萬物簡史 第65期:事物的測定(23)

Although he did sometimes venture into society—hewas particularly devoted to the weekly scientificsoirées of the great naturalist Sir Joseph Banks—itwas always made clear to the other guests thatCavendish was on no account to be approached oreven looked at. Those who sought his views wereadvised to wander into his vicinity as if by accidentand to "talk as it were into vacancy." If their remarkswere scientifically worthy they might receive amumbled reply, but more often than not they wouldhear a peeved squeak (his voice appears to havebeen high pitched) and turn to find an actual vacancy and the sight of Cavendish fleeing for amore peaceful corner.

有時候，他也大膽涉足社交界--尤其熱心于每周一次的由偉大的博物學(xué)家約瑟夫·班克斯舉辦的科學(xué)界聚會--但班克斯總是對別的客人講清楚，大家決不能靠近卡文迪許，甚至不能看他一眼。那些想要聽取他的意見的人被建議晃悠到他的附近，仿佛不是有意的，然后"只當(dāng)那里沒有人那樣說話"。如果他們的話算得上是在談?wù)摽茖W(xué)，他們也許會得到一個含糊的回答，但更經(jīng)常的情形是聽到一聲怒氣沖沖的尖叫(他好像一直是尖聲尖氣的)，轉(zhuǎn)過身來發(fā)現(xiàn)真的沒有人，只見卡文迪許飛也似的逃向一個比較安靜的角落。

His wealth and solitary inclinations allowed him to turn his house in Clapham into a largelaboratory where he could range undisturbed through every corner of the physical sciences—electricity, heat, gravity, gases, anything to do with the composition of matter. The secondhalf of the eighteenth century was a time when people of a scientific bent grew intenselyinterested in the physical properties of fundamental things—gases and electricity in particular—and began seeing what they could do with them, often with more enthusiasm than sense.

卡文迪許錢又多，性格又孤僻，正好有條件把他在克拉彭的房子變成個大實驗室，以便不受干擾地探索物理學(xué)的每個角落--電、熱、引力、氣體以及任何跟物質(zhì)的性質(zhì)有關(guān)的問題。18世紀(jì)末葉，是愛好科學(xué)的人們對基本物質(zhì)--尤其是氣體和電--的性質(zhì)發(fā)生濃厚興趣的時代，又是開始知道怎么對付它們的時代，但往往是熱情有余，理智不足。

In America, Benjamin Franklin famously risked his life by flying a kite in an electrical storm. InFrance, a chemist named Pilatre de Rozier tested the flammability of hydrogen by gulping amouthful and blowing across an open flame, proving at a stroke that hydrogen is indeedexplosively combustible and that eyebrows are not necessarily a permanent feature of one'sface. Cavendish, for his part, conducted experiments in which he subjected himself tograduated jolts of electrical current, diligently noting the increasing levels of agony until hecould keep hold of his quill, and sometimes his consciousness, no longer.

在美國，本杰明·富蘭克林不顧生命危險在大雷雨里放風(fēng)箏，這是很有名的。在法國，一位名叫皮拉特爾·羅齊耶的化學(xué)家含了一口氫噴在明火上，以測試氫的可燃性，其結(jié)果是證明了氫確實是易爆物質(zhì)，眉毛也不一定是人的臉上一個永久的特征?？ㄎ牡显S也做了許多實驗，他曾經(jīng)逐步加大在自己身上的電擊強度，仔細體會逐漸厲害的痛苦，直到只拿得住手里的羽毛管，但有時候再也留不住自己的知覺。