萬(wàn)物簡(jiǎn)史 第53期:事物的測(cè)定(11)

Starting with his back against the Tower of London,Norwood spent two devoted years marching 208miles north to York, repeatedly stretching andmeasuring a length of chain as he went, all the whilemaking the most meticulous adjustments for therise and fall of the land and the meanderings of theroad. The final step was to measure the angle of theSun at York at the same time of day and on thesame day of the year as he had made his firstmeasurement in London.

諾伍德背靠著倫敦塔踏上了征途，歷時(shí)兩年向北走了450公里來(lái)到約克，一邊走一邊不停地拉直和測(cè)量一根鏈子。在此過(guò)程中，他考慮到土地的起伏、道路的彎曲，始終一絲不茍地對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行校正。最后一道工序，是在一年的同一天，一天的同一時(shí)間，在約克測(cè)量太陽(yáng)的角度。他已經(jīng)在倫敦做完第一次測(cè)量。

From this, he reasoned he could determine the length of one degree of the Earth's meridianand thus calculate the distance around the whole. It was an almost ludicrously ambitiousundertaking—a mistake of the slightest fraction of a degree would throw the whole thing outby miles—but in fact, as Norwood proudly declaimed, he was accurate to "within ascantling"—or, more precisely, to within about six hundred yards. In metric terms, his figureworked out at 110.72 kilometers per degree of arc.

根據(jù)這次測(cè)量，他推斷，他可以得出地球1度經(jīng)線的長(zhǎng)度，從而計(jì)算出地球的整個(gè)周長(zhǎng)。這幾乎是一項(xiàng)雄心勃勃的工作--1度的長(zhǎng)度只要算錯(cuò)一點(diǎn)兒，整個(gè)長(zhǎng)度就會(huì)相差許多公里--但實(shí)際上，就像諾伍德自豪地竭力聲稱的那樣，他的計(jì)算非常精確，相差"微乎其微"--說(shuō)得更確切一點(diǎn)，相差不到550米。以米制來(lái)表達(dá)，他得出的數(shù)字是每度經(jīng)線的長(zhǎng)度為110.72公里。

In 1637, Norwood's masterwork of navigation, The Seaman's Practice , was published andfound an immediate following. It went through seventeen editions and was still in printtwenty-five years after his death. Norwood returned to Bermuda with his family, becoming asuccessful planter and devoting his leisure hours to his first love, trigonometry.

1637年，諾伍德一部在航海方面的杰作《水手的實(shí)踐》出版，立即贏得一批讀者。它再版了17次，他去世25年以后仍在印刷。諾伍德攜家人回到了百慕大，成為一名成功的種植園主，空閑時(shí)間便以他心愛(ài)的三角學(xué)來(lái)消遣。

He survived there for thirty-eight years and it would be pleasing to report that he passed thisspan in happiness and adulation. In fact, he didn't. On the crossing from England, his twoyoung sons were placed in a cabin with the Reverend Nathaniel White, and somehow sosuccessfully traumatized the young vicar that he devoted much of the rest of his career topersecuting Norwood in any small way he could think of.

他在那里活了38年。要是對(duì)大家說(shuō)，他這38年過(guò)得很幸福，受到了人們的敬仰，大家一定會(huì)很高興。但是，實(shí)際上并非如此。在離開(kāi)英格蘭以后的航行途中，他兩個(gè)年幼的兒子跟納撒尼爾·懷特牧師同住一個(gè)船艙，不知怎的讓這位年輕的牧師深受精神創(chuàng)傷，在他余生的許多時(shí)間里會(huì)想方設(shè)法來(lái)找諾伍德的麻煩。