哈雷彗星从何而来（6万物简史哈雷并没有发现哈雷彗星）
哈雷彗星从何而来（6万物简史哈雷并没有发现哈雷彗星）1683年，哈雷、胡克和雷恩在伦敦吃饭时，话题转到了天体运动上。那时大家都知道行星倾向于在一种特殊的扁圆 (oval) 轨道上运行，这种扁圆被称为椭圆 (ellipse)，用理查德·费曼的话来说就是“一种非常特殊和精确的曲线”，但没人知道为什么会是这样。雷恩慷慨地提供了价值40先令（在当时相当于几周的工资）的奖品给任何一个能提供答案的人。In 1683 Halley Hooke and Wren were dining in London when the conversation turned to the motions of celestial objects. It was known that planets were inclined to orbit in a particular kind of oval known as an ellipse - 'a very
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章关于哈雷的片段。
Halley was an exceptional figure. In the course of a long and productive career he was a sea captain a cartographer a professor of geometry at the university of Oxford deputy controller of the Royal Mint Astronomer Royal and the inventor of the deep-sea diving bell. He wrote authoritatively on magnetism tides and the motions of the planets and fondly on the effects of opium. He invented the weather map and actuarial table proposed methods for working out the age of the Earth and its distance from the Sun even devised a practical method for keeping fish fresh out of season.
哈雷是位非凡的人物。在其漫长而富有成果的职业生涯中，他曾是船长、制图师、牛津大学 (university of Oxford) 几何学教授、皇家铸币局 (Royal Mint) 副局长、皇家天文学家（译注：英国授予皇家格林尼治天文台台长的头衔）、深海潜水钟的发明者。他写了关于磁力、潮汐和行星运动的权威著作，还写了鸦片的好处。他发明了天气图和精算表，提出了计算地球年龄和地球到太阳的距离的方法，甚至还发明了一种在淡季让鱼保鲜的实用方法。
The one thing he didn't do was discover the comet that bears his name. He merely recognized that the comet he saw in 1682 was the same one that had been seen by others in 1456 1531 and 1607. It didn't become Halley's comet until 1758 some 16 years after his death.
他没做过的一件事是发现以他名字命名的彗星。他只是发现他在1682年看到的那颗彗星和其他人在1456年、1531年和1607年看到的是同一颗。那颗彗星直到1758年，大约在他去世16年后才成为哈雷彗星。
For all his achievements however Halley's greatest contribution to human knowledge may simply have been to take part in a modest scientific wager with two other wothies of his day. Robert Hooke who is perhaps best remembered now as the first person to describe a cell and the great and stately Sir Christopher Wren who was actually an astronomer first and an architect second though that is not often generally remembered now.
虽然哈雷取得了那么多成就，但他对人类知识的最大贡献可能只是与他同时代的另外两位科学家打了个小小的科学赌。（这两位科学家分别是）罗伯特·胡克，人们对他印象最深的可能是第一个描述细胞的人，以及伟大庄严的克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士，他实际上首先是天文学家，其次是建筑师，尽管这一点现在经常被人们遗忘。
In 1683 Halley Hooke and Wren were dining in London when the conversation turned to the motions of celestial objects. It was known that planets were inclined to orbit in a particular kind of oval known as an ellipse - 'a very specific and precise curve' to quote Richard Feynman - but it wasn't understood why. Wren generously offered a prize worth 40 shillings (equivalent to a couple of weeks' pay) to whichever of the men could provide a solution.
1683年，哈雷、胡克和雷恩在伦敦吃饭时，话题转到了天体运动上。那时大家都知道行星倾向于在一种特殊的扁圆 (oval) 轨道上运行，这种扁圆被称为椭圆 (ellipse)，用理查德·费曼的话来说就是“一种非常特殊和精确的曲线”，但没人知道为什么会是这样。雷恩慷慨地提供了价值40先令（在当时相当于几周的工资）的奖品给任何一个能提供答案的人。
Hooke who was well known for taking credit for ideas that weren't necessarily his own claimed that he had solved the problem already but declined now to share it on the interesting and inventive grounds that it would rob others of the satisfaction of discovering the answer for themselves. He would instead 'conceal it for some time that others might know how to value it'. If he thought any more on the matter he left no evidence of it.
胡克以把并不一定是他自己的想法据为己有而闻名，他声称自己已经解决了这个问题，但当时拒绝分享，理由是分享出来会剥夺别人自己发现答案的满足感。相反，他会“隐藏一段时间，让别人知道如何珍视它”。没有证据显示他后来再考虑过这件事。
Halley however became consumed with finding the answer to the point that the following year he travelled to Cambridge and boldly called upon the university's Lucasian Professor of mathematics Isaac Newton in the hope that he could help.
然而，哈雷为找到这个问题的答案绞尽了脑汁。打赌的第二年，他来到剑桥大学，大胆地拜访了该校的卢卡斯数学教授（译注：英国剑桥大学的一个荣誉职位）艾萨克·牛顿，希望他能帮上忙。
词汇与短语1. during/in/throughout/over the course of something，在……的过程中
During the course of our conversation it emerged that Bob had been in prison. 在我们谈话的过程中，鲍勃被关进了监狱。
2. Halley's comet，哈雷彗星
Halley's Comet is arguably the most famous comet. 哈雷彗星可以说是最著名的彗星。
3. equivalent，[ɪˈkwɪvələnt]，adj. 相当的
I had no dollars but offered him an equivalent amount of sterling. 我没有美元，但给了他等值的英镑。
4. be well known for，因……而出名
He was well known for his extreme political views. 他的极端政治观点是出了名的。
5. be consumed with，（为某或或某种感情）而不断受折磨
He was consumed with guilt after the accident. 事故发生后，他深感内疚。
长难句分析Hooke [主句主语] who [who引导的定语从句修饰Hooke] was well known for taking credit for ideas that [that引导的定语从句修饰ideas] weren't necessarily his own claimed [主句谓语] that [that引导的宾语从句] he had solved the problem already but [but引导的并列句，省略he] declined now to share it on the interesting and inventive grounds that [that引导的同位语从句] it would rob others of the satisfaction of discovering the answer for themselves.
胡克以把并不一定是他自己的想法据为己有而闻名，他声称自己已经解决了这个问题，但当时拒绝分享，理由是分享出来会剥夺别人自己发现答案的满足感。
词汇发音
