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Einstein Did More Than Discover Relativity, Say Those Who Ca

时间:2005-05-24 16:00来源:互联网 提供网友:chirie   字体: [ ]
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By Tom Crosby
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and E=mc². His simple-looking equation linked time and space as well as energy, mass and the speed of light.
Albert Einstein himself explained his E=mc² equation in which energy is equal to mass multiplied by the square of the velocity1 of light where a very small amount of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy.
Brad Lemley, a contributing editor to Discover, a science magazine, In an article for Discover titled "A Tangled2 Life," he looked into the simplicity3 the famed scientist sought to bring to the mysteries surrounding time, light and space:
"It was his simplicity that led him to a lot of the insights that he came to rather than thinking (about) a lot of deep, abstract mathematical concepts. He still had this great ability to take the simplest experience and turn that into physical knowledge.
"For example, it occurred to him when you fell off a roof while you are falling you are weightless. Well, this doesn't matter to you or me. We tend to think of the consequences of hitting the ground. But Einstein had the ability to understand that because you are weightless that has profound implications for the nature of gravity. When you are under gravity's sway at that particular moment, you are in fact inside of a warp4 in space time rather than rather than in the grip of a field if that means anything to you. It meant something to Einstein."
Simplicity may have been the key that unlocked a door and allowed Gillett Griffin into the life of Albert Einstein. "I think that the reason he liked me was that I was simple," says Mr. Griffin. "He could relax and know that nothing would go any further and I was not testing him at every corner."
In 1954, an invitation to dinner at the Einstein home in Princeton, New Jersey5, and a toy brought Gillett Griffin into the life and family of Albert Einstein. The dinner party included Professor Einstein's stepdaughter, Margot, his housekeeper6 and another woman.
"And then mid-way through dessert he apologized. Said he had to get to work. Said he had a lot of things on his mind. And so I thanked him profusely7. As he was leaving the room I turned to the ladies and said, 'Let me help with the dishes,'" says Mr. Griffin. "Einstein turned around and said, 'Ach, in Europe the men never do the dishes.' And I prevailed anyway. They let me dry.
"When the dishes were all done I thought I had better leave, and I was getting ready to leave and thanking everybody. And Elaine Dukos said, 'Did the professor show you his bird?' And I said no and she called upstairs. The typewriter was banging away upstairs. She said, 'Professor, you need to show Griffin your bird.' The typewriter stopped," continues Mr. Griffin.
"He came shuffling8 down the backstairs with a twinkle in his eye, beckoned9 with his head, went to a sort of baroque cabinet, pulled out a plastic dickey bird with suction cups and wound it up (and) stuck it on the mirror. Instead of watching the dickey bird going up the mirror, he watched my face. When the dickey bird hit the frame at the top, it fell into his hand. He said, 'Did you like it?' I said, 'I loved it.' Eventually I got three different telephone calls from the three ladies saying, 'consider yourself part of the family.' So how's that?" laughs Mr. Griffin.
Being part of the Einstein family meant being challenged from time to time by the professor. "He loved little plastic puzzles," says Mr. Griffin. "Get the three balls in the center of a maze10 or get the ball up a ramp11 or whatever. And I hated those things because my brother would tease me a lot and that was one way of teasing me. But every time I would show up at the Einstein house he would hand me a puzzle. And I would work on it with…quietly…clouds of steam coming out of my ears. And then I would hand it to him and say, 'You can do this better than I can.' And he would say, 'It just takes patience.'
Gillett Griffin was 24 when he first met Albert Einstein and had just begun work as a curator of graphic12 arts in Princeton University's rare book collection.
If we could turn the clock back 20 years earlier to 1934, we would find an 11-year-old by the name of Ralph Gardner confronting the renowned13 physicist14 across a chess board.
"Well, when you're 11 years old, you're not that impressed," recalls Mr. Gardner. "I knew who he was, of course, because back then in 1934 his picture was in the newspapers. He was in the movie newsreels. So everybody knew who he was. And he was just such a lovely person, such a friendly nice person who seemed genuinely interested in an 11-year-old kid that it was very normal and natural."
Young Ralph Gardner met the famous scientist when he was invited to tea at the home of federal judge Julian Mack, a family friend.  "And he asked me if I could play any instruments and I said no," says Mr. Gardner. "And he said he could play a violin. But there was no violin there so he didn't get to play it for me.
"However, on a little table between our chairs there was a chess set. So he asked me if I played chess, and I said no," continues Mr. Gardner. "I started to think that he would think that I couldn't do anything. But, anyhow, he said, 'Come. I'll show you how.' And he showed me. As it turned out I spent several Saturday afternoons at the Macks' apartment with him. And we played chess. The first time he taught me the different moves; and he said, 'The next time we'll play a game.' People have often asked me if I ever won a game from him. Well, I don't think we ever finished because generally tea was ready before we finished."
Ralph Gardner would later learn something else may have been going on during those Saturday afternoons when he played chess with Albert Einstein in the home of Judge Mack. The judge and the scientist may have been plotting and planning.
"Judge Mack and Einstein, of course, were very busy and very interested in rescuing European scientists and saving them from the Nazis15, bringing them to this country and where possible getting them positions in American universities," he notes.
As Ralph Gardner and others who knew him learned when the troubles of the world or the pressures of just being Albert Einstein weighed heavily on him, the great scientist found comfort in music, particularly classical music. And he found contentment at the keyboard of his piano and in his violin. He once said, "I live my daydreams16 in music. I see my life in terms of music."
注释:
Relativity 相对论
equation 公式
multiply 增加
velocity 速度
contributing editor 特约编辑
famed 著名的,闻名的
abstract 抽象的,深奥的
weightless 无重力的
profusely 丰富地
shuffle 慢吞吞地走
beckon 招手,召唤
baroque 巴洛克式的
maze 迷宫
ramp 斜坡
curator 图书馆馆长
graphic 绘画的
renowned 有名的,有声望的
rescue 援救,营救
Nazi 纳粹
keyboard 键盘


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 velocity rLYzx     
n.速度,速率
参考例句:
  • Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
  • The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。
2 tangled e487ee1bc1477d6c2828d91e94c01c6e     
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了,我梳不动。
  • A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。
3 simplicity Vryyv     
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯
参考例句:
  • She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
  • The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。
4 warp KgBwx     
vt.弄歪,使翘曲,使不正常,歪曲,使有偏见
参考例句:
  • The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
  • A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。
5 jersey Lp5zzo     
n.运动衫
参考例句:
  • He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
  • They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致,都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。
6 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
7 profusely 12a581fe24557b55ae5601d069cb463c     
ad.abundantly
参考例句:
  • We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力,累得大汗淋漓。
  • He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活,身上大汗淋漓的。
8 shuffling 03b785186d0322e5a1a31c105fc534ee     
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
9 beckoned b70f83e57673dfe30be1c577dd8520bc     
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
  • The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 maze F76ze     
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑
参考例句:
  • He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
  • She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时,她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。
11 ramp QTgxf     
n.暴怒,斜坡,坡道;vi.作恐吓姿势,暴怒,加速;vt.加速
参考例句:
  • That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
  • The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。
12 graphic Aedz7     
adj.生动的,形象的,绘画的,文字的,图表的
参考例句:
  • The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
  • Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。
13 renowned okSzVe     
adj.著名的,有名望的,声誉鹊起的
参考例句:
  • He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
  • She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。
14 physicist oNqx4     
n.物理学家,研究物理学的人
参考例句:
  • He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
  • The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。
15 Nazis 39168f65c976085afe9099ea0411e9a5     
n.(德国的)纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 );纳粹主义
参考例句:
  • The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 daydreams 6b57d1c03c8b2893e2fe456dbdf42f5b     
n.白日梦( daydream的名词复数 )v.想入非非,空想( daydream的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Often they gave themselves up to daydreams of escape. 他们常沉溺进这种逃避现实的白日梦。 来自英汉文学
  • I would become disgusted with my futile daydreams. 我就讨厌自己那种虚无的梦想。 来自辞典例句
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