Big bang

　　宇宙大爆炸

　　Popular physics has enjoyed a new-found regard.Now comes a brave attempt to inject mathematicsinto an otherwise fashionable subject

　　科普物理再次得到新的關注。如今，學者大膽的嘗試將數學引入另外一個流行學科;

　　The Quantum Universe: Everything That CanHappen Does Happen. By Brian Cox and JeffForshaw.

　　量子宇宙：一切可能發生的的確發生。布萊恩考克斯和杰夫福肖著。

　　Previously the preserve of dusty, tweed-jacketed academics, physics has enjoyed asurprising popular renaissance over the past few years. In America Michio Kaku, a stringtheorist, has penned several successful books and wowed television and radio audiences withhis presentations on esoteric subjects such as the existence of wormholes and the possibilityof alien life. In Britain Brian Cox, a former pop star whose music helped propel Tony Blair topower, has become the front man for physics, which recently regained its status as apopular subject in British classrooms, an effect many attribute to Mr Cox s astonishingappeal.

　　從前的學者保持著蓬頭垢面、身著花呢夾克的形象。在過去幾年里，物理學迎來了驚人的全面復興。在美國，弦論學家米奇霍卡庫創作出數本反響不錯的書。他對諸如蟲洞及外星生命存在的可能性等小眾課題的介紹贏得了電視觀眾和電臺聽眾的贊賞。在英國，其作品曾幫助托尼布萊爾登上大寶的前流行歌星布萊恩考克斯，現在成了物理學的領軍人物。近來物理學在英國學生中再次獲得了受歡迎的科目的地位。產生這樣的效果很大程度上歸功于考克斯先生驚人的感召力。

　　Mr Cox, a particle physicist, is well-known as the presenter of two BBC television series thathave attracted millions of viewers and as a bestsellingauthor and public speaker. His latest book, The Quantum Universe, which he co-wrote withJeff Forshaw of the University of Manchester, breaks the rules of popular science-writing thatwere established over two decades ago by Stephen Hawking, who launched the moderngenre with his famous book, A Brief History of Time.

　　粒子物理學家考克斯先生，因推薦了兩部吸引了數百萬觀眾的BBC電視劇而知名。他同樣是暢銷書作者兼公開演講家。他的新書《量子宇宙》，是由他和曼徹斯特大學的杰夫福索合著的。該書打破了20年前由史蒂芬霍金創立的科普寫作規范。霍金以其著作《時間簡史》開創了這一現代寫作流派。

　　Mr Hawking s literary success was ascribed to his eschewing equations. One of his editorswarned him that sales of the book would be halved by every equation he included; MrHawking inserted just one, E=mc2, and, even then, the volume acquired a sorry reputationfor being bought but not read. By contrast, Mr Cox, whose previous book with Mr Forshawinvestigated Why does E=mc2? , has bravely sloshed a generous slug ofmathematics throughout his texts.

　　霍金在文學上的成功歸因于他避開了方程式。一位編輯曾警告他，每個寫進書中的方程式都會讓銷量減半。霍金就插了一個：E=Mc2。即使那樣，讓人感到遺憾的是，該書是靠購買量而非閱讀量贏得聲譽。相比之下，在上一本旨在探尋為什么是E=Mc2的書中，考克斯與福索就已經大膽地通篇砍掉冗長的數學公式。

　　The difficulties in explaining physics without using maths are longstanding. Einstein mused, The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility, and the fact that it iscomprehensible is a miracle. Yet the language in which the world is described is that ofmaths, a relatively sound grasp of which is needed to comprehend the difficulties thatphysicists are trying to resolve as well as the possible solutions. Mr Cox has secured a largefan base with his boyish good looks, his happy turns of phrase and his knack for presentingcomplex ideas using simple analogies. He also admirably shies away from dumbing down. The Quantum Universe is not a dry undergraduate text book, but nor is it a particularly easyread.

　　不用數學解釋物理知識所造成的困難由來已久。愛因斯坦語重心長地說過：世間永恒的神秘在于它的可了解性。可以了解這一事實本身就是一個奇跡。然而，用于描述世界的語言就是數學。在理解物理學家試圖解決的困難及可能的解決方案時，數學是一個相對合理的必要的抓手。憑借其大男孩般的優質外表、習語的運用、簡單類比解釋復雜概念的竅門，考克斯擁有了一大幫粉絲。他同時成功避免過度簡化。《量子宇宙》非一本干巴巴的大學教材，但也不是特別容易讀懂。

　　The subject matter is hard. Quantum mechanics, which describes in subatomic detail ashadowy world in which cats can be simultaneously alive and dead, is notoriously difficultto grasp. Its experiments yield bizarre results that can be explained only by embracing themaths that describe them, and its theories make outrageous predictions that have nevertheless later been verified. Messrs Cox andForshaw say they have included the maths mainly because it allows us to really explain whythings are the way they are. Without it, we should have to resort to the physicist-gurumentality whereby we pluck profundities out of thin air, and neither author would becomfortable with guru status.

　　有關物質的課題是艱澀的。眾所周知，用于詳細描述原子內部這個貓亦生亦死的虛無世界的量子力學很難領會。要解釋實驗產生的奇異結果，只能運用描述這些結果的數學。雖然量子力學理論對諸如反物質的存在所做出的預測是匪夷所思的，但這些預測后來得到了證實。考克斯和福索稱他們之所以在書中加入數學主要是因為數學讓我們真正去解釋為什么事物是以這樣一種方式存在。沒了數學，我們不得不依靠物理大師般的心智，由是，我們憑空捏造出奧義，而任何一個作者都不會對這樣的大師頭銜心安理得。

　　That stance might comfort the authors, but to many readers they will nonetheless seemto pluck equations out of thin air. Yet their decision to include some of the hard stuff leavesopen the possibility that some readers might actually engage in the slog that leads to higherpleasures. For non-sloggers alternative routes are offered: Messrs Cox and Forshaw useclockfaces to illustrate how particles interact with one another, a drawing of how guitarstrings twang and a photograph of a vibrating drum. A diagram, rather than an equation,is used to explain one promising theory of how matter acquires mass, a question thatexperiments on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European particle-physics laboratorynear Geneva, will hopefully soon answer.

　　這樣的立場也許會使作者感覺不錯，但對很多讀者來說，他們似乎還是想憑空弄出方程式。作者決定加入一些生澀的東西，這樣就給一些苦心鉆研并從中獲得更多快感的讀者留下了余地。他們還為一般讀者提供了另一條途徑：考克斯和福索以表盤為例說明粒子是如何相互作用的，一副有關吉他琴弦如何發出聲音的，一張振動的鼓的照片。他們用圖表，而非公式去解釋物質是如何獲得質量這一前沿理論。在鄰近日內瓦的粒子物理實驗室，即歐洲核子研究委員會的巨型強子對撞機上進行的實驗產生的這個問題有望很快得出答案。

　　The authors have wisely chosen to leaven their tome with amusing tales of dysfunctionalcharacters among scholars who developed quantum mechanics in the 1920s and beyond, aswell as with accounts of the philosophical struggles with which they grappled and theoccasional earthy aside. Where the subject matter is a trifle dull, Messrs Cox and Forshawacknowledge it: of Heinrich Kayser, who a century ago completed a six-volume referencebook documenting the spectral lines generated by every known element, they observe, Hemust have been great fun at dinner parties. And they make some sweeping generalisationsabout their colleagues who pore over equations, Physicists are very lazy, and they would notgo to all this trouble unless it saved time in the long run.

　　為了加強這個大部頭的影響力，兩位作者明智地選擇了一些有趣的段子：在20世紀20年代以及更早時候發展量子力學的學者的怪癖;他們設法解決的哲學問題;間或出現的通俗旁白。有關物質的課題是枯燥的，考克斯和福索承認：海因里希凱瑟在一個世紀前完成了6部用以證明光譜是由每個已知元素產生的參考著作，據他們觀察，他肯定在晚宴上很開心。他們也對專注方程式的同事進行了高度概括：物理學家非常懶惰，除非從長遠看這節約時間，他們不會招惹這些麻煩。

　　Whether or not readers of The Quantum Universe will follow all the maths, the authors lovefor their subject shines through the book. There is no better demonstration of the power ofthe scientific method than quantum theory, they write. That may be so, but physicists allover the world, Messrs Cox and Forshaw included, are longing for the next breakthroughthat will supersede the claim. Hopes are pinned on experiments currently under way atCERN that may force physicists to rethink their understanding of the universe, and inspireMessrs Cox and Forshaw to write their next bookequations and all.

　　不論《量子宇宙》的讀者是否會關注所有與之相關的數學知識，作者對專業的熱愛貫穿整部作品。他們寫道：沒有比量子理論更能展現科學方法的力量。也許吧。但包括考克斯和福索在內的所有物理學家都渴望有新的突破去取代這一論斷。大家寄希望于目前在歐洲核子研究委員會進行的實驗，該實驗也許會迫使物理學家重新思考他們對宇宙的理解，并激勵考克斯和福索寫下一本書方程式及所有其它的。

　　Big bang

　　宇宙大爆炸

　　Popular physics has enjoyed a new-found regard.Now comes a brave attempt to inject mathematicsinto an otherwise fashionable subject

　　科普物理再次得到新的關注。如今，學者大膽的嘗試將數學引入另外一個流行學科;

　　The Quantum Universe: Everything That CanHappen Does Happen. By Brian Cox and JeffForshaw.

　　量子宇宙：一切可能發生的的確發生。布萊恩考克斯和杰夫福肖著。

　　Previously the preserve of dusty, tweed-jacketed academics, physics has enjoyed asurprising popular renaissance over the past few years. In America Michio Kaku, a stringtheorist, has penned several successful books and wowed television and radio audiences withhis presentations on esoteric subjects such as the existence of wormholes and the possibilityof alien life. In Britain Brian Cox, a former pop star whose music helped propel Tony Blair topower, has become the front man for physics, which recently regained its status as apopular subject in British classrooms, an effect many attribute to Mr Cox s astonishingappeal.

　　從前的學者保持著蓬頭垢面、身著花呢夾克的形象。在過去幾年里，物理學迎來了驚人的全面復興。在美國，弦論學家米奇霍卡庫創作出數本反響不錯的書。他對諸如蟲洞及外星生命存在的可能性等小眾課題的介紹贏得了電視觀眾和電臺聽眾的贊賞。在英國，其作品曾幫助托尼布萊爾登上大寶的前流行歌星布萊恩考克斯，現在成了物理學的領軍人物。近來物理學在英國學生中再次獲得了受歡迎的科目的地位。產生這樣的效果很大程度上歸功于考克斯先生驚人的感召力。

　　Mr Cox, a particle physicist, is well-known as the presenter of two BBC television series thathave attracted millions of viewers and as a bestsellingauthor and public speaker. His latest book, The Quantum Universe, which he co-wrote withJeff Forshaw of the University of Manchester, breaks the rules of popular science-writing thatwere established over two decades ago by Stephen Hawking, who launched the moderngenre with his famous book, A Brief History of Time.

　　粒子物理學家考克斯先生，因推薦了兩部吸引了數百萬觀眾的BBC電視劇而知名。他同樣是暢銷書作者兼公開演講家。他的新書《量子宇宙》，是由他和曼徹斯特大學的杰夫福索合著的。該書打破了20年前由史蒂芬霍金創立的科普寫作規范。霍金以其著作《時間簡史》開創了這一現代寫作流派。

　　Mr Hawking s literary success was ascribed to his eschewing equations. One of his editorswarned him that sales of the book would be halved by every equation he included; MrHawking inserted just one, E=mc2, and, even then, the volume acquired a sorry reputationfor being bought but not read. By contrast, Mr Cox, whose previous book with Mr Forshawinvestigated Why does E=mc2? , has bravely sloshed a generous slug ofmathematics throughout his texts.

　　霍金在文學上的成功歸因于他避開了方程式。一位編輯曾警告他，每個寫進書中的方程式都會讓銷量減半。霍金就插了一個：E=Mc2。即使那樣，讓人感到遺憾的是，該書是靠購買量而非閱讀量贏得聲譽。相比之下，在上一本旨在探尋為什么是E=Mc2的書中，考克斯與福索就已經大膽地通篇砍掉冗長的數學公式。

　　The difficulties in explaining physics without using maths are longstanding. Einstein mused, The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility, and the fact that it iscomprehensible is a miracle. Yet the language in which the world is described is that ofmaths, a relatively sound grasp of which is needed to comprehend the difficulties thatphysicists are trying to resolve as well as the possible solutions. Mr Cox has secured a largefan base with his boyish good looks, his happy turns of phrase and his knack for presentingcomplex ideas using simple analogies. He also admirably shies away from dumbing down. The Quantum Universe is not a dry undergraduate text book, but nor is it a particularly easyread.

　　不用數學解釋物理知識所造成的困難由來已久。愛因斯坦語重心長地說過：世間永恒的神秘在于它的可了解性。可以了解這一事實本身就是一個奇跡。然而，用于描述世界的語言就是數學。在理解物理學家試圖解決的困難及可能的解決方案時，數學是一個相對合理的必要的抓手。憑借其大男孩般的優質外表、習語的運用、簡單類比解釋復雜概念的竅門，考克斯擁有了一大幫粉絲。他同時成功避免過度簡化。《量子宇宙》非一本干巴巴的大學教材，但也不是特別容易讀懂。

　　The subject matter is hard. Quantum mechanics, which describes in subatomic detail ashadowy world in which cats can be simultaneously alive and dead, is notoriously difficultto grasp. Its experiments yield bizarre results that can be explained only by embracing themaths that describe them, and its theories make outrageous predictions that have nevertheless later been verified. Messrs Cox andForshaw say they have included the maths mainly because it allows us to really explain whythings are the way they are. Without it, we should have to resort to the physicist-gurumentality whereby we pluck profundities out of thin air, and neither author would becomfortable with guru status.

　　有關物質的課題是艱澀的。眾所周知，用于詳細描述原子內部這個貓亦生亦死的虛無世界的量子力學很難領會。要解釋實驗產生的奇異結果，只能運用描述這些結果的數學。雖然量子力學理論對諸如反物質的存在所做出的預測是匪夷所思的，但這些預測后來得到了證實。考克斯和福索稱他們之所以在書中加入數學主要是因為數學讓我們真正去解釋為什么事物是以這樣一種方式存在。沒了數學，我們不得不依靠物理大師般的心智，由是，我們憑空捏造出奧義，而任何一個作者都不會對這樣的大師頭銜心安理得。

　　That stance might comfort the authors, but to many readers they will nonetheless seemto pluck equations out of thin air. Yet their decision to include some of the hard stuff leavesopen the possibility that some readers might actually engage in the slog that leads to higherpleasures. For non-sloggers alternative routes are offered: Messrs Cox and Forshaw useclockfaces to illustrate how particles interact with one another, a drawing of how guitarstrings twang and a photograph of a vibrating drum. A diagram, rather than an equation,is used to explain one promising theory of how matter acquires mass, a question thatexperiments on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European particle-physics laboratorynear Geneva, will hopefully soon answer.

　　這樣的立場也許會使作者感覺不錯，但對很多讀者來說，他們似乎還是想憑空弄出方程式。作者決定加入一些生澀的東西，這樣就給一些苦心鉆研并從中獲得更多快感的讀者留下了余地。他們還為一般讀者提供了另一條途徑：考克斯和福索以表盤為例說明粒子是如何相互作用的，一副有關吉他琴弦如何發出聲音的，一張振動的鼓的照片。他們用圖表，而非公式去解釋物質是如何獲得質量這一前沿理論。在鄰近日內瓦的粒子物理實驗室，即歐洲核子研究委員會的巨型強子對撞機上進行的實驗產生的這個問題有望很快得出答案。

　　The authors have wisely chosen to leaven their tome with amusing tales of dysfunctionalcharacters among scholars who developed quantum mechanics in the 1920s and beyond, aswell as with accounts of the philosophical struggles with which they grappled and theoccasional earthy aside. Where the subject matter is a trifle dull, Messrs Cox and Forshawacknowledge it: of Heinrich Kayser, who a century ago completed a six-volume referencebook documenting the spectral lines generated by every known element, they observe, Hemust have been great fun at dinner parties. And they make some sweeping generalisationsabout their colleagues who pore over equations, Physicists are very lazy, and they would notgo to all this trouble unless it saved time in the long run.

　　為了加強這個大部頭的影響力，兩位作者明智地選擇了一些有趣的段子：在20世紀20年代以及更早時候發展量子力學的學者的怪癖;他們設法解決的哲學問題;間或出現的通俗旁白。有關物質的課題是枯燥的，考克斯和福索承認：海因里希凱瑟在一個世紀前完成了6部用以證明光譜是由每個已知元素產生的參考著作，據他們觀察，他肯定在晚宴上很開心。他們也對專注方程式的同事進行了高度概括：物理學家非常懶惰，除非從長遠看這節約時間，他們不會招惹這些麻煩。

　　Whether or not readers of The Quantum Universe will follow all the maths, the authors lovefor their subject shines through the book. There is no better demonstration of the power ofthe scientific method than quantum theory, they write. That may be so, but physicists allover the world, Messrs Cox and Forshaw included, are longing for the next breakthroughthat will supersede the claim. Hopes are pinned on experiments currently under way atCERN that may force physicists to rethink their understanding of the universe, and inspireMessrs Cox and Forshaw to write their next bookequations and all.

　　不論《量子宇宙》的讀者是否會關注所有與之相關的數學知識，作者對專業的熱愛貫穿整部作品。他們寫道：沒有比量子理論更能展現科學方法的力量。也許吧。但包括考克斯和福索在內的所有物理學家都渴望有新的突破去取代這一論斷。大家寄希望于目前在歐洲核子研究委員會進行的實驗，該實驗也許會迫使物理學家重新思考他們對宇宙的理解，并激勵考克斯和福索寫下一本書方程式及所有其它的。