牛頓是有史以來最著名的科學(xué)家之一，他是怎么想到萬有引力定律的

今天的這段對話，在討論牛頓，
 
牛頓是有史以來最著名的科學(xué)家之一，他是怎么想到萬有引力定律的
 
來聽今天的講解:
 
A:As a mathematician and physicist, Sir Isaac Newton is one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time.
 
作為一位數(shù)學(xué)家和物理學(xué)家，艾薩克牛頓爵士是有史以來最著名的科學(xué)家之一。
 
B:I can’t agree with you more. And Newton remains influential to scientists, as demonstrated by a 2005 survey of members of Britain's Royal Society.
 
我非常同意你的觀點。2005年對英國皇家學(xué)會的調(diào)査顯示，牛頓仍然對現(xiàn)在的科學(xué)家有一定的影響。
 
A:Newton’s study lays the groundwork for most of classical mechanics.In one of his books, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion which dominated⑦ the physical world for the next three centuries.
 
牛頓的研究為經(jīng)典力學(xué)的大部分內(nèi)容打下了基礎(chǔ)。在他的一本書中，牛頓描述了萬有引力和三大運動定律，主宰了接下來三個世紀(jì)的物理世界。
 
B:Speaking of the universal gravitation, do you know how Newton comes up with this law?
 
說到萬有引力，你知道牛頓是怎么想到這個定律的嗎？
 
A:Of course. Newton himself often told the story that he was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree.
 
我當(dāng)然知道。牛頓自己就經(jīng)常說他是看到蘋果從樹上落下受到啟發(fā)而構(gòu)想出萬有引力定律的。
 
B: Cartoons have gone further to suggest the apple actually hit Newton’s head, and that its impact somehow made him aware of the force of gravity.
 
漫畫還更夸張地暗示那個蘋果其實是掉在牛頓的頭上，被蘋果砸到的牛頓開始注意到萬有引力的存在。
 
A: It is known from his notebooks that he was grappling in the late 1660s with the idea of terrestrial gravity. However it took him two decades to develop the full-fledged theory.
 
從牛頓的筆記中我們知道他是在17世紀(jì)60年代晚期提出“地球重力”這個概念的，但是他花了20多年時間才構(gòu)建出一個成熟、全面的理論體系。
 
B: In the year 1666 Newton retired again from Cambridge to his hometown in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire. Observing a fully formed apple drop from the tree prompted Newton to ask the vital questions.
 
1666年，牛頓再次從劍橋大學(xué)“退休”回到他的家鄉(xiāng)：林肯郡伍爾索坡。觀察到一個成熟的蘋果從樹上落下，牛頓心中疑惑重重。
 
A: I heard that Newton asked himself; “Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground? Why should it not go sideways or upwards, but constantly to the earth’s centre?’，
 
我聽說牛頓自問道為什么蘋果會永遠(yuǎn)垂直地落到地上呢？它為什么不斜向一邊或是往上竄，而是朝著地心的方向墜落呢？
 
B: In the popular myth we all grew up with, Newton was hit on the head by the apple, its impact suggestively knocking a  moment of enlightened inspiration into him.
 
在我們從小聽到大的傳說中，牛頓被蘋果砸到，受到了極大的啟發(fā)。
 
A: John Conduitt, Newton's assistant at the Royal Mint and husband of Newton’s niece, described the event when he wrote about Newton’s life.
 
約翰孔杜伊特是牛頓在皇家鑄幣廠的助手，同時也是牛頓外甥女的丈夫。當(dāng)他描述牛頓的生活時，提到了這一事件。
 
B: John Conduitf's version is different from those stories we heard, right?
 
約翰孔杜伊特的版本和我們聽到的那些故事不同，對嗎？
 
A: Yes. According to Conduitt, Newton was pensively meandering in a garden and it came into his thought that the power of gravity was not limited to a certain distance from earth, but that this power must extend much further than was usually thought.
 
是的。根據(jù)孔杜伊特的描述，牛頓悶悶不樂地在花園里散步，他突然想到引力的作用并不是局限在一定的距離之內(nèi)的，它的作用肯定比之前人們認(rèn)為的要大。
 
B: Although there are many versions, the apple tree at Newton’s home became well-known around the world.
 
雖然有很多不同的版本，但牛頓家鄉(xiāng)的蘋果樹已經(jīng)聞名于世了。
 
A: It's true. And in the back garden of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge is an apple tree. There is another in the University Botanic Gardens.
 
的確如此。在劍橋大學(xué)艾薩克牛頓數(shù)學(xué)硏究所的后花園就有一棵蘋果樹，另外在劍橋大學(xué)植物園也有一棵。
 
B: Each is said to be a descendant of the apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor that inspired the founder of modem physics to inquire into the nature of gravitation and the laws of motion.
 
正是受到位于家鄉(xiāng)的伍爾索坡莊園的一棵蘋果樹啟發(fā)，現(xiàn)代物理學(xué)之父牛頓開始對萬有引力的本質(zhì)和運動三大定律進行探索研究。據(jù)說劍橋的兩棵蘋果樹之一就是那棵蘋果樹的后代。
 
A: But some people said that a descendant of the original tree can be seen growing outside the main gate of Trinity College, Cambridge, below the room Newton lived in when he studied there.
 
但是有些人說那棵蘋果樹的后代長在劍橋大學(xué)三一學(xué)院的主門外，上方就是牛頓當(dāng)時住的房間。
 
B: Wow, it’s really confusing. Any apple trees in Cambridge may be the descendant of the apple tree inspiring Newton in his hometown.
 
哇，這真令人感到困惑。牛頓家鄉(xiāng)的蘋果樹給予了他靈感，劍橋大學(xué)的任何一棵蘋果樹都有可能是它的后代。