牛顿苹果地心引力：8万物简史牛顿被哈雷逼出成名之作

很多小伙伴都想读英文原著学英语，可每次看两页就放弃。为了帮助大家从阅读中找到乐趣，晓梅老师就带大家一起读英文原著，看看有意思的故事，学学地道表达，分析长难句。先从A Short History of Nearly Everything《万物简史》开始。这本书从宇宙大爆炸开始讲现代科学史，穿插了很多科学家的生平故事，妙趣横生。本书作者Bill Bryson喜欢用口语化的语言叙述，因而里面的英语要比一般的原著通俗易懂。今天读第4章关于哈雷和牛顿的片段。

Quite what Halley expected to get from him when he made his unannounced visit in August 1684 we can only guess. But thanks to the later account of Newton confidant, Abraham DeMoivre, we do have a record of one of sciences' most historic encounters:

1684年8月，哈雷不请自来，登门拜访（牛顿），他指望从牛顿那里得到什么帮助，我们只能猜测。但多亏牛顿的密友亚伯拉罕·迪莫弗后来的叙述，我们有了关于科学界一次最具历史意义的会见的记录：

In 1684 Dr Halley came to visit at Cambridge and after they had some time together the Dr asked him what he thought the curve would be that would be described by the Planets supposing the force of attraction towards the Sun to be reciprocal to the square of their distance from it.

1684年，哈雷博士来剑桥大学拜访（牛顿），他们见面（聊了）一会儿后，哈雷博士问牛顿，假设太阳对行星的引力和行星与太阳的距离平方成反比，他觉得行星运行的曲线会是什么样的。

This was a reference to a piece of mathematics known as the inverse square law, which Halley was convinced lay at the heart of the explanation, though he wasn't sure exactly how.

这里提到的是一种叫做平方反比定律的数学方法，哈雷相信它是解释的核心，尽管他不确定具体是怎么解释的。

Sr Isaac replied immediately that it would be an [ellipse]. The Doctor, struck with joy and amazement, asked him how he knew it. 'Why,' saith he, 'I have calculated it,' whereupon Dr Halley asked him for his calculation without farther delay. Sr Isaac looked among his papers but could not find it.

艾萨克爵士立即回答说，会是个[椭圆]。哈雷博士又惊又喜，问他是怎么知道的。“怎么，”他说，“我已经计算过了。”于是哈雷博士马上要他的计算过程。艾萨克爵士在他的文件中翻找了一遍，但没找到。

​This was astounding - like someone saying he had found a cure for cancer but couldn't remember where he had put the formula. Pressed by Halley, Newton agreed to redo the calculations and produce a paper. He did as promised, but then did much more. He retired for two years of intensive reflection and scribbling, and at length produced his master-work: the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica or Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, better known as the Principia.

这很让人震惊，就像有人说他找到了治疗癌症的方法，但忘记配方放哪里了一样。在哈雷的敦促下，牛顿答应再算一遍，写篇论文。他不仅履行承诺，还做了更多的事。他两年闭门不出，集中精力思考和写作，最终写出了他的杰作：《自然哲学的数学原理》，更经常被称为《原理》。

1. unannounced，[ˌʌnəˈnaʊnst]，adj. （un否定前缀 announced通知的）突然的，未通知的。

He had just arrived unannounced from South America. 他刚从南美来，事先也没通知。

2. thanks to somebody/something，多亏……，由于……。

We've reached our goal of $50,000, thanks to the generosity of the public. 多亏了公众的慷慨解囊，我们已经达到了5万美元的目标。

3. confidant， [ˈkɒnfɪdænt]，n. 知己；密友。这个词跟confident自信的只差一个字母。

I have been their confidant, their friend, their ally. 我是他们的密友、朋友，他们的同盟。

4. be convinced [kənˈvɪnst] (that)，确信

I was convinced that we were doing the right thing. 我确信我们在做正确的事。

5. be struck with horror/terror/awe etc，突然感到害怕、震惊等

As she began to speak to him, she was struck with shyness. 开始和他说话时，她突然感到很害羞。