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

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

and

以及

This time, delving deep to find order and beauty.

本集 层层深入探寻秩序与美丽

Appearances deceive.

眼见未必为实

Beneath the surface,

表象之下

our world is stranger than we can possibly imagine.

我们的世界隐藏着无法想象的神奇

Standing here, it certainly feels

站在这里 我自然地会认为

as if I am standing on a solid surface.

自己站在一个固态的表面之上

But this is an illusion, however convincing.

看似可信 其实只是错觉

Nothing is really solid.

没有什么是真正固态的

And you and I? Well, we consist almost entirely of empty space.

人类呢 人体绝大部分是空的

If you took the entire population of the world,

如果你集中全世界所有人

all six billion of us,

全部60亿人

and removed that empty space,

然后去掉所有空白空间

then we could be squeezed into a cube smaller than that.

我们会压缩成一个立方体 比它还要小

And it gets stranger.

还有更神奇的事

Mobile phones and other electronic devices which we rely on.

手机之类不可或缺的电子设备

Well, they rely on particles that,

它们依赖于一种

by any normal definition, simply don't exist.

在通常定义下 并不存在的粒子

These insights all come from

这些知识全部来自于

our attempts to find out what the world is made of.

我们尝试探索世界由何组成的过程

Over the millennia, our understanding has moved ever deeper,

一千年中 我们的认知逐步深入

revealing new layers that make up the material world.

解开了这个物质世界中更深层次的秘密

It may seem like an academic, esoteric quest.

这看上去是一个学术的 深奥的问题

It's anything but.

事实并非如此

Every time we've gone down a layer

每当我们前进到更深层次

and achieved a deeper understanding of matter,

获得对物质的更深入的理解

that knowledge has spawned new technologies

得到的知识都会孕育出新的技术

and huge amounts of wealth and power.

以及巨大的财富和力量

The first people who systematically tried to unlock the secrets

最早系统地寻找组成世界的要素

of what the world is made of, and to alter it,

并试图转化它们的领路人

were the alchemists.

就是炼金术士

They flourished in the late Middle Ages,

在中世纪晚期 他们人数众多

working in secret,

隐密地工作

protecting their knowledge with codes and ciphers.

利用密码和暗语保护自己的知识

It's easy to dismiss the alchemists

我们常常对炼金术士不屑一顾

as deluded mystics,

认为他们故弄玄虚

forever trying to turn lead into gold.

永远试图把铅炼成金子

Or, perhaps, con men,

或者 就是骗子

who used simple chemistry to impress the gullible.

利用简单的化学 欺骗无知群众

But the roots of a scientific investigation of what the world is made of

但是对于世界组成的科学研究

lie in their secret laboratories.

就扎根在他们秘密的实验室里

The alchemists' beliefs about matter

炼金家的物质观

were largely based on ideas that had come down from the ancient Greeks,

大多来源于古希腊人的思想

and the ancient Greeks believed that,

古希腊人认为

well, pretty well everything around you

你身边的所有东西

was made up of earth, fire, air and water.

都是由土 火 空气和水组成

Theirs was a system of beguiling simplicity.

这个系统有着令人着迷的简洁

Everything in the world was a combination

世间万物只不过是

of just four idealised elements...

四种理想元素的组合

Earth. Water.

土 水

Air. Fire.

空气 火

Now, they were completely wrong in that,

现在看来 他们的观点是完全错误的

but the central principle,

但是其中的核心思想

that you can explain a complex world

组合简单的元素

by just simple building blocks or elements,

来解释复杂的物质世界

that was important.

却十分重要

But what really interests me about the alchemists

然而对于炼金术士 我最感兴趣的

is their practical abilities.

是他们的实际操作能力

I want to try and repeat a bizarre experiment,

我试图重现一个奇异的实验

performed by one of the last of the alchemists,

它由一位末代炼金术士完成

a German called Hennig Brand.

德国人亨尼格·布兰德

Brand believed he was on the brink

布兰德相信

of discovering the philosopher's stone,

他就要发现贤者之石

a substance that reputedly turned base metals into gold.

一种据说能将贱金属转化为黄金的物质

He thought he could find it

他认为自己能找到这种物质

in human urine.

就在人类尿液里

- How long have you had this? - Well, we've not had it...

你这个放了多长时间了 -我们没有

Whoa! Jeez, yeah, no, I got a good waft of that one!

上帝 不 可呛到我了

- But it gets worse. - Gets worse!

还会变得更糟 -还会更糟

I suspect Hennig Brand

我估计亨尼格·布兰德

was not tremendously popular with the girls.

在女士中不会很受欢迎

Having boiled down our starting material,

先将原料浓缩

we will then, sort of, reduce it to a solid.

之后将它变成类似固体的东西

Finally, we'll distil it

最后 我们将它提纯出来

and see if we can get something interesting.

看看我们是否可以得到什么有趣的东西

Let me try and bring you into the mindset of the alchemists.

让我试着给大家解释下炼金术士的想法

They believed that everything on Earth

他们认为世间万物

was in some way alive

都以某种方式活着

and that included metals.

包括金属

Metals would grow in the earth like seeds and,

种子会在泥土里生长 金属也可以

like the human body decomposing,

人的尸体会腐烂

they would also decompose. They would rust.

它们也能腐烂 就是生锈

But metals could also be improved.

但是金属还可以进化

They could be made better. They could be purified.

它们可以变得更好 它们可以被纯化

And if that happened, they became gold, the purest metal of all.

届时它们会变成金子 纯度最高的金属

It was the legendary philosopher's stone that the alchemists believed

炼金术士相信传说中的贤者之石

could bring about this transformation.

可以实现上述的转化

Here it is. Here it is. We've been...

就是这个 我们...

It looks absolutely putrid, I have to say.

我得说 这个闻起来真恶心

Well, I can tell you that, even as a chemist,

实话实说 即便作为一名化学家

and I've smelled a lot of stuff,

我闻过很多种物质的味道

this is seriously, seriously unpleasant.

这个也可称得上出奇地难闻

So we've boiled down about half a litre of urine to this

现在我们把大概半升的尿液浓缩成了这个

and you can see that it's starting to get a bit pasty.

你可以看到它开始有点呈现糊状了

There's all sort of white solids.

里面是大小不一的白色固体

Oh, God! Oh, God that is bad!

上帝 太难闻了

That is really bad! Oh.

真的是太难闻了

But what he would have had to do

他接下来必须要做的是

was to transfer it into this retort.

把它移到这个曲颈瓶里面

So we're going to pour it in through the top.

我们把它从上面倒进去

I'm just going to run it down this glass rod.

让它顺着导流棒流下来

And the next thing presumably is extreme heat?

然后是高温加热 对吧

And now, the trial by fire, if you will.

真金不怕火炼

It involved great technical skill.

这涉及到了很专业的实验技能

Controlling temperature, making the furnace and glass retorts.

控制温度 制造熔炉和玻璃曲颈瓶

But his strong constitution and persistence

但是他强大的决心和不懈的坚持

produced strange results.

带来了神奇的结果

So what had he extracted from the urine?

他从尿液中到底提炼出了什么

I can show you and, if you look,

我可以展示给你 仔细看

we've actually got it stored under water,

实际上我们把它储存在水里

much as Brand probably would have stored it.

布兰德可能也这样做

I think what we should do is actually see what happens when it burns.

我认为我们应该观察它燃烧时的现象

You can see the plumes of white smoke.

你可以看到羽毛状的白烟

Good Lord! Am I OK to touch?

上帝啊 我可以碰它吗

You can, in fact, lift it, yes.

事实上你可以举起它 对

Good Lord. It's beautiful

上帝啊 太漂亮了

and I think terrifying at the same time.

不过我同时也觉得有点可怕

It is phantasmagorical, isn't it?

如梦似幻 是不是

I mean it really is unearthly.

不似凡间之物

It's magic of the highest order.

这是最高级的魔术

Brand, of course, never found the philosopher's stone.

显然 布兰始终没能找到贤者之石

His discovery was named "Giver of Light",

他的发现被命名为"赐光者"

or phosphorous.

或磷

It became rather important.

这一发现十分重要

It was later used to make the match.

后来 它被用来制造火柴

It's tempting to think of the alchemists

人们很可能认为炼金术士

as a bunch of mystics who made a few lucky discoveries,

不过是偶尔被馅饼砸到了的神秘主义者

but if you look at the equipment behind there,

但是如果看看我身后的这些实验器材

it tells a very different story.

就会发现事实绝不是那样

You have scales, oven, retort -

你会发现天平 炉子 曲颈瓶

equipment you would find in any modern chemistry lab.

都是现代化学实验室必备的器材

I have absolutely no doubt

我绝不怀疑

that the quest to understand what the world was made of

在寻找世界组成要素的过程中

was hugely helped by the work done down the years

炼金术士在那漫长的岁月里

by the alchemists.

做出了卓越的贡献

But by Brand's time, the alchemists were on the wane.

但到了布兰德的时代 炼金术正逐渐衰落

And the ancient idea of a world made up of just four forms of matter

世界由四种物质组成的古老观念

was about to be demolished.

也将被颠覆

As Europe moved out of the Middle Ages,

在欧洲逐渐走出中世纪的时候

new forces started to shape science.

新的力量开始塑造科学

Powerful, absolute monarchies ruled the continent.

强大而专制的君主政权主宰了整个大陆

They were hungry for weapons as they battled for supremacy.

他们渴求武器以争夺霸权

That led to a strategic interest in more and better metals.

这带来了对大批高质量金属的战略需求

The hunger for metals was insatiable

对金属的需求永无餍足

and the dirty business of getting metal ores out from deep underground

从深深的地下挖掘金属矿石的肮脏生意

became ever more important.

变得前所未有的重要

Mines were one of the places

矿井

where challenges to the age-old beliefs started to emerge.

是开始挑战古老信仰的地方之一

Air had long been considered

长久以来 人们一直以为

a single indivisible substance,

空气是单一不可再分的物质

a basic building block of the world.

是组成世界的基石

But as Europe industrialised,

但是随着欧洲的工业化进程

it became increasingly obvious

人们逐渐认识到

that this was far from the truth.

事实远不止如此

People realised, from personal experience,

从个人经验中人们意识到

that there were lots of different airs,

气体的种类众多

with very different properties.

它们的性质也大不相同

There was bad air, which killed men down mines

有"坏"气体 可以在矿井中置人于死地

and mysteriously extinguished candles.

也能神秘地熄灭蜡烛

There was fire damp,

还有"火"气

which ignited below ground without warning.

毫无预兆便可突然燃烧

And the wonderfully-titled

还有由燃烧产生的

Phlogisticated Air, produced by combustion.

名字神奇的"去燃素空气"

All of this raised questions.

所有这些都向人类提出了问题

What were these airs?

它们是什么气体

How many were there?

这些气体存在多少

Across Europe, experimenters went looking for answers.

整个欧洲大陆上的实验家都在寻找答案

In Yorkshire, the challenge was taken up by the natural philosopher

在约克郡 一位自然哲学家接受了这一挑战

Joseph Priestley

约瑟夫·普利斯特里

A man who set out to probe the hidden mysteries of nature.

他准备探究大自然隐藏的奥秘

Joseph Priestley was a precocious youth.

约瑟夫·普利斯特里少年老成

By the age of four, he could recite perfectly

他四岁时 便能准确背诵出

all 107 questions and answers

107个问题及其答案

He joined the church,

他虽然加入了教会

but he also became a brilliant experimenter.

但并不影响他成为一位天才实验家

He was looking for God, not just in the Bible,

他不仅从《圣经》中寻找上帝

but in the natural world.

更从自然世界中寻找

Priestley was amongst the foremost

普利斯特里是当时

air experimenters of the day.

最早的气体实验家之一

And it was these new airs or gases

正是这些新型的空气或气体

that would help create a new vision

帮助人类重新认识了

of what the world is made of.

世界的组成

Priestley set out to study airs

普利斯特里一开始是通过

by heating different substances...

加热不同物质来研究气体

..Including an old alchemist favourite, red calx.

其中就有古代炼金术师最爱的氧化汞

I love the way the colour changes,

我很喜欢颜色的变幻方式

as it's going from a sort of orange to a very rich red.

从橙色变成深红色

Priestley heated it to a high temperature

普利斯特里将其加热到很高的温度

and the orange powder transformed into a shiny metal.

于是橙色粉末变成有光泽的金属

Mercury.

也就是汞

And with a new piece of equipment,

借助一种新型仪器

the pneumatic trough, he collected a new air.

集气槽 普利斯特里收集到一种新气体

OK, and here it is.

好了 就是这个

A precious container full of mystery gas. Now, to test it.

装满神秘气体的珍贵容器 现在测试一下

Turn it upside down

把它倒过来

and then quickly remove the lid. - OK.

然后迅速移开玻璃盖 -好

Ready? Lid.

准备好 移开盖子

- And it reinflames... - Gorgeous. - Right. ..Quite nicely.

又燃烧了 -太棒了 -确实很棒

Goes out again and then it burns.

再拿出来 又重新燃烧

He described what he'd collected as "Good air".

他把自己收集到的气体称为"好"气体

And he was enchanted by its fiery properties.

并且对其助燃性非常着迷

It turned out to be the most important

事实证明 这种新气体是迄今为止

of the new airs yet discovered.

人类发现的最重要的气体

In 1774, Priestley went on a fateful trip to Paris.

1774年在命运的指引下 他来到巴黎

Now, he could never ordinarily have afforded such a thing,

虽然按理说他负担不起这次旅行

but on this occasion

但他是以

he went as the guest of a British aristocrat

一位英国贵族的客人的身份去的

and he took with him knowledge of his new discovery.

并且他还带去了关于新发现的知识

When he arrived in Paris,

普利斯特里到达巴黎后

Priestley was invited to dine with the golden couple

他受邀与一对研究实验科学的

of French experimental science,

法国金牌夫妻档共进晚餐

Antoine and Marie-Anne Lavoisier.

安托万·拉瓦锡和玛丽-安娜·拉瓦锡

They had created

他们建造了

the best-equipped private laboratory in Europe,

当时欧洲 设备最先进的私人实验室

dedicated to measurement and precision.

致力于精准的测量

He had a vaulting ambition

拉瓦锡野心勃勃

to define a new science

想开创一门新的科学

of chemistry.

化学

His contribution to how we live now

他对现在人类生活方式的贡献

is arguably as great as that of Newton or Darwin.

和牛顿或者达尔文不相上下

When he was a young man, Lavoisier said,

拉瓦锡年轻的时候说过

I am avid for glory.

我渴望荣耀

And he achieved that, though at huge personal cost.

尽管付出了巨大的代价 但是他成功了

They couldn't have been less alike, the Paris sophisticate

阅历丰富的巴黎人和约克郡的工人阶层

and the working-class Yorkshire man.

他们是那么格格不入

I imagine that Priestley was rather

我想普利斯特里肯定

overwhelmed by the occasion,

被当时的场合搞得不知所措

by the magnificent setting, the fine wines,

华丽的布置 上好的葡萄酒

by Antoine Lavoisier and by his brilliant guests.

还有安托万·拉瓦锡及其尊贵的客人

As he later wrote to his wife,

普利斯特里后来写信给他妻子说

Most of the philosophical people of the city were present.

城内贤者 多聚于此

And, as evening developed,

随着夜色加深

the conversation turned to the subject of airs.

话题转向气体问题

Priestley soon told them about

于是普利斯特里告诉了大家

his recent discovery, an air with fiery properties,

他最近的发现 一种可以助燃的气体

and then he also told them exactly how to make it.

并且详细说明了制造方法

Across the table, Lavoisier listened intently.

坐在桌对面的拉瓦锡听得很专注

As Priestley later noted,

普利斯特里后来写到

Everyone round that table expressed great surprise.

闻者皆惊

Armed with Priestley's knowledge,

借用普利斯特里的成果

Lavoisier set off to repeat the experiment.

拉瓦锡开始着手重复实验

And was soon boasting of his discovery,

随之很快便到处夸耀自己的发现

the same air, but with a new name.

虽然是同一种气体 但是却改了名字

Lavoisier called it "Oxygen".

拉瓦锡将之命名为"氧气"

It is the gas of life.

即为生命之气

But what Lavoisier did next is, I think,

但是我觉得随后拉瓦锡所做的

a defining moment in the story of science.

是科学史上一个决定性的时刻

He decided to run the Priestley experiment in reverse,

他决定逆向做一次普利斯特里的实验

the gas and the shiny metal recombined to form red calx.

用氧气和光泽金属重新合成氧化汞

Now, the really significant bit...

这才是真正伟大的时刻

He found it weighed exactly the same as before.

他发现实验前后物质的质量完全一样

This was to become a fundamental principle

之后不久这成了现代化学的

of modern chemistry.

一个基本定律

This was momentous.

这是划时代的

Lavoisier had discovered that everything balances.

拉瓦锡发现物质守恒

You can take a substance, split it down into simple elements

把某种物质分解为更简单的元素后

then recombine those elements

再把这些元素重新化合

and you get back to where you started.

得到的还是一开始的物质

For me, this marks the beginning of a modern understanding

对我来说 这标志着开始用现代的眼光

of matter, of how the world is really made.

理解物质 理解万物的组成

The science of chemistry now emerged.

化学科学诞生了

Out of connections

它诞生于三者的结合

between the practical skills of the alchemists,

炼金术士的实用技能

the discovery of new gases,

新气体的发现

and a dedication to precise measurement.

以及对精确测量的追求

The new chemistry would help create a new vision

新科学化学可以帮助人类

of what the world is made of.

重新认识世界的组成

Meanwhile, outside the laboratories of the rich,

与此同时 在富人的实验室之外

science was developing a taste for the spectacular,

科学创造的奇观开始吸引大批观众

powered by the new interest in airs.

这主要得力于对气体的新研究

We're about to re-enact

我们即将重新上演

a very important moment in the history of science.

科学史上一个非常重要的时刻

There should be flames, shouts, screams and,

会有火焰 呐喊 尖叫

obviously, this is why we're all wearing funny costumes.

很明显 这也是大家都穿着滑稽服装的原因

In the small French town of Annonay,

在法国小镇阿诺奈

descendents of a famous family of papermakers, the Montgolfiers,

著名造纸家族孟格菲家族的后人们

recreate the time when an ancient dream of taking to the skies

重现人类古老的飞天梦

became a reality.

成真的那一刻

It's incredibly hot and smoky under there.

这底下真是又热又呛人

The Montgolfier brothers, when they originally did this experiment,

孟格菲兄弟首次做这个实验的时候

they had no idea about the theory.

对其原理一无所知

They were practical men who wanted to make money

他们很实际 只是想赚钱

and they thought what was happening to straw,

他们以为稻草燃烧

producing something called Montgolfier Gas,

会产生叫做"孟格菲气体"的东西

which contains levity, which is what lifts it up.

可以让物体变轻 从而举升气球

And now we're cooking!

现在我们要烤火了

Whoa! This is... this is seriously hot.

真的 真的很热

That was a sight.

太壮观了

It was great fun. We know about flight,

真的很有趣 我们现在都知道飞行

but imagine you had never seen anything fly like that before.

但是想象一下如果你从未见过会飞的东西

It would completely blow your mind.

你绝对会叹为观止的

The first balloon, made entirely out of paper,

完全由纸做成的世界上第一个气球

soared a mile into the heavens.

飞向了1600多米的高空

The race was now on to carry a man into the skies.

现在的挑战就是要把人带到天上去

And in November 1783,

1783年11月

two brave volunteers took to the air.

两名勇敢的志愿者飞向天空

The first humans

人类第一次

to look down at the surface of their own planet.

俯视自己星球的大地

But very soon, the hot air balloon had a rival,

但是不久热气球就有了竞争者

backed by the scientific establishment of France.

是由法国科研机构主持制造的

Just ten days later, another balloon rose.

仅在10天之后 另一个气球升空了

This was driven by a newly-discovered gas,

气球的动力是一种新型气体

called inflammable air.

人们称之为"易燃气体"

It was 13 times lighter than normal air and

其密度是普通气体的十三分之一

considerably less dangerous than using a blazing pile of straw.

当然也比用燃烧的稻草安全得多

It had huge lifting power.

它的抬升能力非常强

This was science as public event.

这是人尽皆知的科学大事

Half the city of Paris turned out to watch.

半数巴黎人都出门观看

400,000 people, all staring upwards in amazement.

40万人 都惊奇的望向天空

But its success laid down a challenge to the chemist.

但是此次成功也让化学家们面临新的挑战

How could they make enough of this new gas

怎样才能制出足够多的新气体

to fill the skies with floating aeronauts?

能让人尽情在空中翱翔

It was a challenge picked up by the champion

一个走在新兴化学前沿的人

of the new chemistry...

接受了这个挑战

..Antoine Lavoisier.

安托万·拉瓦锡

Ever the experimenter, his solution was daring,

在所有实验家中 他的解决办法最为大胆

to find a way to break apart a fundamental substance...

他找到一种方法 能分解最基本的物质

Water.

水

Hi, there. - Hi.

你好 -你好

Nice to see you again. - Good to see you, Michael.

幸会 -幸会 迈克尔

I love this. I'm very impressed

我爱死这个了 我很高兴

because I've got a drawing here of

能拿到拉瓦锡的

what Lavoisier's original apparatus looked like

原装置图纸

and I think that's pretty damned close.

我觉得现在这个和它很像

This apparatus was constructed to test Lavoisier's idea

这套装置可用来验证拉瓦锡的观点

that water could be split into two very different gases,

即水可以被分解为两种截然不同的气体

oxygen and the new inflammable air.

氧气和新的易燃气体

So what we have is a system

这个装置

to essentially make rust in a great hurry. -

本来是用于快速制备铁锈

OK.

明白

So we have iron in the centre and

我们把铁管放在中间

then we have water which is trickling down,

然后让水顺着铁管慢慢流下

and by raising the temperature,

通过提升温度

what we do is, we essentially speed up the reaction.

来加快化学反应的速度

Right, so the oxygen in the water is going to bind to the iron?

明白 之后水分子中的氧元素就会和铁结合

Absolutely. The iron is essentially

完全正确 铁的作用

the oxygen getter in this system.

就是让氧气与它化合

If I let a bit of water in at this end,

如果我从这一端放入少许水

that's going to get very hot

水就会变得非常热

and you can see with trained steam

你就能看到团团蒸汽

and that's why we have a bit of pressure behind it.

这也是为什么后部的压强会稍微增大

But it's now going to drain through and

现在水应该顺着铁管流下

in the centre it should be reacting with the iron.

并和中间部分的铁管发生反应

Right.

明白

We may be able to see bubbles down the far end.

我们有可能在另一端看到一些气泡

- We've got bubbles. - Congratulations. Well done!

出现气泡了 -恭喜 干得漂亮

I'm very impressed.

非常精彩

And those bubbles cannot be steam.

这些气泡不可能是水蒸气

Right.

是的

Because the steam would be condensed here in the copper coil

因为水蒸气会在铜管中冷凝

and so that must be some, let's call it non-condensable gas.

所以我们先称它们为不可凝结气体

But is it inflammable air?

但这是不是易燃气体呢

We're getting anxious now, aren't we?

我们都急切想知道答案 是吧

Well, we're ready.

好 一切就绪

We're going to put the splint in there.

我要把这根木条放进去

And it was definitely hydrogen and it worked.

这的确是氢气 实验成功了

It was in fact that pop sound that you do get when hydrogen ignites.

那噗地一声就是氢气被点燃时发出的

There's no question.

毫无疑问

That was inflammable air as it was called in the 18th century.

这正是十八世纪人们所说的易燃气体

Lavoisier's success encouraged Napoleon

拉瓦锡的成功鼓舞了拿破仑

to create a military balloon corps powered by hydrogen gas.

用氢气组建一支气球军队

These two gases that make up water,

能合成水的两种气体

hydrogen and oxygen,

氢气和氧气

were part of Lavoisier's bold new vision

是拉瓦锡对世界万物组成要素

of what the world is made of...

大胆猜想的一部分

Elements. 33 in all.

元素 共计33种

His list included the newly discovered gases,

他的清单里记录了新发现的气体

but he didn't get it entirely right.

但他并不是完全正确

He also included heat and light.

他的清单里也包括了热和光

It was a tentative new list of the building blocks of matter.

他尝试列出万物基石的新清单

Lavoisier's work coincided, tragically for him,

悲剧的是 拉瓦锡当时

with the upheaval of the French Revolution.

身处于法国大革命的动荡之中

He made money from collecting taxes. He was a hated tax farmer.

他通过税收获取利润 并被人们所痛恨

Lavoisier must have realised that he was vulnerable.

拉瓦锡肯定也意识到自己处境危险

A member of the revolutionary government

革命政府中的一位官员

had denounced former tax farmers like him

公开谴责像他一样的收税者

as leeches on the people, but he chose not to flee.

是民众利益的吸血鬼 但他并没有逃走

Here in La Place de la Concorde,

在协和广场

Lavoisier was put to death.

拉瓦锡被执行死刑

This was more than an individual tragedy.

他的死也绝不仅仅是他个人的悲剧

As one of Lavoisier's colleagues put it,

正如拉瓦锡的一位同事所说

it took just an instant to sever his head and

砍掉他的头只需要一瞬间

over 100 years would not suffice to produce another like it.

但是再过一百年 也未必有如此的头脑出现

We have now gone down a layer in our understanding

我们对于万物组成的理解

of what the world is made of...

又进了一步

To a world of elements.

我们进入了元素的世界

Each of them considered an unbreakable

人们认为每种元素都不可分割

building block of matter

并且是构成万物的基本物质

and this new understanding would begin to release great power.

这种新的理解将会大放异彩

Our journey now moves

我们的科学之旅

to the sublime landscape of the Lake District.

现在来到了壮丽的湖区

At the end of the 18th Century

十八世纪晚期

this was home to William Wordsworth,

威廉·华兹华斯曾经住在这里

one of the great poets of the day.

他是当时最伟大的诗人之一

Wordsworth was a leading member of a movement called Romanticism.

华兹华斯是浪漫主义运动的主要发起人

They prized feelings and intuition over cold hard logic.

他们看重感情和直觉而不是冰冷的逻辑

Romantic science sounds like a contradiction in terms

浪漫主义科学听起来有点自相矛盾

but, as we'll discover, the romantic poets

但是我们将会发现 浪漫主义诗人

had a surprisingly profound effect on the story of science.

对科学的发展产生过巨大的影响

That might sound unlikely,

这听起来不可思议

but the link can be found

但它们之间的联系可以

here in Wordsworth's Dove Cottage.

在华兹华斯的鸽子轩中找到

So this is, of course, William Wordsworth

这幅当然就是 威廉·华兹华斯

and over here we've got another of the romantic poets.

这幅是另一位浪漫主义诗人

This is Samuel Taylor Coleridge,

名叫塞缪尔·泰勒·柯勒律治

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan.

是《老水手之歌》以及《忽必烈汗》的作者

But the man I've really come to see is him,

但是我们真正要找的人是他

Humphry Davy, one of Britain's greatest chemists.

汉弗里·戴维 英国最伟大的科学家之一

So what's he doing here?

那么他在这里干什么呢

Well, Humphry Davy and the romantic poets

汉弗里·戴维和浪漫主义诗人们

shared an interest in poetry,

都热爱诗歌

in the power of nature

敬畏自然的力量

and in a certain mood-altering substance.

并被某种可以改变情绪的物质感吸引

They called it laughing gas and

他们称之为笑气

Davy generously shared it with his romantic friends.

戴维很大方地把它和诗人们分享

But the connections went much deeper.

但他们之间的共鸣比这深刻得多

Isn't it gorgeous?

风景如画

You can see why Davy loved this place

不难想象戴维会如此热爱这片土地

and he shared with the romantic poets a belief

他和浪漫主义诗人拥有一个共同的理想

that if only you could understand the laws of nature

就是如果我们能洞察大自然的法则

and livein harmony with them,

并且依此和自然和谐相处

then the world would be a better place.

那么世界将会更加美好

Poets and men of science stood in awe

诗人和科学家都对大自然蕴藏的

of the hidden powers contained within nature.

巨大力量肃然起敬

They just had different ways of showing it.

仅仅是表达方式有所不同

And in 1801, Davy's social connections

1801年 依靠自己的社会关系

landed him a post at the Royal Institution in London.

他在伦敦皇家学会找到一份职位

Here he was able to carry out research and give public lectures.

在这里他不但可以做实验还可以为公众演讲

His youthful glamour and taste for the spectacular

他朝气蓬勃 魅力四射 演讲引人入胜

made him an immediate success.

这一切都使他迅速成为耀眼的明星

Hi, there. You might need that.

你好 你应该需要这个

Ready to perform, then? - Yeah.

准备好演出了吗 -是的

Show time!

演出时间

As I'm sure Humphry Davy once said.

汉弗里·戴维以前肯定如此说过

'Dr Peter Wothers is helping to recreate the extravaganza

皮特·沃瑟博士要帮我重现200年前

'that Davy brought here 200 years ago.'

戴维带来的盛大演出

Carefully add a drop. - OK.

慢慢地加一滴 -好的

Can we... - Just... Yeah.

这样吗 -是的

See what happens to your sheep.

看看你的羊会怎样

There would have been an enthusiastic crowd drawn

当时肯定有一大批热情的观众

to these wonderful exhibitions.

争相观看这些精彩的演出

Somewhere over there,

坐在那边的年轻女士

some ardent young women drawn by his charisma.

肯定会为他的魅力热血沸腾

Over there you'd probably have seen Samuel Coleridge

在那边你还有可能看到塞缪尔·柯勒律治

who was drawn, he said, to collect new metaphors.

以他自己的话说 是来寻找新的灵感

And sprinkled throughout the crowd,

在那人群之中

a new breed of entrepreneur and factory owner

又坐着新一代的企业家和工厂主

who had come here to collect valuable chemical information.

敏锐的捕捉着有价值的化学新闻

Humphry Davy had an instinctive understanding

汉弗里·戴维深知

of how spectacle and showmanship

神奇的表演

could be used to establish science as a powerful force in society,

可以让他这样的新生代专家

controlled by a new breed of experts, men like him.

将科学深植于大众生活中

He thrilled his audience

他用自己精通的

with his mastery of one of the wonders of the age...

当时一种神奇事物的知识 让观众激动不已

electricity.

电

Is this going to be dangerous?

这个实验会有危险吗

Potentially, yes. It's very unpleasant material.

有可能的 这种物质反应很剧烈

OK. I'll button up well, then!

那我可得穿好防护服了

Davy heated an unassuming white powder called potash

戴维把一种不起眼的白色粉末草碱

to a molten state and then passed electricity through it.

加热到熔融状态 然后通电

And did Davy have any idea what

戴维在做这个实验时

he was going to get when he did this experiment?

知道自己能得到什么吗

- I don't think he did, no. - He just did it for a laugh.

我想他不知道 -他就是觉得有趣

Electricity broke the potash apart

电流将草碱分解

to reveal one of its building blocks.

分离出一种它的基本构成元素

A new element with a lilac glow.

这种元素发出淡紫色的光彩

He called it potassium.

他称之为钾

The smoke you can see

你看到的那些烟雾

is actually potassium that's been formed

就是生成的钾

but is instantly reacting with the air.

立即与空气反应产生的

This element was so volatile, so reactive,

这种元素是如此不稳定

that it disappeared almost as soon as it was isolated.

以至于它刚被分离就迅速反应消失了

I'll just fish a chunk out.

我现在取出一块钾

So this is potassium. - How funny.

这就是钾 -真有意思

I've never seen potassium. It looks like a metal, doesn't it?

我之前从没见过钾 它看起来像是金属

It looks like a metal,

看起来确实像

but if we cut this it's a very soft metal.

但我们切一下就会发现这种金属很软

You can see what potassium really looks like.

你就能看到钾的真面目了

Here we are. This is pure potassium metal.

快看 这就是纯的金属钾

And you can see that this is already reacting

并且你能看到钾已经与

with the oxygen from the air.

空气中的氧气发生反应

So it's really impressive that Davy

戴维在200年前

was able to do this 200 years ago.

就能分离出钾真是令人钦佩

It really is. It was quite a remarkable achievement

的确是的 在当时的条件下

to isolate this reactive metal.

能分离出这么不稳定的金属确实很伟大

Davy had a real knack for finding new elements.

戴维在发现新元素方面的确有自己的诀窍

Eight of them in less than two years.

他在两年内一共发现了八种新元素

Oh, God!

哦 天哪

There we are. - I was not expecting that.

就是这样 -我可是大吃一惊

But the significance of Davy's work

戴维工作的重要性

lay in far more than new elements.

远远超出了新元素本身

It extended to science itself and to popular culture.

它使科学深入到流行文化中

There was the young author, Mary Shelley,

当时的年轻作家玛丽·雪莱

who was inspired and disturbed by Davy's work.

受到戴维成果的启发并为之感到忧虑

It influenced her when she wrote Frankenstein,

她的作品《科学怪人》也深受其影响

a novel which created

这部小说塑造了

a powerful and enduring image

深入人心的科学怪人形象

of the mad experimenter who is dabbling

疯狂的实验者沉溺于

in forces way beyond his control.

远超乎自己控制的力量之中

And then there was Davy's friend,

然后戴维的朋友

the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

诗人塞缪尔·泰勒·柯勒律治

Now he actually helped coin the name "Scientist"

实际上帮忙创造了"科学家"这个词

to describe what people like Davy did.

来形容像戴维这样的人

Alternatives included "Science man",

也有人称他们为"科学人"

but it was "Scientist" that stuck.

但最终流传下来的是"科学家"

But others in the audience had a more practical reaction.

其他观众则提出了更实际的问题

Was chemistry useful? Was there money in it?

搞化学有用吗 能发财吗

Chemistry was about to become a power in the world,

化学终将成为推动世界发展的强大动力

but the journey it took to get there

但是其实现过程

was wonderfully unpredictable.

却远超你我想像

It starts in the tropics with a deadly problem

一切要从热带地区的一个致命难题说起

that threatened the empires of the 19th century.

这道难题足以威胁十九世纪的帝国统治

In Jamaica, once a British colony,

牙买加曾是英国的殖民地

I'm hoping to see how they tried to deal with it.

希望我能在这里获悉他们的解决之道

It's quite early morning. It's already unbelievably hot.

一大清早就已经热得不行

- Yeah, man. - We have a while to go, don't we?

是啊 -还要好一会儿才能到吧

How high are we? Do you know?

你知道我们现在海拔多高吗

Oh, when you reach by Cinchona,

当你到达金鸡纳树附近时

you are 5,002 feet above sea level.

海拔高度就是1525米了

Right. Do you get mosquito up here?

好吧 这里有蚊子吗

is it too high? - Oh, just a few.

蚊子飞不上来吧 -不是很多

On the upper slopes of the blue mountains

在这些青山的山坡之上

grows a truly remarkable tree.

生长着一种不同寻常的树

I like it here. It's nice.

我喜欢这里 很不错

It's just great to get off.

终于能下车了

There are lots of unpleasant creatures in the tropics

热带地区有很多让人厌恶的生物

but the deadliest by far is the mosquito.

但最为致命的就是蚊子

It has killed more people than anything else in history.

历史上杀人最多的也是蚊子

Now, it carries yellow fever, Dengue fever,

蚊子不仅会传播黄热病 登革热

but also malaria.

还会传播疟疾

And in the 19th century, malaria was a huge problem

对于十九世纪处于扩张中的大英帝国来说

for empire builders like the British.

疟疾可是个大麻烦

Right. Is it this way?

是这条路吗

How big is it? - About this high.

那树有多大 -差不多这么高

OK. and How old is it? - this way.

那树龄呢 -这边

The best defence against this disease

抵御这种疾病的良方

was the bark of the Cinchona tree.

就是金鸡纳树的树皮

You know the tree? You ever seen it before?

你知道是哪棵吗 以前见过吗

I think...Is that one there?

那棵是吗

Yes. This one here.

对 就是这棵

- Right, yes, this is it. - It's started blooming there.

就是这棵啦 -已经开始开花了

Yeah, this is probably the most amazing tree in history.

这可能是历史上最神奇的树了

It has relieved more human suffering than anything else.

是它前所未有地让人类免受疟疾侵扰

Right, and it's the bark we want, isn't it?

我们要的就是树皮吧

I'm told it's fairly horrible. Have you tried it before?

我听人说味道相当恐怖 你尝过没

Yeah, man. Real bitter.

伙计 是苦到家了

I've seen somebody, when I was doing medicine,

我学医时 亲眼见过

I saw somebody die of malaria

有人死于疟疾

so I have huge, huge appreciation for this.

所以我对这东西非常 非常地感激

Right, am I going to enjoy it?

好吧 我要尝了

Oh, God! Oh, God!

天呐 天呐

Oh, you were right!

你是对的

That is really, really bitter.

真的真的苦到家了

Just dries up your mouth, doesn't it?

苦得我都说不出来话了

On the grounds that something which is horrible is doing you good

所谓良药苦口利于病

then this must be extraordinarily good stuff.

这个一定是非常好的东西

Cinchona plantations were established all over the tropics.

金鸡纳树种植园遍布了整个热带地区

But every year the empires of Europe

但仍满足不了欧洲诸帝国

needed hundreds of tons of the bark to combat malaria,

每年上百吨的树皮需求量

so governments looked to chemists

因此 政府转向化学家

to come up with a synthetic alternative.

期望他们能研制出人工合成的替代品

In 1820, a couple of French chemists managed to isolate

1820年 两位法国化学家成功地

the active ingredient in the bark

从树皮中分离出一种有效成分

and they called it quinine.

并将其命名为奎宁

What people desperately wanted to do next

人们迫不及待要进行的下一步

was obviously produce an artificial version of quinine.

当然就是生产出人造版的奎宁

The problem was nobody

可问题是从来没有人

had done anything as complex as that before.

尝试过如此复杂的工序

The attempts to do so

而一旦开始这样的尝试

would open the world to chemistry on an industrial scale.

就将为世界开启化学工业的大门

The challenge to make artificial quinine

在伦敦东区一间

was taken up in a makeshift lab in London's East End...

由阁楼改成的临时试验室里

in an attic room by young William Perkin.

年轻的威廉·帕金开始了奎宁合成的研究

于1856年3月

发现首种苯胺染料

继而创立以科学为基本的工业

此地即为他工作的家庭实验室

斯特普尼历史纪念委托协会立

And I like to think he found his inspiration round the corner,

我认为他在住所的附近找到了灵感

in his local music hall.

也就是这家当地的杂耍剧场

Isn't it magnificent?

这里真是华丽

Now the theatre and in fact all of London

事实上这家剧院和整个伦敦

would have been lit by gas lights.

当时都是由煤气灯照亮

And the gas was produced from coal.

煤气是由煤炭制成

Now, one of the rather nasty side products of that process

这也产生了一些相当恶心人的副产品

was a black viscous substance called

其中就有这种黑色的粘性物质

coal tar.

煤焦油

A certain Charles Mackintosh

一个叫查尔斯·麦金托什的人

used this stuff and produced waterproof macs.

就是用这个做出了胶布雨衣

But Perkin was about to make a discovery

但帕金的发现

which was far, far more lucrative than that.

远比胶布雨衣要有利可图

The chemicals he used to try and create quinine

帕金用来合成奎宁的化学药品

are highly toxic.

毒性非常大

So I'm going to use substitutes

所以我会用替代品

to show what the process looked like.

大致演示出他的实验过程

Now from coal tar, other chemists had produced

此前已有化学家从煤焦油中提炼出了

a substance called aniline which contains

一种名为苯胺的物质

similar amounts of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen as quinine.

这种物质与奎宁的碳氢氮含量相似

So this seemed like a pretty good place to start.

看来是个非常好的着手点

He mixed up his aniline with sulphuric acid

他在苯胺中加入了硫酸

and also a substance called potassium dichromate

以及一种叫重铬酸钾的物质

which is a sort of chemical mixer.

不过其中混有其他杂质

And then he left it all to sort of brew for a while.

接着他让这些混合物反应了一段时间

What he found was black, gunky, really quite revolting.

得出了一堆黑色泥状物 非常令人作呕

I'm surprised he didn't chuck it away, but he didn't.

让我惊讶的是他没立即扔掉 还真没

In his laboratory, at the top of his parents' house,

他的"实验室"底下还住着他的父母

he distilled, he mixed.

他就在那儿蒸馏啊混合啊

He eventually produced a very interesting little powder.

终于制成了一种非常有趣的细粉末

He had not discovered artificial quinine.

他发现的不是人造奎宁

He had instead discovered something

而是一种

which had never been seen before

他从未见过

and which he really wasn't expecting.

从未料想到的东西

He had discovered the colour

那就是一种颜色

mauve!

紫

He had created the first great synthetic dye

第一种人造染料诞生了

and made the world a far more colourful place.

世界因此变得更加多彩

Perkin never did make quinine

帕金没能造出奎宁

but he did create a fashion sensation.

却轰动了时尚界

The rich and famous loved his synthetic mauve.

达官贵人都爱他的淡紫染料

This is really beautiful.

真得非常美

It's an antique Victorian dress.

这条维多利亚时代的古典长裙

Now, Perkin's mauve was more than simply a fashion statement.

帕金制出的淡紫不仅仅是一种时尚宣言

The aniline dyes, which were used to colour this dress,

这条裙子用的苯胺染料

were the first to be produced on a truly industrial scale.

还是首个被真正投入工业生产的化学产品

So strange as it may sound,

听起来虽然奇怪

this dress marks a significant moment in human history,

但这条裙子标志着人类历史的一大进步

when the synthetic took over from the natural

开启了合成产品大规模地

on a truly massive scale.

取代天然的时代

By the 1870s, Perkin's factory

到了19世纪70年代 帕金的工厂

was making hundreds of tons of dye a year,

年产染料已达上百吨

adding Perkin's green and Britannia violet

同时 在帕金生动鲜艳的染料种类中

to his growing catalogue of vivid colours.

又增添了帕金绿和大不列颠紫两种颜色

Perkin is rightly celebrated

帕金无愧被誉为

as the father of industrial chemistry

工业化学之父

but the lead soon passed to Germany

但很快 德国成了领头军

where industrial chemists worked out how to make ammonia,

他们的化学家研究出了氨气的制造工序

which led to artificial fertilisers

进而合成了人造化肥

which today sustain the global population.

使不断膨胀的世界人口得以维生

But the journey that began in the tropics

但这条始于研制奎宁

with the search for quinine also led here...

的化学之路也将人类引向了

to the killing fields of the Great War.

第一次世界大战的修罗场上

Uniforms were coloured khaki with artificial dyes.

军队制服的卡其色是用人造染料染成

Explosives were produced

炸药是由

by the same process used to make fertilisers.

生产化肥的同样制造工序而来

It brought us the horrors of poison gas,

给人类带来噩梦的毒气

chlorine,

氯气

a gas used in the dye industry that Perkin had pioneered.

正是帕金开创的染料工业中所用的气体

The First World War has been described

第一次世界大战因此被称为

as the "Chemist's War".

化学家之战

Industrial chemistry became a force in world history,

工业化学成为推动世界历史的重要力量

the result of connections between the discovery of elements,

是元素被不断被发现

the growth of European empires

欧洲帝国不断成长

and the colour mauve.

以及淡紫染料的共同结果

But the search for what the world is made of was far from over.

但探寻万物由何构成的脚步并没有止于此处

In universities across the world, researchers had been trying

在世界各大学府 研究人员试图

to make sense of what elements might themselves be made of.

探索元素本身的结构成分

The main theory was that every element

主流理论认为 每一种元素

is made of tiny indivisible chunks of matter

都是由大量微小且不可分割的物质组成

called atoms.

即原子

Atoms of different elements join together

不同元素的原子聚到一起

to make up everything you see or touch.

才构成了所有你看得见摸得着的事物

There was just one rather tricky problem

但要证明这套理论

with the idea of the atom -

却有一个比较棘手的问题

proof.

没有证据

Seeing is believing.

眼见为实

Nobody had actually seen an atom.

没人看见过原子是什么样子

They're far too small.

它们太小了

Lots of physicists were sceptical about their existence.

很多物理学家都对原子的存在抱怀疑态度

Ernst Mach, who leant his name to the speed of sound, said,

因研究音速而闻名的恩斯特·马赫曾说

They are just things of thought.

它们只是胡思乱想的产物罢了

The first physical evidence for the existence of atoms

令人意想不到的是

would come from a gloriously unexpected source...

证明原子存在的首个物证竟出自

from the world of the supernatural.

超自然世界

To the modern mind, William Crookes

以现代思想看 威廉·克鲁克斯

is a puzzling sort of scientist.

不像是严格意义上的科学家

His interests range from discovering new elements

他虽然致力于发现新元素

to investigating the world of spirits and ghosts.

但也对魂灵鬼魅的世界感兴趣

Crookes' interest in spiritualism

克鲁克斯会对招魂术有兴趣

was probably triggered by the death

很可能是弟弟的

of his younger brother at a tragically young age.

英年早逝引发的

At the same time, there were photographs claiming to show

当时 有人声称照片拍到了

ectoplasm, spirits, apparitions.

幽灵鬼魅之类的怪影

Crookes set about a scientific investigation of these claims.

克鲁克斯就此开始对魂灵世界的科学研究

Crookes invited some of the leading mediums of the day

他邀请了一些当时有名的灵媒

to come to his house and be tested

到他家里做测验

and they passed the test with flying colours.

这些灵媒都出色地通过了

He claimed to have seen acts of levitation,

他声称看见人腾空而起

an accordion playing by itself

手风琴能自己演奏

and strange phantom figures, some of which he photographed.

以及幻影 他还拍下了一部分

Was Crookes being naive?

克鲁克斯是不是太天真了呢

Well, it was only decades since the telegraph had been invented.

那时电报才发明了几十年

If you could communicate across the world

如果你跟全世界都能联系上

then why not with the dead?

为什么不能跟死人有交流呢

The thing is, even in his own laboratory,

甚至就在他自己的实验室里

Crookes was coming across stuff which was very hard to explain,

克鲁克斯也遇到了难以解释的现象

stuff which was really, if you like, out of this world.

像是发生在另一个世界的事情

This thing here is called a Crookes tube

这个东西叫做克鲁克斯管

and it's simply a glass tube out of which the air has been sucked,

这就是一个普通的真空玻璃管

a couple of electrodes and a fluorescent screen.

再加上两个电极和一个荧光屏

He passed a high voltage across the electrodes...

他给两个电极加了很大的电压

and the result was really quite striking.

实验结果很惊人

Isn't that gorgeous?

很漂亮不是吗

Looks like a sort of green ray.

像一道绿色的射线

Was this a spiritual emanation?

这是精神放射物吗

Crookes was a careful experimenter.

克鲁克斯是一位细心的实验者

He found the glow could be bent with a magnet,

他发现光会随着磁铁而弯曲

suggesting the glow was in some way electrical.

这说明这束光应该是带电的

What he did next was very ingenious.

他接下来做的事情更是绝妙

Right.

正确

Crookes made a new tube with another addition,

克鲁克斯又做了一个管 加了一个部件

a tiny metal paddle wheel.

一个小金属桨轮

Let's see what happens when we turn it on.

我们来看一下打开会发生什么

Ha! Spectacular.

真是精妙绝伦啊

This suggested the strange glow was made up of moving particles,

这说明这道奇怪的光是由运动的粒子组成

something with a mass to push a wheel.

是有质量的物体推动轮子前进

Now Crookes was thrilled.

这让克鲁克斯非常激动

As far as he was concerned,

对他而言

this proved beyond all reasonable doubt

这证明了所有合理的假设

that what was happening was

这里发生的就是

a stream of particles were making it spin.

一束粒子转动了轮子

He called this force,

他把这种力量

this stream, "Radiant matter",

这种光束称为"发光物质"

and he thought it was a sort of fourth state of being.

他认为这是物质的第四种状态

For all his skills as an experimenter,

因为他只是个实验家

Crookes didn't have a convincing theory of what was happening.

克鲁克斯没得出令人信服的理论来解释现象

But his curiosity would trigger a whole sequence of experiments

但在好奇心的驱使下他又做了一系列实验

that would in turn transform physics, chemistry

推进了物理和化学的发展

and also create a whole new way of

也让我们从一个全新的角度

looking at this deeply strange world that we all live in.

审视我们生存的这个奇妙世界

Atomic theory really started to come into focus

原子理论就是在这里开始的

here in Cambridge University.

剑桥大学

In the rather unassuming Cavendish Laboratory

在毫不起眼的卡文迪许实验室里

with the work of the physicist,

一位物理学家的成果

Joseph John Thomson, known as JJ.

约瑟夫·约翰·汤姆孙 也就是JJ

He realised that what was causing the tube to glow

他发现了让管子发光

and the paddle wheel to spin,

并且让浆轮运动的物质

were a stream of tiny charged particles,

那是一束很小很小的带电粒子

particles far, far smaller than even atoms.

甚至比原子都要小得多

He built more accurate and delicate versions of Crookes' tubes.

他做了一些更精巧的克鲁克斯管

Thomson calculated the particles causing the wheel to move

汤姆孙计算出这种能让轮子动起来的粒子

were 1,000 times smaller than an atom.

比原子要小一千倍

It caused a sensation.

这引起了轰动

They were named electrons,

它们被命名为电子

the first sub-atomic particles to be discovered.

人类发现的第一种亚原子粒子

It was an achievement that gained JJ Thomson

JJ汤姆孙因为这项发现

the Nobel Prize for physics in 1906.

在1906年获得了诺贝尔物理学奖

A new layer of our understanding of

在二十世纪初

what the world is made of opened up in the early 20th century.

我们对世界的组成有了更进一步的了解

The world was made of atoms

世界由原子组成

and they were made up of three fundamental particles,

原子又由三种基本粒子构成

protons and neutrons packed into a nucleus,

原子核内有质子和中子

surrounded by electrons moving in orbits.

电子围绕着原子核运动

A suitably grand location to give you a sense of the world of the atom

有个地方能让你了解原子的世界

is St Paul's in London.

那就是伦敦圣保罗教堂

It's a place where you can start to picture

在这里你就可以开始想象

the scale and proportions inside the atom.

原子内的比例和构造

If you can imagine St Paul's Cathedral as an atom,

如果你把圣保罗大教堂想象成一个原子

then the nucleus, which is at the heart of the atom,

原子核 也就是这个原子的核心

and where almost all the mass resides,

几乎集中了所有质量的所在

would be smaller than a single grain of sand.

比一粒沙子还要小

The rest is effectively a void.

剩余的空间都是空的

It is remarkable.

这很神奇

Everything you think of as solid matter,

任何被你看作是固体的物质

the building, me, you, the floor I'm standing on,

这个建筑 我 你 我脚下的地板

almost all of it is empty space.

几乎都是由空白空间组成

That's why, if you took out the empty space,

因此 如果你去掉所有空白空间

the entire population of the world

世界上所有的人加起来

could fit inside the size of a single sugar cube.

也就只有一块方糖那么大

And scientists soon realised that inside the atom

科学家们很快意识到在原子内部

the traditional laws of physics simply don't apply.

传统的物理定律是不适用的

In the early days of atomic theory,

在原子理论诞生的初期

they thought of the atom

他们把原子

as being like a sort of mini solar system.

看成是一个小型的太阳系

You've got the nucleus, the sun at the centre

原子核 也就是太阳

and round it spun the electrons like mini planets.

周围旋转的电子就像小型行星

Soon, however, they realised

但是很快他们意识到

that electrons are nothing like planets.

电子和行星毫无相似之处

The electron is an unbelievably weird beast.

电子是一种让人难以置信的诡异怪兽

And you simply cannot pin it down.

你甚至无法确定它在哪里

An electron is never just in one place.

电子永远不会只出现在一个地方

It flits around as if it were in many places at the same time.

它到处游走好像会同时出现在很多地方

By the altar, up there in the dome,

在圣坛上 圆顶上

just behind me,

我身后

all at the same time.

都是在同一时刻

A new theory was required

现在急需一个新的理论

to explain this strange sub-atomic world.

解释这个奇怪的亚原子世界

The behaviour of electrons could only be described,

电子的运动方式不能确定

not as certainties, but as probabilities.

只能用概率描述

Not where electrons are,

不能确定电子在哪里

but where they are likely to be.

只能说它们可能在哪里

The new theory was known as quantum.

这个新的理论也就是量子论

Niels Bohr, the father of quantum physics,

尼尔斯·玻尔 量子物理之父

once said that if you're not profoundly shocked

他曾说 当你听说这个理论后

when you hear about it

若没有被深深震撼到

then you haven't understood it.

那你就是没有理解它

Even Albert Einstein initially rejected quantum theory,

连阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦都曾否定量子理论

saying, "God does not play dice with the universe."

他说 "上帝从来不会跟宇宙掷骰子"

But quantum theory is nonetheless

尽管如此 量子理论依然是

the foundation of our modern technological society.

我们现代科技社会的基础

1945, and the wartime generation

1945年 饱经战火的一代人

celebrated victory and the possibility of peace and plenty.

庆祝着胜利 憧憬着和平富裕的生活

They dreamt of how technology could make their lives better.

他们梦想着科技如何使生活更美好

And behind many of these dreams was the science of the electron.

而这些梦想的背后却是电子科技

There was a brand-new world

一个崭新的世界即将到来

and what made it possible were these.

让梦想变为现实的正是

Valves.

真空管

Now it is rather gorgeous, isn't it?

它看起来很漂亮 不是吗

It's a distant cousin of the Crookes tube

这是克鲁克斯管的远亲

and its job was essentially to control the flow of electrons,

它的任务是控制电子的流动

to amplify or to switch things.

放大或者开关

The valve was the workhorse of the electrical industry.

真空管是电气工业的重要部分

It was used to amplify electrical signals

它在收音机和电话交换机中

in radios and telephone exchanges,

被用来放大电子信号

and to switch binary signals in early computers.

以及在早期电脑中开关二进制信号

They were manufactured by the million.

他们被成百万的生产

The trouble is, big, chunky,

可是麻烦的是 这又胖又大的家伙

uses a lot of power,

很耗电

gets really hot

会变得很热

and is incredibly... Breakable!

而且 及其易碎

The strange world of quantum theory was to provide a replacement.

量子理论的奇妙世界找到了替代品

It was in a telephone company

这是在一家电话公司

that quantum theory came of age.

量子理论开始走向实用

Bell Labs wanted a better, cheaper way of

贝尔实验室想用一种更便捷更便宜的方式

connecting Americans.

让美国人沟通

To do that, they needed to replace the valve.

因此 他们需要替换掉真空管

Their research team was led by William Shockley,

他们的研究小组由威廉·肖克利带头

a slick, clever and rather unlikeable individual.

一个圆滑 聪明绝顶却难以相处的人

And this is what Shockley's team came up with.

这个就是肖克利的团队做出来的

It is a curious looking beast

这个看上去有些奇怪的小东西

but this is a model of the world's first transistor.

就是世界上第一个晶体管的雏形

You can only make a transistor

只有你了解电子的性质

if you understand how electrons behave.

你才能做出晶体管

You need quantum theory.

你需要量子理论

But essentially it was doing what a valve does,

但实际上它和真空管的作用是一样的

control the flow of electrons,

控制电子的流动

but it did so using the laws of quantum mechanics.

但它是借助量子力学实现的

Now, I would put the transistor right up there

现在 我要把晶体管

with the ten greatest inventions of all time,

列为历史上最伟大的十项发明之一

because it utterly transformed the world.

因为它彻底地改变了世界

Big, clunky valve radios soon gave way

又大又胖的电子管收音机很快被淘汰了

to small portable transistor radios,

取而代之的是小型的便携式晶体管收音机

and these in turn were replaced by the micro-processer.

而这些又被微处理器取代

It is astonishing when you think

想一下你就会惊讶的发现

that in just 60 years we have gone from this,

仅仅在60年间 我们就由这个

a single transistor, to this,

一个单晶体管 发展到了这个

a micro-processor that contains over two billion transistors.

一个包含有超过20亿晶体管的微处理器

For me, the micro-processor is the ultimate expression

由我看来 这个微处理器

of the power that has been unleashed

就是探索万物由何组成

by trying to understand what the world is made of.

旅程中的结晶

Delving ever deeper into matter

对于物质组成的不断深入研究

has undoubtedly changed our society.

无疑改变了我们的社会

The buildings we live in,

我们居住的房子

the way we travel, how we communicate.

出行的工具 联络的方式

In short, our modern way of life

简而言之 我们现在的生活方式

is largely a product of the attempts

很大部分归功于

to find out what we're all made of.

对于我们自身组成的不断研究

Our attempts are far from over.

我们的探索还远没有结束

There will be new layers to discover, ever more strange.

我们会探索到更深层 更千奇百怪的事物

Perhaps what now seems unbelievable

也许我们现在无法理解的事情

is simply what we do not yet understand.

只是因为我们现在还不明白

Next time, the most personal question we have asked.

下一次 我们将探索与自身最密切相关的问题