万物简史英文版_比尔·布莱森- 第35节

neither　hubble　nor　einstein　would　be　much　of　a　part　of　that　big　story。　though　no　onewould　have　guessed　it　at　the　time；　both　men　had　done　about　as　much　as　they　were　ever　goingto　do。

in　1936　hubble　produced　a　popular　book　called　the　realm　of　the　nebulae；　whichexplained　in　flattering　style　his　own　considerable　achievements。　here　at　last　he　showed　thathe　had　acquainted　himself　with　einstein鈥檚　theory鈥攗p　to　a　point　anyway：　he　gave　it　four　pagesout　of　about　two　hundred。

hubble　died　of　a　heart　attack　in　1953。　one　last　small　oddity　awaited　him。　for　reasonscloaked　in　mystery；　his　wife　declined　to　have　a　funeral　and　never　revealed　what　she　did　withhis　body。　half　a　century　later　the　whereabouts　of　the　century鈥檚　greatest　astronomer　remainunknown。　for　a　memorial　you　must　look　to　the　sky　and　the　hubble　space　telescope；launched　in　1990　and　named　in　his　honor。

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while　einstein　and　hubble　were　productively　unraveling　the　large…scale　structure　ofthe　cosmos；　others　were　struggling　to　understand　something　closer　to　hand　but　in　its　way　justas　remote：　the　tiny　and　ever…　mysterious　atom。

the　great　caltech　physicist　richard　feynman　once　observed　that　if　you　had　to　reducescientific　history　to　one　important　statement　it　would　be　鈥渁ll　things　are　made　of　atoms。鈥潯�theyare　everywhere　and　they　constitute　every　thing。　look　around　you。　it　is　all　atoms。　not　just　thesolid　things　like　walls　and　tables　and　sofas；　but　the　air　in　between。　and　they　are　there　innumbers　that　you　really　cannot　conceive。

the　basic　working　arrangement　of　atoms　is　the　molecule　（from　the　latin　for　鈥渓ittle　mass鈥潱�。

a　molecule　is　simply　two　or　more　atoms　working　together　in　a　more　or　less　stablearrangement：　add　two　atoms　of　hydrogen　to　one　of　oxygen　and　you　have　a　molecule　of　water。

chemists　tend　to　think　in　terms　of　molecules　rather　than　elements　in　much　the　way　thatwriters　tend　to　think　in　terms　of　words　and　not　letters；　so　it　is　molecules　they　count；　and　theseare　numerous　to　say　the　least。　at　sea　level；　at　a　temperature　of　32　degrees　fahrenheit；　onecubic　centimeter　of　air　（that　is；　a　space　about　the　size　of　a　sugar　cube）　will　contain　45　billionbillion　molecules。　and　they　are　in　every　single　cubic　centimeter　you　see　around　you。　thinkhow　many　cubic　centimeters　there　are　in　the　world　outside　your　window鈥攈ow　many　sugarcubes　it　would　take　to　fill　that　view。　then　think　how　many　it　would　take　to　build　a　universe。

atoms；　in　short；　are　very　abundant。

they　are　also　fantastically　durable。　because　they　are　so　long　lived；　atoms　really　get　around。

every　atom　you　possess　has　almost　certainly　passed　through　several　stars　and　been　part　ofmillions　of　organisms　on　its　way　to　being　you。　we　are　each　so　atomically　numerous　andso　vigorously　recycled　at　death　that　a　significant　number　of　our　atoms鈥攗p　to　a　billion　foreach　of　us；　it　has　been　suggested鈥攑robably　once　belonged　to　shakespeare。　a　billion　moreeach　came　from　buddha　and　genghis　khan　and　beethoven；　and　any　other　historical　figureyou　care　to　name。　（the　personages　have　to　be　historical；　apparently；　as　it　takes　the　atomssome　decades　to　bee　thoroughly　redistributed；　however　much　you　may　wish　it；　you　arenot　yet　one　with　elvis　presley。）so　we　are　all　reincarnations鈥攖hough　short…lived　ones。　when　we　die　our　atoms　willdisassemble　and　move　off　to　find　new　uses　elsewhere鈥攁s　part　of　a　leaf　or　other　human　beingor　drop　of　dew。　atoms；　however；　go　on　practically　forever。　nobody　actually　knows　how　longan　atom　can　survive；　but　according　to　martin　rees　it　is　probably　about　1035years鈥攁　numberso　big　that　even　i　am　happy　to　express　it　in　notation。

above　all；　atoms　are　tiny鈥攙ery　tiny　indeed。　half　a　million　of　them　lined　up　shoulder　toshoulder　could　hide　behind　a　human　hair。　on　such　a　scale　an　individual　atom　is　essentiallyimpossible　to　imagine；　but　we　can　of　course　try。

start　with　a　millimeter；　which　is　a　line　this　long：　…。　now　imagine　that　line　divided　into　athousand　equal　widths。　each　of　those　widths　is　a　micron。　this　is　the　scale　of　microorganisms。

a　typical　paramecium；　for　instance；　is　about　two　microns　wide；　0。002　millimeters；　which　isreally　very　small。　if　you　wanted　to　see　with　your　naked　eye　a　paramecium　swimming　in　adrop　of　water；　you　would　have　to　enlarge　the　drop　until　it　was　some　forty　feet　across。

however；　if　you　wanted　to　see　the　atoms　in　the　same　drop；　you　would　have　to　make　the　dropfifteen　miles　across。

atoms；　in　other　words；　exist　on　a　scale　of　minuteness　of　another　order　altogether。　to　getdown　to　the　scale　of　atoms；　you　would　need　to　take　each　one　of　those　micron　slices　and　shaveit　into　ten　thousand　finer　widths。　that鈥檚　the　scale　of　an　atom：　one　ten…millionth　of　amillimeter。　it　is　a　degree　of　slenderness　way　beyond　the　capacity　of　our　imaginations；　but　youcan　get　some　idea　of　the　proportions　if　you　bear　in　mind　that　one　atom　is　to　the　width　of　amillimeter　line　as　the　thickness　of　a　sheet　of　paper　is　to　the　height　of　the　empire　statebuilding。

it　is　of　course　the　abundance　and　extreme　durability　of　atoms　that　makes　them　so　useful；and　the　tininess　that　makes　them　so　hard　to　detect　and　understand。　the　realization　that　atomsare　these　three　things鈥攕mall；　numerous；　practically　indestructible鈥攁nd　that　all　things　aremade　from　them　first　occurred　not　to　antoine…laurent　lavoisier；　as　you　might　expect；　or　evento　henry　cavendish　or　humphry　davy；　but　rather　to　a　spare　and　lightly　educated　englishquaker　named　john　dalton；　whom　we　first　encountered　in　the　chapter　on　chemistry。

dalton　was　born　in　1766　on　the　edge　of　the　lake　district　near　cockermouth　to　a　family　ofpoor　but　devout　quaker　weavers。　（four　years　later　the　poet　william　wordsworth　would　alsojoin　the　world　at　cockermouth。）　he　was　an　exceptionally　bright　student鈥攕o　very　brightindeed　that　at　the　improbably　youthful　age　of　twelve　he　was　put　in　charge　of　the　local　quakerschool。　this　perhaps　says　as　much　about　the　school　as　about　dalton鈥檚　precocity；　but　perhapsnot：　we　know　from　his　diaries　that　at　about　this　time　he　was　reading　newton鈥檚　principia　in　theoriginal　latin　and　other　works　of　a　similarly　challenging　nature。　at　fifteen；　stillschoolmastering；　he　took　a　job　in　the　nearby　town　of　kendal；　and　a　decade　after　that　hemoved　to　manchester；　scarcely　stirring　from　there　for　the　remaining　fifty　years　of　his　life。　inmanchester　he　became　something　of　an　intellectual　whirlwind；　producing　books　and　paperson　subjects　ranging　from　meteorology　to　grammar。　color　blindness；　a　condition　from　whichhe　suffered；　was　for　a　long　time　called　daltonism　because　of　his　studies。　but　it　was　a　plumpbook　called　a　new　system　of　chemical　philosophy；　published　in　1808；　that　established　hisreputation。

there；　in　a　short　chapter　of　just　five　pages　（out　of　the　book鈥檚　more　than　nine　hundred）；people　of　learning　first　encountered　atoms　in　something　approaching　their　modernconception。　dalton鈥檚　simple　insight　was　that　at　the　root　of　all　matter　are　exceedingly　tiny；irreducible　particles。　鈥渨e　might　as　well　attempt　to　introduce　a　new　planet　into　the　solarsystem　or　annihilate　one　already　in　existence；　as　to　create　or　destroy　a　particle　of　hydrogen；鈥�

he　wrote。

neither　the　idea　of　atoms　nor　the　term　itself　was　exactly　new。　both　had　been　developed　bythe　ancient　greeks。　dalton鈥檚　contribution　was　to　consider　the　relative　sizes　and　characters　ofthese　atoms　and　how　they　fit　together。　he　knew；　for　instance；　that　hydrogen　was　the　lightestelement；　so　he　gave　it　an　atomic　weight　of　one。　he　believed　also　that　water　consisted　of　sevenparts　of　oxygen　to　one　of　hydrogen；　and　so　he　gave　oxygen　an　atomic　weight　of　seven。　bysuch　means　was　he　able　to　arrive　at　the　relative　weights　of　the　known　elements。　he　wasn鈥檛always　terribly　accurate鈥攐xygen鈥檚　atomic　weight　is　actually　sixteen；　not　seven鈥攂ut　theprinciple　was　sound　and　formed　the　basis　for　all　of　modern　chemistry　and　much　of　the　rest　ofmodern　science。

the　work　made　dalton　famous鈥攁lbeit　in　a　low…key；　english　quaker　sort　of　way。　in　1826；the　french　chemist　p　。j。　pelletier　traveled　to　manchester　to　meet　the　atomic　hero。　pelletierexpected　to　find　him　attached　to　some　grand　institution；　so　he　was　astounded　to　discover　himteaching　elementar