史上最令人惊叹的71项伟大创新：英语精读讲义

Perhaps the greatest ability possessed by humans is to innovate and create 語法

人类所拥有的最强大能力，或许就是创新与创造

in order to overcome obstacles and change the world around us. 語法

以克服障碍，改变我们周围的世界。

Like the formation of language, for example,

比如语言的形成，

which is still one of science's greatest mysteries

至今仍是科学界最大的谜团之一，

with no consensus on its beginnings, 短語搭配

对它的起源也尚无定论，

but undoubtedly changed the world of early hominin species

但它无疑改变了早期人族物种的世界，

that have existed for nearly 2.5 million years.

这些物种已经存在了近250万年。

Or the ability to control fire

又比如控制火的能力，

with evidence of cooked food

有熟食证据显示，

as far back as 1.5 million years ago. 短語搭配

这种能力最早可追溯到150万年前。

Around 200,000 years ago,

大约20万年前，

modern humans evolved,

现代人类演化形成，

but it wasn't until roughly 190,000 years later 語法

但又过了大约19万年，

that we changed from hunter-gatherer societies and created agriculture.

我们才告别狩猎采集社会，发展出农业。

Gathering seeds, planting, and tending to them 用詞

收集种子、播种并悉心照料作物，

has shaped our modern civilization.

塑造了我们的现代文明。

Shortly after,

不久之后，

the plow was created, transforming agriculture.

犁被发明出来，改变了农业的面貌。

By 5000 BCE,

到公元前5000年，

we got even more curious about our globe and created the sailboat, 短語搭配

我们对这个地球愈发好奇，于是造出了帆船，

opening up the world of exploration. 短語動詞

开启了探索世界的大门。

In 3500 BCE,

公元前3500年，

the first glass is created,

玻璃首次被制造出来，

and 100 years later comes the nail,

100年后，钉子也随之问世，

found in ancient Egypt,

最早的钉子发现于古埃及，

helping us create better structures,

它帮助我们建造出更好的结构，

which helps extend human life.

进而有助于延长人类寿命。

A few centuries later,

又过了几个世纪，

and cement is created,

水泥被创造出来，

the foundation of our civilization, literally. 習語

从字面意义上成了我们文明的基石。

Looking to further enhance transportation, 語法

为了进一步改善交通运输，

the wheel is invented in 3000 BCE,

公元前3000年，车轮被发明出来，

followed by soap, 短語搭配

随后是肥皂，

and then the original computer,

接着又出现了最初的计算机，

or abacus,

也就是算盘，

which helps augment human capabilities and shape our economy. 短語搭配

它帮助提升人类能力，也塑造了我们的经济。

And even though paper won't be created until 200 BCE, 語法

尽管纸张要到公元前200年才被发明，

and the printing press until 1430,

印刷机更要到1430年才问世，

the first libraries appear in 2600 BCE,

但早在公元前2600年，最早的图书馆就已出现，

with records recorded onto stone tablets,

各种记录被刻在石板上，

making knowledge more accessible to all. 語法

让所有人都能更方便地获取知识。

By 1500 BCE,

到公元前1500年，

the alphabet becomes prevalent in some societies,

一些社会开始普遍使用字母文字，

as opposed to ideographic letters, 短語搭配

而不是表意文字，

further shaping the transfer of knowledge.

进一步推动了知识的传播。

And 700 years later,

又过了700年，

our modern number system from zero to nine comes together,

由0到9组成的现代数字系统逐渐成形，

paving the way for mathematics. 習語

为数学的发展铺平了道路。

The first democracy begins in Greece in 508 BCE,

公元前508年，最早的民主制度在希腊诞生，

where all members have equal share to power.

所有成员都平等享有权力。

And perhaps our favorite innovation,

还有一项或许是我们最喜欢的创新，

the scientific method,

那就是科学方法。

has origins in the time of Aristotle in 384 BCE, 短語搭配

它可以追溯到公元前384年亚里士多德所处的时代，

a process to acquire information and investigate new phenomena.

是一种获取信息、探究新现象的过程。

We may be a bit biased. 語氣意圖

我们可能有那么一点偏心。

And of course,

当然，

it's been further refined over time.

随着时间推移，它也在不断完善。

The Chinese invent the first compass in 300 BCE,

公元前300年，中国人发明了最早的指南针，

allowing mariners to navigate great distances.

让航海者得以进行远距离航行。

At the same time,

与此同时，

the Archimedes screw is designed,

阿基米德螺旋泵被设计出来，

which helps transfer water from low to high elevations,

它能把水从低处输送到高处，

shaping irrigation and farming.

推动了灌溉和农业的发展。

All of this before the common era. 文化背景

而这一切，全都发生在公元前。

Speaking of time, 表達脈絡

说到时间，

the first mechanical clock comes in 725,

第一台机械钟于公元725年问世，

but it won't be until 1582 that the Gregorian calendar is created,

但直到1582年，格里高利历才被创立，

which syncs people all over the world.

让世界各地的人们在时间上同步起来。

Eyeglasses come in the 13th century,

眼镜出现于13世纪，

which may seem minimal, 語法

这看起来或许微不足道，

but dramatically raised the collective human IQ.

却大幅提高了人类的整体智商。

It was also a precursor to the telescope and microscope. 用詞

它也是望远镜和显微镜的先驱。

Just prior to the telescope in 1542,

1542年，就在望远镜出现前不久，

the idea that Earth is not the center of the universe was groundbreaking, 用詞

“地球并非宇宙中心”这一观念堪称石破天惊，

but the Copernican system put the Sun at the center of the solar system. 文化背景

而哥白尼体系则把太阳置于太阳系的中心。

However,

然而，

this wouldn't be accepted for hundreds of years. 語法

这一观点在之后数百年间都未获认可。

The late 1600s brought the steam engine,

17世纪末，蒸汽机问世，

powering not only trains and boats, 語法

不仅为火车和船只提供动力，

but factories,

也为工厂提供动力，

shaping the Industrial Revolution, 文化背景

推动了工业革命，

which would later be replaced by the internal combustion engine.

后来又被内燃机所取代。

Around this same time,

大约在同一时期，

binary numbers and Boolean logic,

二进制数和布尔逻辑，

which are at the heart of digital computing, 習語

也就是数字计算的核心，

are created,

被创造出来，

and Newton's laws of motion and universal gravitation help shape ideas of physics.

牛顿运动定律和万有引力定律也塑造了物理学观念。

Though Einstein's theory of special and general relativity,

而爱因斯坦的狭义相对论与广义相对论，

as well as quantum theory,

以及量子理论，

would further build upon these ideas. 短語動詞

又在这些思想的基础上更进一步。

Vaccines come in 1796,

疫苗于1796年问世，

which in the last 20 years alone have prevented 21 million hospitalizations 用詞

仅在过去20年里，就避免了2100万人次住院

and 732,000 deaths.

和73.2万人死亡。

Water purification and food preservation have also saved millions of lives,

水净化与食品保鲜技术也挽救了数百万人的生命，

while the camera has allowed us to capture our past and communicate the events of our present. 表達脈絡

相机则让我们得以记录过去，并传递当下发生的事件。

The next few hundred years would see big advances in communication, 表達脈絡

此后的几百年里，通信领域取得了重大进步，

with the wireless telegraph,

无线电报、

the telephone,

电话、

radio waves and radio,

无线电波与无线电广播，

and television all transforming our world and making it feel a little smaller. 習語

以及电视，都改变了我们的世界，也让世界显得小了一些。

The world of medicine then changed drastically in 1846 with the advent of anesthesia and antiseptic, 短語搭配

1846年，麻醉术和消毒法的出现彻底改变了医学界，

allowing for major surgeries that would previously be too painful, 短語搭配

让过去因疼痛难忍而无法实施的大型手术成为可能，

saving countless lives.

挽救了无数生命。

The sanitation system also improved the incidence of many diseases,

卫生设施的完善也降低了多种疾病的发病率，

and refrigeration would later change how people eat around the world.

后来，制冷技术又改变了世界各地人们的饮食方式。

The invention of the light bulb falls shortly after,

不久后，电灯泡也被发明出来，

though observations of static electricity were made in 600 BCE,

不过，早在公元前600年，人们就观察到了静电现象，

and the invention of a simple capacitor in 1745,

1745年又发明了简单的电容器，

as well as many other discoveries,

再加上许多其他发现，

paved the way for using electricity.

这些都为电力的应用铺平了道路。

Transportation took another major step in 1885 with the modern car and later the airplane, 習語

1885年，现代汽车的问世让交通运输又迈出一大步，后来又有了飞机，

while semiconductors would help regulate the flow of electricity,

半导体则有助于调节电流，

and eventually transistors,

随后，晶体管也终于问世，

without which modern electronic devices could not function. 語法

没有晶体管，现代电子设备便无法运转。

Many more scientific discoveries would follow,

此后还有更多科学发现接踵而至，

starting with the electron, 表達脈絡

首先是电子的发现，

which would help Niels Bohr create his model of the atom.

这帮助尼尔斯·玻尔建立了自己的原子模型。

Although the atom was actually first theorized 2300 years earlier.

不过，原子的概念其实早在那之前2300年就已被提出。

Nitrogen fixation and plant breeding help sustain our population and are credited with saving 1 billion lives, 短語搭配

固氮技术和植物育种帮助养活了人类，并被认为挽救了10亿人的生命，

along with antibiotics such as penicillin,

此外还有青霉素这样的抗生素，

an accidental discovery which fights bacterial infections.

这一偶然的发现能够对抗细菌感染。

Birth control has also reduced the number of children women have,

避孕措施也减少了女性生育子女的数量，

allowing for higher quality of life.

让她们拥有更高的生活质量。

And polyethylene or other plastics are all around us,

聚乙烯等塑料在我们身边随处可见，

affecting so many products we make.

影响着我们制造的众多产品。

The discovery of DNA in the 1950s unleashed so much of what we now know about humanity through heredity and genetics, 講解

20世纪50年代DNA的发现，极大拓展了我们通过遗传和基因研究对人类的认识，

which would also lead to genetic engineering and genome sequencing in the '70s.

并在20世纪70年代催生了基因工程和基因组测序。

And in the last 80 years,

而在过去80年里，

communication has taken leaps and bounds forward, 習語

通信技术实现了突飞猛进的发展，

starting with satellite communications in the '40s for TV,

从20世纪40年代用于电视的卫星通信开始，

weather forecasting,

它还被用于天气预报

and defense,

和国防，

to the beginnings of the Internet in the '60s,

再到20世纪60年代互联网的萌芽，

and the personal computer and GPS in the '70s.

以及20世纪70年代的个人电脑和GPS。

Not to mention the device that's likely in your hands or your pocket right now, 表達脈絡

更不用说此刻很可能就在你手中或口袋里的设备了：

the smartphone,

智能手机。

which was first invented by IBM in 1994.

它最早由IBM于1994年发明。

And as technology continues forward here on Earth,

随着地球上的科技不断进步，

space exploration continues to intrigue us with the first successful orbital launch in 1957,

太空探索也持续令我们着迷：1957年首次成功进行轨道发射，

the first moon landing in 1969,

1969年首次登上月球，

and the Hubble telescope in the '90s,

以及20世纪90年代的哈勃空间望远镜，

which is both a spacecraft and a telescope that orbits Earth every 97 minutes.

它既是航天器，也是望远镜，每97分钟绕地球运行一周。

But as we look to the universe and the future,

但当我们把目光投向宇宙与未来时，

what comes next? 表達脈絡

接下来会是什么？

While sometimes it may seem like the world is getting darker, 語法

尽管有时我们可能觉得世界正变得越来越黯淡，

these innovations show that people live longer,

但这些创新表明，人们能活得更久，

healthier, and happier lives.

也活得更健康、更幸福。

And one of the best ways to make sure we keep innovating is to support leaders that recognize the importance of public research programs 語法

而要确保我们不断创新，最佳方式之一就是支持那些认识到公共科研项目重要性的领导者，

from global health,

无论这些项目涉及全球健康、

agriculture,

农业、

information technology,

信息技术，

or energy.

还是能源。

You can read more about innovations on Bill Gates's amazing blog,

你可以在比尔·盖茨精彩的博客上读到更多有关创新的内容，

who's sponsored this episode.

本期视频正是由他赞助的。

To learn more about what we can do to make sure the world continues getting better for everyone,

想进一步了解我们能做些什么，以确保世界对每个人而言都不断变得更美好，

there's a link in the description to his blog.

可以点击视频简介中的链接访问他的博客。

And subscribe for more weekly science videos.

也请订阅频道，每周观看更多科学视频。