万物简史 第160期:爱因斯坦的宇宙(3)

 　　Gibbs is perhaps the most brilliant person that most people have never heard of. Modest to the point of near invisibility, he passed virtually the whole of his life, apart from three years spent studying in Europe, within a three-block area bounded by his house and the Yale campus in New Haven¹, Connecticut. For his first ten years at Yale he didn’t even bother to draw a salary. (He had independent means.) From 1871, when he joined the university as a professor, to his death in 1903, his courses attracted an average of slightly over one student a semester. His written work was difficult to follow and employed a private form of notation² that many found incomprehensible. But buried among his arcane³ formulations were insights of the loftiest brilliance⁴.

　　吉布斯是个很杰出的人物，但大多数人也许没有听说过。他行为检束，很少抛头露面。除了去欧洲搞了三年研究以外，他的一辈子差不多都是在一个三个街区的范围之内度过的：一边是他的家，一边是耶鲁大学在康涅狄格州纽黑文的校园。在耶鲁大学的最初十年里，他连工资都懒得去领。（他有另外的收入。）从1871年起，他成为该大学的一名教授，直到1903年去世。在此期间，每学期选他的课的学生平均只有一名。他写的东西晦涩难懂，经常使用自己发明的符号，许多人觉得简直是天书。但是，在那些神秘的公式深处，隐藏着最英明、最深刻的见解。

　　爱因斯坦

　　In 1875–78, Gibbs produced a series of papers, collectively titled On the Equilibrium⁵ of Heterogeneous⁶ Substances, that dazzlingly elucidated⁷ the thermodynamic principles of, well, nearly everything—“gases, mixtures, surfaces, solids, phase changes ... chemical reactions, electrochemical cells, sedimentation⁸, and osmosis,” to quote William H. Cropper. In essence what Gibbs did was show that thermodynamics didn’t apply simply to heat and energy at the sort of large and noisy scale of the steam engine, but was also present and influential⁹ at the atomic level of chemical reactions. Gibbs’s Equilibrium has been called “the Principia of thermodynamics,” but for reasons that defy speculation¹⁰ Gibbs chose to publish these landmark¹¹ observations in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, a journal that managed to be obscure even in Connecticut, which is why Planck did not hear of him until too late.

　　1875-1878年期间，吉布斯写出了一系列论文，编成了《论多相物质的平衡》的集子。该书出色地阐述了近乎一切热力学原理——用威廉·H.库珀的话来说，包括"气体、混合物、平面、固体、相移......化学反应、电化电池、沉淀以及渗透"。归根结底，吉布斯想要表明，热力学不仅适用于蒸汽机这样的庞大而又嘈杂的范围里的热量和能量，而且在化学反应的原子层面上也同样存在，而且影响很大。吉布斯的《平衡》一直被称为"热力学原理"，但出于无法猜测的原因，吉布斯情愿将这些具有划时代意义的见解发表在《康涅狄格州艺术与科学院学报》上，那是一份即使在康涅狄格州也毫无名气的杂志。这就是为什么普朗克直到很晚的时候才听说他的名字的原因。

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 notation   

n.记号法，表示法，注释；[计算机]记法

参考例句：

• Music has a special system of notation.音乐有一套特殊的标记法。
• We shall find it convenient to adopt the following notation.采用下面的记号是方便的。

3 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。

4 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

5 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

6 heterogeneous   

adj.庞杂的；异类的

参考例句：

• There is a heterogeneous mass of papers in the teacher's office.老师的办公室里堆满了大批不同的论文。
• America has a very heterogeneous population.美国人口是由不同种族组成的。

7 elucidated   

v.阐明，解释( elucidate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He elucidated a point of grammar. 他解释了一个语法要点。
• The scientist elucidated his theory by three simple demonstrations. 这位科学家以三个简单的实例来说明他的理论。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sedimentation   

n.沉淀，沉积

参考例句：

• Sedimentation, the damage of a breach are problems, too. 而且沉积和决口的问题，也是存在的。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）
• Sedimentation and denudation play a role in exceptional cases. 沉积和剥蚀作用的影响只在特殊情况下起作用。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

11 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。