to stop amongst the stars and go westward,

似乎在群星中停了下来 接下来一段时间内

for a, a period of days.

向西移动

And then they stop again and go back eastward.

之后又停止 恢复向东移动

And this instrument replicates that behaviour.

这个仪器 模拟出了那个现象

This complexity didn't make the Greeks question their perfect circles.

复杂的行星运动没有让希腊人怀疑完美的圆

Instead, they added more, a lot more

反倒是又加了些圆 许多圆

well over 50.

超过了五十个

This tangle of circles moving upon circles explained

错综复杂的圆形轨道

how the planets appeared to move backwards,

解释了为什么看上去行星会逆行

and preserved the belief in an Earth-centred universe.

并保留了地心说的观念

The person who made this knew the latest astronomy,

制造此仪器的人了解当时最前沿的天文学

he knew how to combine circular motions

并且会组合圆周运动

to get something like the true motion of the planets.

以模拟行星的真实运动

This view of the cosmos

这种宇宙观

was one of the most enduring beliefs in human history.

是人类历史上最长久的信仰之一

It took root in the Arab world after the collapse of Rome.

罗马瓦解后 阿拉伯人也开始相信此观点

And it was adopted by the Catholic Church in Europe.

并为欧洲的天主教会所用

It was so deeply embedded in European thought

此观点在欧洲人思维中根深蒂固

that it would take a radical shift to dislodge it,

以致需要一场激烈的改革才有所改变

and that was brought about by a great force of history.

一场历史的车轮带来的变革

The Reformation.

宗教改革

It began as a revolt against abuses by the Catholic Church.

始于反对天主教会滥用职权

And ended splitting Western Europe into two,

终于西欧的一分为二

Catholic and Protestant.

天主教以及新教

The new Protestant movement stressed the role of the individual

新教宣扬教会权威所约束之外的

outside the authority of the Church.

个人的重要性

The Reformation created two conflicting views

宗教改革诞生了两个相互矛盾的观点

about the route to personal salvation, about how you got to heaven.

有关如何获得救赎 升入天堂

If there could be doubt about such a fundamental question,

如果这么基础的问题都能有疑问

then perhaps there were also doubts about other ancient truths.

那么对其他古老真理也会有所怀疑

The Reformation created an intellectual climate

宗教改革创造了

in which it became possible to question authority.

一个可以挑战权威的氛围

And, critically for the question, what is out there,

对天外有何奥秘这个问题非常重要的是

the wars and violence that followed the Reformation

宗教革命带来的战争和暴行

brought a rather special refugee to Prague.

把一位非凡的避难者送到了布拉格

Arriving to join Tycho the stargazer

前来加入观星者第谷的

was an impoverished German mathematician,

是一位贫困的德国数学家

Johannes Kepler.

约翰内斯·开普勒

When Johannes Kepler arrived here in Prague in 1600,

约翰内斯·开普勒1600年来布拉格时

he was in dire straits.

正陷于水深火热之中

His two young children had recently died,

他的两个小孩刚刚去世

and he was in desperate need of a job.

而自己也急需工作

When he arrived here, there was no procession,

当他到来时 既无列队欢迎

there was no imperial greeting.

也无皇室的问候

I am reasonably sure that amongst his possessions

但是我很确定的说 在他的家当中

however he would have had one of these horoscopes.

有这么一个星运盘

Ironically enough,

具有讽刺意味的是

a man who would be greeted as one of the greats of science

被奉为科学巨人的他

practised astrology.

靠占星术维生

Kepler had come to Prague to work for Tycho.

开普勒来到布拉格是为了给第谷工作

But, soon after he arrived, Tycho died.

但是他来后不久 第谷就去世了

While the court mourned,

当宫廷为他哀悼之时

Kepler purloined Tycho's vast collection of star data.

开普勒却盗取了第谷收集的海量数据

Kepler was now the court mathematician

开普勒现在成为了宫廷的数学家

and Rudolph's main astrologer.

以及鲁道夫最重要的占星家

To us, this might seem an odd combination of roles.

对我们看来 这好像是个奇怪的身份组合

But back then, great rulers often had an astrologer,

但是当年 强大的统治者都会雇有占星家

someone like Johannes Kepler,

就像约翰内斯·开普勒这种人

to cast their horoscopes to peer into the future.

转动星运盘 窥测未来

Astrology was all about predicting

占星术追求的就是

where and how the planets would move.

预测行星的位置以及运动轨迹

It depended on accurate star charts and good mathematics.

这依赖于精确的星表以及扎实的数学功底

We still use astrological language

我们还会用到占星术术语

when we talk about lunatics,

说到"疯子"时

"疯子"的词根"lunar"代表月亮

people who've been driven mad by "lunar", the moon.

就是被"月亮"逼疯的人

Or disasters, terrible things that happen to us

或者"灾难"

"灾难"的词根"astra"代表恒星

because of "astra", the stars.

恒星带来的灾祸

But the effects of astrology are more profound than that.

但是占星术的影响要更深远

It is precisely because people like Rudolph believed in it

就是因为鲁道夫这样的权贵之人相信占星术

that they were prepared to pay for detailed studies of the stars.

才肯花钱请人细致的去研究星星

And these studies would prove vital

而这些研究

when it came to developing a new vision of the cosmos.

对新宇宙观的形成至关重要

In Prague, there was now a powerful alignment of forces.

在布拉格 卓越的才能正在汇聚

The wealth and patronage of the Emperor Rudolph

鲁道夫大帝的财富以及资助

had brought together in one place

把诸多要素汇聚一地

star data gathered by Tycho Brahe,

第谷·布拉赫收集的观星资料

and a man with a mathematical ability to use it,

能用数学知识解读资料的人

Johannes Kepler,

约翰内斯·开普勒

alongside the intellectual turmoil unleashed by the Reformation.

以及宗教改革带来的质疑之风

All these forces coming together help explain

这些力量聚在一起

why a new vision of the universe finally emerged here in Prague

揭示了为什么十七世纪初 新的宇宙观

at the beginning of the 17th century.

在布拉格出现

A model of the universe which placed not the Earth

一个并没有把地球

but the Sun at the centre of everything.

而是把太阳置于宇宙中心的模型

Now, this was not a new idea.

这不是一个新的观点

It had been debated by Greek, Indian

希腊 印度和阿拉伯的天文学家

and Arab astronomers,

曾探讨过这个观点

and rediscovered by Nicholas Copernicus,

并被尼古拉·哥白尼重新发现

a Polish cleric who was trying to tidy up the tangle of Greek circles.

一个想简化地心说里复杂圆轨道的波兰牧师

Copernicus is often hailed as the man

哥白尼常被认为是

who changed our vision of the universe forever.

最终改变我们宇宙观的人

But his system was actually nightmarishly confusing.

但是他的模型复杂得可怕

He had planets whizzing round

他的模型中 行星围绕着

an imaginary point somewhere near the Sun.

太阳附近的一个假想点在旋转

It was as complicated as the Greek model.

和希腊的模型一样复杂

Copernicus died before Kepler was born,

开普勒出生前 哥白尼就去世了

and the world had not been persuaded by his arguments.

人们也没有信服他的观点

But they had got Kepler thinking.

但是这足以让开普勒开始思考

Kepler was convinced that the sun, the symbol of God,

开普勒坚信太阳 上帝的象征

produces a force which drives the planets round it.

会产生一种力使行星围绕其旋转

He was also convinced that only a sun-centred cosmos

他也坚信 只有太阳为中心的宇宙

could possibly account for the bizarre movement of the planets.

才能解释行星诡异的运动轨迹

So, using Tycho's data,

于是借助第谷的数据

he set himself a challenge,

他给了自己一个艰巨的任务

explain the movement of Mars,

解释火星的运动

the planet with the oddest orbit of them all.

拥有最诡异运动轨迹的行星

This is the confusion he was struggling with.

这就是让他夜不能寐的谜题

But he thought the ancient problem with Mars could be solved.

但他相信这个古老的火星之谜终将被解决

He believed he could explain this movement

他相信只要让地球和火星

by having the Earth and Mars

绕着太阳转

travel in circular orbits around the Sun.

这种奇怪的运动轨迹就可以解释了

Armed with Tycho's data,

在第谷数据的基础上

he set out to prove it mathematically.

他试图通过数学方式证明

It was unbelievably tedious work.

这是一项单调冗长的工作

Hundreds and hundreds of pages of calculations,

几百页接着几百页的计算

which took him more than five years.

耗费了他五年多的时间

As he later wrote, "If thou, dear reader,

正如他后来写到 亲爱的读者 如果您

are bored with these wearisome calculations,

厌倦了这些乏味的计算

Kepler tried everything.

开普勒想尽了办法

He varied the speed of the planets,

变换行星的运行速度

he shifted the positions of the orbits,

改变轨道的位置

but whatever he did

但无论怎么做

he couldn't make circular orbits match Tycho's observations.

他都无法使圆形轨道符合第谷的观测结果

So he did something which, for a man of his time,

所以他做了一个 对那时的人来说

was daring.

很大胆的尝试

He dropped the enduring belief in divine circles,

他舍弃了传统观念中神圣的圆形轨道

and tried other shapes,

而尝试其他形状

until finally he found one

最终他找到了正解

an ellipse.

椭圆形

At last he had created a model of the cosmos

由此他算出了一个符合事实的

that matched the evidence.

宇宙模型

Kepler had demolished an edifice

开普勒颠覆了

that had stood for more than 2,000 years,

屹立两千多年的观念

and replaced it with his first law of planetary motion

取而代之的是他的行星运动第一定律

all planets travel in ellipses around the Sun.

即所有的行星都沿椭圆轨道绕太阳运行

You might have hoped that when Kepler published,

你也许会想 一经发表

the whole mad structure of the Greeks would come tumbling down.

整个错误的希腊宇宙体系就会随之崩塌

Well, it didn't.

但事实并非如此

Many astronomers complained that he had brought physics into astronomy.

很多天文学家抗议他把物理应用到天文中去了

Others simply ignored him.

另外一些则干脆忽略他

It wasn't until long after his death

直到他死后很久

that his work was finally appreciated.

他的成果才被欣赏并最终接受

As many have discovered, being right is often not enough.

不难看出 发现真相是不够的

To get this new vision of the heavens noticed

想要让这一宇宙新观点受到重视

would require a very different set of events.

需要很多因素共同促成

Astronomy would have to go tabloid.

天文学必须走进大众视野

'The story of what's out there now moves south.'

关于天文学的故事将在欧洲南部继续

Renaissance Italy was awash with money from trade.

文艺复兴时期的意大利因贸易而经济繁荣

'The courts of Florence and Venice

当时的佛罗伦萨和威尼斯

'became magnets for those with talent and ambition.'

吸引了很多天才和有远大抱负的人

Renaissance Italy was the perfect place for a man on the make,

文艺复兴时期的意大利是追名逐利者的天堂

a man like Galileo Galilei.

就比如伽利略·伽利雷

Now, he had aspirations to greatness,

虽说他当时志向远大

but at the time, he was a middle-aged professor of mathematics

而现实是 他不过是个有三个私生子

with three illegitimate children and few prospects.

又前途暗淡的 中年数学教授

Yet, within a year, he would enjoy a spectacular rise,

然而 一年之内 他享受了飞黄腾达

followed by an even more spectacular fall.

之后又极尽落魄

It begins with the unexpected arrival of a stranger.

这一切都由一个陌生人的不期而至开始

In July 1609, word reached Galileo

1609年6月 伽利略听说

that a stranger had arrived in Venice,

一个陌生人来到了威尼斯

trying to patent a wonderful new device called the Dutch spyglass,

想为叫做荷兰侦查镜的神奇仪器申请专利

which could make distant objects seem closer.

一种能让远处风景近在眼前的东西

Now, if ever there was a city

如果说有一个城市

where such an instrument would generate excitement,

会因为这样一种装置而欢欣鼓舞

it was Venice.

那一定是威尼斯

Venice is reliant on the sea,

威尼斯傍海而生

which makes it vulnerable to attack from the sea,

这使得它极易受到海上攻击

which is why any device that would give you advance warning

因此任何能够为正在靠近的敌方船只

of approaching enemy ships would clearly be of enormous value.

提前发布警告的装置 在这里都将备受珍视

Galileo recognised the potential of the spyglass,

伽利略意识到侦查镜的潜力所在

but he also recognised that if he was going to make any money out of it,

但他也知道如果想要借此发财

he was going to have to act incredibly fast.

他必须迅速行动

OK, let's go.

出发吧

Galileo had to get a fully working spyglass

伽利略需要抢在那陌生人前面

to the Doge of Venice before the stranger did.

造出一个完美的侦查镜给威尼斯总督

'That meant he had to design and build one from scratch.

也就是说他要从零开始设计制作

'Clues to how he did this come from a later shopping trip.'

他接下来的采购之行揭示了他的制作方法

On his shopping list, which,

让人难以置信的是

extraordinarily enough, still exists,

他的购物清单至今保存完好

he had written, "Chickpeas and slippers for my son."

上面写着 "给儿子的鹰嘴豆和拖鞋"

But he's also written down,

同时也有

Glass, artillery balls and an organ pipe,

玻璃 炮弹和风琴管

and this is what you need if you are going to build a Dutch spyglass,

这就是制作荷兰侦查镜的材料

a device later renamed the telescope.

之后它被改名为望远镜

The best place to buy glass was the island of Murano,

买玻璃的最佳选择是慕拉诺岛

just across the Lagoon.

就在威尼斯泻湖对岸

'Here, a group of craftsmen had a skill so precious,

这里有一群能工巧匠 因为技艺太过精湛

'they were barred from leaving Venice.'

而被禁止离开威尼斯

That skill was the ability to make glass of crystal-like purity.

这项技艺就是制造水晶一般纯洁的玻璃

Perfect!

很好

Wonderful!

太棒了

We have a new glass-blowing master!

一个新的吹玻璃大师诞生了

That was fun, thank you.

很有趣 谢谢

My final working, he smashed it up.

我的杰作 他直接就给打碎了

The glass was known as Cristallo.

这种玻璃被叫做水晶玻璃

It was bought by the aristocrats of Europe to adorn their tables.

欧洲贵族们会买来装饰他们的桌子

It was the first really clear, colourless glass ever produced,

这是一种前所未见的真正清澈透明的玻璃

and it was probably this glass that allowed Galileo

大概也正是这种玻璃 帮助伽利略

to build a telescope of stunning optical quality.

造出了一个光学效果极佳的望远镜

400 years ago, glassmakers started with a bottle,

四百年前 玻璃匠会先做一个瓶子

and then opened it up into a sheet.

然后把它展开成一个薄片

'The first stage to making a telescope lens.'

这是制作望远镜镜片的第一步

I've got glass from Murano, and I've got an artillery ball.

我已经拿到了慕拉诺岛的玻璃 还有炮弹

And I'm off to meet a lens grinder

现在去见一位磨片大师

who apparently can use this to turn this into a telescope lens.

他可以用这个 把这个磨成望远镜镜片

Buongiorno. - Ah, buongiorno, Michael.

[意大利语]早上好 -早上好 迈克尔

- Hello. Have that one. - Ah, va bene!

嗨 拿到这个了 -很好

'In the autumn of 1609,

在1609年的秋天

'Galileo himself began to grind and polish lenses.'

伽利略开始打亲自打磨镜片

ITALIAN... - Ah, OK.

炮弹给我 -好的

'By trying out different lenses,

尝试用不同尺寸的炮弹

'made with different sized artillery balls,

磨制不同的镜片

'he was able to produce magnifications of six and then 20 times.'

他做出能放大6倍的望远镜 之后是20倍

It might seem surprising that a mathematician like Galileo

像伽利略这样的数学家

would want to get his hands dirty in this way.

竟愿意做这样的苦力 着实让人惊讶

But it's part of the important emerging trend

不过这也是16 17世纪开始出现的

in the 16th and 17th century.

新潮流的重要部分

People were no longer satisfied just to intellectualise,

人们不再满足于空谈理论

they were making instruments and they were testing them out.

他们开始制作仪器 检验理论

The fact that Galileo, a professor of mathematics,

伽利略 一个数学教授

was grinding his own lenses, is of real significance.

打磨自己的镜片 实在意义非凡

This joining of the skills of scholars and craftsmen

学者知识和手工艺者技艺的结合

was key to the emerging power of European science.

是欧洲科技新兴力量的精髓

Galileo now took his new lenses,

伽利略现在拿起他的镜片

and through a process of trial and error,

经过一次次实验与失败之后

worked out what the ideal distance was between them

他找到了两块镜片间的完美距离

to get maximum magnification along with maximum sharpness.

以得到最大的放大率以及最高的清晰度

He then packaged them together into a new spyglass.

他于是把它们组装成为一个新的侦查镜

Now, what was truly impressive

最令人惊讶的是

is that it had only been a few weeks

从他听说这件事开始

since he'd first heard of the Dutch spyglass,

到他做出如此精密的荷兰侦查镜

and yet he produced something which was far superior.

这之间只用了几个星期

He now got together some influential Venetians,

他找到一些有声望的威尼斯人

took them up the tower,

把他们带到塔顶

and pointed his new spyglass out at sea.

然后把它的新侦查镜对准大海

Its value was not lost on the Venetians.

它的价值得到了威尼斯人们的认可

You could now see ships two hours sooner than with the naked eye.

比起肉眼 现在可以提前两小时看到船只

Galileo's climb to fame and fortune had begun.

伽利略的飞黄腾达由此开始

'And then, fatefully,

之后 在命运的指使下

'he lifted his telescope to the heavens.'

他把他的望远镜对准了天空

His telescope now uncovered

他的望远镜带来了

dramatic new evidence about the cosmos.

关于宇宙的惊人的新证据

'Evidence that would bring the idea

这些证据把日心说

'of a sun-centred universe to the fore.

带到了人们面前

'I'm going to see the night skies

就像他400年前那样

'as he would have done 400 years ago.'

我现在要观测夜空

Francesco, it has to be.

弗朗西斯科 一定是你

Who else in the middle of the night?

大晚上的没有别人

Hello, Michael. - Michael Mosley.

你好 迈克尔 -迈克尔·莫斯利

Hi, Michael.

嗨 迈克尔

I have my Galileo telescope, which magnifies about sixfold.

我做了个伽利略望远镜 大概能放大6倍

I'm guessing yours does a bit more.

我想你的应该能放大更多吧

This one does 20, 20 times.

这个能放大20倍

- So this is optically identical, pretty much... - That's right.

所以这个在光学效果上是... -是的

to what Galileo had to deal with. - Yeah.

和伽利略当时做的那个一样的 -对

Because the lenses have been analysed and studied and reproduced

因为镜片经过分析和研究

with the same properties as the ones that Galileo used.

使用了伽利略用过的相同材料重制

Do you mind I have This to have a look? - Yes.

你介意我看一下吗 -当然不

I haven't really properly looked through something like this before.

我还从没用过这样的望远镜呢

Shall I start with that one there? - Right.

这样看么 -对

Ah! Gorgeous!

美极了

This is what Galileo's lenses

这就是用伽利略的镜片

were able to show of the surface of the Moon.

看到的月球表面

Night after night, he observed its phases.

夜复一夜 他观察着它的圆缺

His drawings are not just detailed, they are beautiful.

他的绘图不只详细 而且美观

For me, it's basically, there's a lot of shimmer going on

对我来说 基本上就是好多亮点

and it sort of pops in and out of focus.

它有点闪烁不定 模糊不清

I'm absolutely amazed

我实在很惊讶

that Galileo could draw the images at that level of accuracy.

伽利略可以画得如此精准细致

I mean, really phenomenal.

这真是非凡的成就

This was how Galileo saw Jupiter.

这是伽利略所看到的木星

No-one had seen these bright objects either side of it before.

之前没有人看到过两边的发光体

They are moons, circling the planet.

他们是绕着行星转的卫星

And if there are moons circling a planet which is not the Earth...

如果有卫星围着一个地球以外的行星转

Did that perhaps suggest

那是不是说明

that the Earth was not really the centre of everything?

地球并不是万物的中心

I must admit, having seen this,

我得承认 看了这个

I have enormous, enormous respect for Galileo now.

我对伽利略产生了无比的崇敬之情

I always saw him as a bit of a chancer, to be honest,

说实话 我一直认为他是个投机者

but having seen what he did with a machine

但是看到他用望远镜达到的成就

with these limitations, it makes you think, wow!

条件这么有限 这不得不让你震惊

He now took full advantage of another Renaissance invention,

他充分利用了文艺复兴时期的另一发明

the printing press.

印刷机

He put his findings together into this book,

他把自己的发现都写进了这本书

The Starry Messenger.

《星际信使》

Unusually for an astronomical book of its time,

相对于当时的天文书籍来说

it is well written,

这本书写的很不错

it has lovely pictures and very little maths.

书内图片生动 数学则几乎没有

In fact, it soon became a 17th century bestseller.

事实上 它很快就成了十七世纪的畅销书

The book made him famous,

这本书让他声名鹊起

and that encouraged him to do what he loved best,

这也让他有了勇气做他最想做的

courting controversy and attention.

制造争论和引人注意

Galileo had become convinced

伽利略确信

that the Sun was at the centre of the cosmos.

太阳是宇宙的中心

Now he began to promote that idea

所以他就开始在有影响力的人群中

amongst influential people.

宣扬这一观点

His timing was terrible.

可惜时运不济

The Reformation had challenged

宗教改革挑战了

the power of the Catholic Church.

天主教会的权威

Many within the Church now wanted to re-assert control.

教会的许多人想重树神权

A fight with Galileo suited them.

整倒伽利略正是他们的好机会

And then, in 1632, it all went terribly wrong for Galileo.

1632年是伽利略灾难性的一年

He published a book that destroyed his life.

他出版了一本书 毁了他的一生

The book enraged the Pope,

那本书激怒了教皇

and remained on the index of prohibited books

因此被列为禁书

for more than 200 years.

长达200多年

全称为《关于托勒密和哥白尼两大世界体系的对话》

It's called The Dialogue.

那本书就是《对话》

He had been given permission to write this book,

事实上他是获准写这本书的

on condition it was balanced.

条件是不能偏向任何一方

The book is presented as a series of discussions

书内叙述了关于宇宙的

about the cosmos.

一系列争论

One side arguing for a stationary Earth at the centre,

一方坚持固定的地球是宇宙中心

the other favouring the Sun.

而另一方认为太阳才是

But despite what he'd promised,

但是尽管伽利略之前做了承诺

Galileo clearly came down

但是他很明显倾向

on the side of the Sun at the centre.

太阳才是宇宙的中心

But worst of all, what he was really saying

而最糟糕的是 他真正想说的

is there are truths which go beyond the realms of religion,

是宗教之外也有真理

or, as he once put it,

或者是他曾说的

The Bible teaches us how to go to heaven,

《圣经》告诉我们的是如何去天堂

not how the heaven's go."

而不是天堂如何运行

Make no mistake, this was a huge challenge to the Church.

毫无疑问 这对教会来说是巨大的挑衅

Galileo was saying

伽利略的观点是

that science can discover truths about nature

科学可以利用它自身的研究方法

using its own methods of investigation.

发现大自然的真理

And so, in 1633, he was brought to Rome

于是 1633年 他被带到罗马

to stand trial before the Inquisition.

接受宗教法庭的审判

The story of Galileo is often told

通常伽利略的故事被讲成

as scientific hero takes on reactionary Church

一位科学英雄挑战顽固教会

over the question of a Sun-centred universe.

争论的焦点是太阳是否为宇宙的中心

But it wasn't really like that.

但事实却并非如此

The trial of Galileo was actually about authority,

对伽利略的审判实际上是权威的归属问题

who owns the truth about the heavens.

到底谁才掌握天堂的真理

He was tried and found guilty.

伽利略被判有罪

The sentence broke him.

判决打垮了他

Old, ill, in pain,

年老多病 痛苦不堪

he was condemned to life imprisonment,

他被判处终身监禁

and he spent much of it here at his villa in Arcetri,

他的余生 多数时间被监禁自己的别墅里

in the foothills above Florence.

能够俯瞰佛罗伦萨的阿尔且特里山

Ironically, the banning of The Dialogue

讽刺的是 查禁《对话》

ensured that the book was widely read in other countries,

反而让它在其它国家广为阅读

as people scrambled to get hold of a copy

人们争先恐后的想弄到一本书

and discover what all the fuss was about.

看看它何以招来如此多的麻烦

It was a moment of human reckoning.

那是一个人类反思的时刻

We no longer sat at the centre of the universe,

我们不再居于宇宙的中心

just on another planet circling the Sun.

而仅在一颗围绕太阳运行的行星上

The attempts to gag Galileo were utterly futile.

遏杀伽利略观点的企图彻底失败了

Within a generation, the educated classes throughout Europe

在一代人之内 欧洲的知识分子阶层

had accepted that the Sun and not the Earth

都认同是太阳而非地球

is at the centre of the solar system.

是太阳系的中心

It happened, not in a single moment of genius,

促成这种局面的不是某个天才的瞬间

but as a result of a series of connections.

而是一系列事件的结果

The patronage of the princely courts of the Renaissance.

文艺复兴时期皇室的支持

A combination of different talents

几位科学巨匠成果的结合

Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler,

第谷·布拉赫 约翰内斯·开普勒

and Galileo Galilei.

伽利略·伽利莱

Technological innovation,

科技发明

raw data from telescopes,

用望远镜观测得到的原始数据

and the power of the printing press

以及印刷机

to spread the new knowledge.

传播了大量新知识

When you think about it,

如果仔细想想的话

it is astonishing that nearly a century

从哥白尼著书

separates Copernicus first publishing his book

表明地球围绕太阳运行

claiming that the Earth goes round the Sun, and Galileo's trial,

到伽利略审判后此观点才广为接受

after which, the idea finally gets widespread acceptance.

两者竟相隔百年

And when you look at it in that light,

如果从这一角度看

you realise that this claim, you get these violent upheavals

你会意识到"思想上的巨变

in intellectual thought which change everything overnight,

会在一夕之间改变一切

well, that claim is clearly myth.

这一说法真是神话

It is largely created

而这一神话基本上

by the comfort and distance of hindsight.

是由不明真相的后人出于心理安慰而创

So, no sudden revolution, then.

所以说 没有变革是一夕之间完成的

As so often in science,

在科学的历史长河中

what happened is that people who hold the old views

常常是坚持旧观点的人

slowly die off,

逐渐离世

and a new generation comes in that sees things differently.

新一代人会从新角度看待事物

There was now a new force driving interest in the heavens.

现在一股新的力量正在促进探索天空的兴趣

Global trade.

即世界贸易

Economic power in Europe was shifting away

欧洲的经济力量

from the Mediterranean countries,

正在从地中海国家

towards the Atlantic nations,

转移到大西洋国家

like Spain, Portugal and England.

如西班牙 葡萄牙 英国

As new trade routes opened up,

随着贸易航线的开辟

ships' captains needed better star maps to steer by.

船长们需要更准确的星图领航

Governments funded newer and better telescopes.

因此政府出资建造更好的新型望远镜

Astronomical evidence poured in.

大量天文现象被观测

New questions were being asked.

新问题也随之而来

Why did the Earth and the planets move in giant ellipses?

为什么地球等行星在巨型的椭圆轨道上运行

And what was it that held the cosmos together?

什么力量将宇宙聚在一起

One of the cargoes those ships brought to Europe

船只带回欧洲的货物之一

was coffee.

就是咖啡

Coffee led to coffee shops,

有咖啡就有咖啡店

places where traders, ships' captains and assorted thinkers met,

商人 船长和各类思想家集聚于此

and fuelled up on caffeine.

享受咖啡因提供的能量

They became known as penny universities.

咖啡店也以"廉价大学"而闻名

Thank you very much.

谢谢

Learned gentlemen would come to coffee shops

学识渊博的绅士会到咖啡店去

to debate the central burning questions of the day.

争论当时最具争议的问题

And one of the key questions was,

其中主要问题之一就是

what is it that keeps the planets in their place?

是什么让行星待在自己的轨道上

Well, in 1684, this led to a bet.

1684年 为这个问题设了一个赌局

At stake was two pounds, about a week's salary,

赌注是两英镑 约为一周的工资

but this would turn out to be

但是它却成为了

one of the most significant wagers ever made.

历史上最重要的赌局之一

To win the bet, what they had to do was to prove

要赢得赌局 就得证明

that the elliptical path

开普勒描述的

that planets take around the Sun, which Kepler described,

行星围绕太阳运行的椭圆轨道

obey a simple mathematical rule.

符合一个简单的数学规律

Now, smart though they were,

虽然打赌的人都很聪明

they soon realised they were going to need help.

但是他们很快就意识到他们需要帮助

One of the men who'd taken the bet,

其中下注的一个人

the astronomer Edmund Halley,

是天文学家埃德蒙·哈雷

set off in search of help, to Cambridge,

他去剑桥大学寻求帮助

to find the Lucasian professor of mathematics,

去找一位卢卡斯数学教授

a certain Isaac Newton.

大名鼎鼎的艾萨克·牛顿

Halley manages to track Newton down,

哈雷想难倒牛顿

and he tells him about the bet.

并告诉了他赌局的事

Then Newton, to Halley's complete amazement, says,

让哈雷大为吃惊的是 牛顿说

Actually, I've solved that problem,

事实上 我已经解决这个问题了

I've done the calculations,

计算已经完成

and they're here somewhere.

结果就在这里

And he sort of rummages around amongst these papers.

于是他开始在一堆纸中翻来覆去的找

But he can't find them. So he says to Halley,

可是没找到 于是他告诉哈雷

I'll send them on to you.

找到了我给你寄过去

The important thing about this visit

而这次见面的重要之处在于

is it seems to have triggered something in Newton's brain.

它似乎唤醒了牛顿脑海中的某些事情

The memory of a time 20 years earlier.

一段关于20年前的回忆

A time when Newton returned to his family farm

当时牛顿返回家中的农场

to escape an outbreak of the plague.

来躲避一场瘟疫

That was certainly safer,

在农场里当然更安全

but I'm not sure how pleased he was to be back.

但是我不知道他回去是否能愉快

When he was younger,

因为更早的时候

he'd threatened to burn the house down

曾威胁要烧毁

with his mother and stepfather in it.

他母亲和继父住的房子

Described as artificial, unkind, arrogant,

虽然人们认为牛顿虚伪 无情 自大

he was also one of the most brilliant minds

但是他也是同时代甚至是任一时代

of his or any other generation.

最聪明的人之一

There are few more famous legends

在科学史上

in the whole history of science

很少有故事

than that of Newton in the orchard.

能和牛顿在果园的故事媲美

That moment of genius when the young Isaac Newton

年轻的艾萨克·牛顿灵光一现

first worked out a comprehensive theory of gravity.

第一次想到了关于引力的完整理论

It's one of the great eureka moment stories.

这是一个关于伟大的发现时刻的故事

Newton's in the orchard when he sees the apple fall.

牛顿在果园看到苹果落地的一瞬

The falling apple is said to

据说是落地的苹果

have triggered a cascade of thoughts in Newton's mind.

触发了牛顿大脑中的一系列思考

Why is it apples always fall down?

为什么苹果总是往下落呢

Why doesn't it sometimes go sideways, or even upwards?

为什么它不会往旁边甚至往天上飞

And if there is a force that is pulling it down,

如果有一种力拉着苹果下落的话

could it be that same force is holding the Moon

是不是同一种力让月球

in its rotation around the Earth?

围绕地球旋转

And in that moment, the theory of gravitation is born.

就在那一刻 引力理论诞生了

Except the story's almost certainly made up.

可是 这个故事几乎肯定是编的

Newton only started telling that story

牛顿到了晚年

when he was an old man,

才开始讲这个故事

and he possibly did it because he wanted to ensure that

他这样做可能是因为他想确保

he and he alone got full credit

万有引力理论

for coming up with a theory of gravity.

全能归于他一个人的功劳

What is certain is that if he had

唯一能确定的是 即便某一刻

a moment of divine inspiration in this orchard,

他在果园有了神圣的灵感

he did nothing with it for nearly 20 years.

近20年间他对此都无动于衷

It seems it was Halley's visit

好像是哈雷的到访

that prompted Newton to really develop his ideas.

才促使牛顿真正研究他的想法

思维实验 用想像进行 而在现实中无法做到的实验

He would express his thinking about gravity

他用一项著名的思维实验

in a famous thought experiment.

说明了他关于重力的理论

He imagined a cannon on top of a high mountain.

他假想一座高山上有一门大炮

He thought, if the ball leaves a cannon slowly,

如果炮弹射出大炮时速度低

gravity would pull it to Earth.

重力就会把它拉向地球

If the ball is fired too quickly,

如果炮弹射出时速度太高的话

it would disappear into space.

炮弹就会飞入太空

But if the speed is just right,

而如果速度刚刚好

then the force of gravity would hold the ball

那重力作用就会令炮弹

in orbit round the Earth, just like the Moon.

像月球一样沿轨道绕地球运行

An orbit that follows a simple mathematical law.

而这轨道将符合一条简单的数学规律

His monumental work,

他于1687年

explaining that gravity held the universe together,

发表的巨著 阐述了引力将宇宙万物

was published in 1687.

聚在了一起

This is Principia by Newton,

这就是牛顿的《自然哲学的数学原理》

and it is beautiful.

它真是太美了

I have never held this book before,

这是我第一次得以翻看这本书

and I can feel a little shiver going up my spine,

我都能感到自己不自觉的一阵寒战

because this is the book which really did transform the world

正是这本书改变了世界

and in fact would go on to dominate science for the next 200 years.

甚至在此后200年间 都统治着科学界

This was when the new vision of the universe truly came together,

此时此刻 新的宇宙观才真正汇聚到一起

built on Tycho's observations,

它基于第谷的观测数据

Kepler's elliptical orbits,

开普勒的椭圆轨道

and Galileo's discoveries.

和伽利略的新发现

Now Newton outlined universal laws of motion

牛顿概括了运动的一般规律

that explained how the planets moved.

并以此解释了行星的运行轨迹

Newton was clearly a scientific giant,

牛顿无疑是科学界的巨人

but he was also much more than that.

但他的影响远不止如此

The way that he had shown that a few universal laws

他以如此简洁的普遍规律

could explain so much of the physical world

解释了物质世界的纷繁万物

inspired other intellectuals to look for universal laws

启发了其他知识分子 去探寻更多的普遍规律

that could explain human behaviour, politics, even history.

来解读人类行为 政治 甚至历史

Newton became a hero to revolutionaries

对于那些梦想基于理性概念

who dreamt of utopian societies founded on reason.

构建乌托邦社会的革命者 牛顿为他们带来了福音

In America, politicians were inspired

美国政治家受牛顿定律中

by Newton's laws of action and reaction

作用与反作用的启发

when they created their famous political system of checks and balances.

发明了著名的权力制衡系统

And in religion, an ordered universe was taken to demonstrate

而在宗教界 一个有序的宇宙无疑证明了

the existence of a God of infinite power.

一个无所不能的上帝创造了这一切

And astronomy?

天文学呢

There was now a new stable model of the universe,

天文学如今有了稳定的宇宙新模型

a clockwork universe,

在几条简单定律下运转的

governed by a few simple laws.

机械的宇宙

And that's how things stayed for the next 200 years.

之后的200年中 这一宇宙观都没有改变

The question of what is out there has always followed the money.

对天文学的研究一直追随着金钱

And in the early 20th century,

在二十世纪早期

it headed across the Atlantic to California,

它穿越了大西洋 来到了石油热所在地

where they were enjoying an oil rush.

美国的加利福尼亚州

Oil and railway barons,

正如文艺复兴时期的王子们

like Renaissance princes before them,

石油与铁路大亨

craved the sort of fame that astronomy could bring.

痴迷于天文研究带来的名望

One philanthropist, who had made his money

一位以铺设管道和销售硬件设施

building pipelines and selling hardware,

而发家的慈善家资助了天文事业

helped finance the next radical shift in our view of the cosmos.

引发了人类宇宙观的又一次根本性转变

John D Hooker was persuaded to donate 45,000 dollars

约翰·D·胡克被游说捐助了45000美元

towards building the largest telescope the world had ever seen.

建造当时有史以来最大的天文望远镜

海拔1742米 位于美国加利福尼亚州西南部 建有威尔逊山天文台

And they dragged it up Mount Wilson, this mountain,

他们把望远镜拖上了这座威尔逊山

which is just outside Los Angeles.

就在洛杉矶城外

It is a fantastic structure.

它有着无与伦比的结构

A hundred tons of pipework,

管线 镜片 硬件设施

hardware and glass floats on a bed of mercury,

重达一百多吨的结构全部浮于一层汞上

因为地球自转 恒星位置时刻变化

汞使望远镜能平稳旋转 以便跟踪恒星

allowing it to compensate for the Earth's rotation.

以补偿地球自转带来的影响

Isn't that magnificent?

是不是很壮观

Over 90 years old and still fully operational.

九十多年了 还可以正常运行

But for this gargantuan telescope to fulfil its true potential,

但这庞大的天文望远镜要充分发挥潜能

it would need a character

还需要一位

who was also larger than life.

与它同样超群的人

Edwin Hubble was an exceptionally colourful scientist.

爱德文·哈勃是个富有传奇色彩的科学家

After a spell at Oxford University,

在他结束牛津大学的学习后

he came home with a faux upper-class accent,

他操着一口伪装的上流社会口音回到家乡

and worked in jodhpurs and high-topped riding boots.

还穿着骑马裤和高通马靴工作

He was also exceptionally fortunate

他十分幸运的受聘于威尔逊山天文台

to be hired to work with the new Hooker telescope.

得以用新的胡克天文望远镜进行科研工作

Now, Hubble was a brilliant astronomer,

哈勃是位杰出的天文学家

and he had the world's largest telescope.

他也有了世上最大的天文望远镜

Now the thing is, even with a telescope this big,

问题是 就算有了如此大的望远镜

the human eye is just not good enough

仅凭人眼也无法

to pick out the detail that was needed.

辨认出所需的细节

So there was a camera attached to the telescope.

所以人们给望远镜装上了一台相机

And with it, Hubble photographed stars

哈勃用相机拍下了

at the far reaches of the Milky Way,

银河系中无数遥远的恒星

at that time, the only known galaxy in the universe.

而当时银河系是宇宙中人类唯一所知的星系

On the 6th October 1923, Hubble took a photograph

哈勃在1923年10月6日照下的一张照片

that must rank as one of the most significant photographs ever taken.

可以算得上是人类历史上最有意义的照片

This photograph demonstrated for the first time

这张照片头一次向我们展示了

just how vast the universe truly is.

宇宙究竟有多么浩瀚

Now, what you can see here is a black, swirly area,

这里你可以看到的黑色的漩涡形区域

which is actually the Andromeda nebula.

其实是仙女座大星云

But what got Hubble excited was a little black speck here,

但令哈勃激动的 是这上面的一个小黑点

which he's labelled as VAR, or variable star.

他标做VAR 也就是变星

this was a huge discovery.

这是一个巨大的发现

The pulsing of a variable star

根据一颗变星的光变周期

could be used to calculate its distance from Earth.

可以推算出它与地球的实际距离

Hubble came to a startling conclusion.

哈勃得出了一个惊人地结论

His star, and the nebula in which it sat,

他发现的这颗变星及其所在星云

were almost a million light years away,

距地球将近一百万光年

far further than had been thought possible.

远远超出当时人们所知宇宙的界限

Now, Hubble realised that he could prove for the first time

哈勃意识到 他能够史无前例的证明

that the nebula was actually a galaxy,

这颗变星所在星云 其实是一个星系

and it sat way outside our own galaxy.

并且远在我们的银河系之外

Suddenly, the human race, our world, our concerns,

与宇宙相比 人类 我们的世界

became cosmically insignificant.

我们的喜怒哀乐 突然变得如此渺小

We are just one small planet in a vast galaxy,

我们不过是巨大星系中 一颗小小的行星

that sits amongst billions of other galaxies.

而宇宙中还有数十亿同样巨大的星系

The implications of what they had found were disturbing.

这些发现背后的含义令人心悸

The universe was vast, possibly limitless.

宇宙如此浩瀚 很可能无边无界

But what they did next was even more shocking.

但接下来的研究更加令人震惊

They linked this giant telescope up

他们给望远镜接上了

with a device called a spectrograph,

一个叫做光谱仪的装置

and they pointed it once more at the skies.

并再一次把它指向了星空

They were hunting for objects which they now believed to be galaxies,

科学家们开始在宇宙中寻找更多的星系

and using the spectrograph,

他们运用光谱仪

they measured the speed at which those galaxies

测量了这些星系

were either coming towards or away from us.

趋近或远离我们的速度

What they found was the vast majority of these galaxies

他们发现 大多数的星系

were actually receding,

都在远离我们

and some at quite astonishing speeds

有些退行速度相当惊人

of well over a million miles an hour.

甚至超过了160万千米每小时

Now, the implication of this was obvious,

这一发现的含义非常明显

the universe is expanding.

宇宙正在膨胀

Now, this really blew out of the water the old way of thinking.

这彻底打碎了旧的思想

Gone forever was the old static, stable,

旧的静态稳定的牛顿机械模型

Newtonian clockwork model.

一去不复返了

It seems, now, we are actually living through

我们似乎身处于一场巨大的

a giant cosmic explosion.

宇宙膨胀之中

It seems our universe had a beginning.

我们的宇宙似乎有一个起点

13 billion years ago.

130亿年前

This became known as the Big Bang.

这被称为 宇宙大爆炸

Edwin Hubble never felt he achieved the recognition he craved

爱德文·哈勃觉得他从未

for his discovery of the vastness of the cosmos.

因扩展了宇宙的边界 而得到应有的认可

But floating high above the Earth

但在地球外遥远的太空中

is the ultimate tribute to this eccentric astronomer.

漂浮着对这位古怪的天文学家最高的敬意

The Hubble space telescope.

哈勃太空望远镜

400 years since Galileo ground his first lenses,

400年前 伽利略支起了第一架望远镜

this is what we use to look at what's out there.

400年后 我们用它来探寻天外的奥秘

It can peer billions of light years across the universe,

它能在宇宙中窥视数十亿光年之远

back in time towards the birth of everything.

回溯时间 探向万物的起源

Our journey to find out what's out there

多种强大的势力和坚定的信仰

has been shaped by powerful forces and beliefs.

决定了我们探寻天外奥秘的进程

The Greek obsession with divine circles.

希腊人对于神赐之圆的痴迷

The courts of the Renaissance.

文艺复兴时期的皇室们

By religious upheaval.

以及宗教动荡

Above all, by the marriage of two skills -

而最重要的 是制作仪器和创新思想

the making of instruments and the generating of ideas.

这两种技能完美的融合

And it's still going on,

而随着科技日新月异

as we find new ways of looking ever deeper

我们将有更多的方法探究宇宙深处

into our universe.

这一旅途也将继续

So, what is out there?

所以若问 天外何物

Well, rather a lot.

我们得说 还有很多

We've seen the birth of stars,

我们观测到了

in nurseries of gas and dust.

恒星在气体和尘埃中诞生

Evidence of super massive black holes.

宇宙中有超大质量黑洞存在的证据

Clues to dark energy that may make up

还有线索表明 也许宇宙大部分

most of our universe.

由暗能量构成

Some of these ideas are as strange and unsettling to us

对我们 这其中的有些想法既奇特又惊人

as the Earth going round the Sun

就像伽利略的同代人

was to contemporaries of Galileo.

听到日心说时一样

But I think what this journey really boils down to

但我认为 这一旅途的最终意义

is trust in evidence.

是学会相信证据

Because no matter how strange the conclusions may seem,

因为无论得出的结论多么奇怪

it's only by accepting evidence

我们只有承认证据

that we have come to understand not just the universe,

才能理解宇宙

but also our place here within it.

进而明确我们所处的地位

Isaac Newton, in a moment of uncharacteristic modesty,

艾萨克·牛顿曾一反自大的性格

once said that he was just a child playing on the shores of a vast ocean

说他不过是在浩瀚的未知真理之海

of undiscovered truths.

岸边玩耍的孩子

But I think the contribution he and his fellow stargazers

但在我看来 他和那些仰望星空的人

really made was to open up our minds to what is going on,

他们真正的贡献 是让我们能够开眼看世界

not just up in the heavens, but down here on Earth.

不只抬头看穿宇宙 也看遍寰宇 看清自己

Next time - delving deep to find beauty and order.

下集 我们将层层深入探寻秩序与美丽

What is the world made of?

万物由何组成