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GeorgeDyson_2003-_计算机的诞生_
Last year I told you the story, in seven minutes, of Project Orion , which was this very implausible technology that technically could have worked, but it had this one-year political window where it could have happened, so it didn't happen. It was a dream that did not happen. 去年我花了7分钟时间讲了讲“猎户座计划”, 确实是异想天开的技术 技术上讲应该可行的, 不过只有一年的政治窗口期可以上马, 所以没有上马。成了个梦想。
Orion:n.猎户星座;俄里翁(希腊神话人物); implausible:adj.难以置信的,不像真实的; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
This year I'm going to tell you the story of the birth of digital computing . 今年我要讲的是数字计算诞生的故事。
digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; computing:n.计算;计算机技术;信息处理技术;v.计算;求出;(compute的现在分词)
This was a perfect introduction. 这是一个完美的介绍。
And it's a story that did work. It did happen, and the machines are all around us. 说的都是实实在在发生的事情, 就是我们周围的计算机。
And it was a technology that was inevitable . 这项技术是历史的必然。
inevitable:adj.必然的,不可避免的;
If the people I'm going to tell you the story about -- if they hadn't done it, somebody else would have. 如果我说的这些人没有搞成,别的人也早晚会搞成。 如果我说的这些人没有搞成,别的人也早晚会搞成。
So it was sort of the right idea at the right time . 就是正确的时间做的正确主意。
at the right time:在适当时候;
This is Barricelli's universe. This is the universe we live in now. 这是Barricelli的世界。这是我们现在居住的世界。
It's the universe in which these machines are now doing all these things, including changing biology . 在这个世界中这些计算机中在做各种各样的事,包括改变生物学。 在这个世界中这些计算机中在各种各样的事,包括改变生物学。
biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学;
I'm starting the story with the first atomic bomb at Trinity , which was the Manhattan Project. It was a little bit like TED: it brought a whole lot of very smart people together. 我得从曼哈顿计划的首次核试验Trinity讲起, 有点像TED: 那个工程也集中了一群聪明的人。
atomic:adj.原子的,原子能的;微粒子的; Trinity:n.三位一体;三人一组;三个一组的东西;三倍;
And three of the smartest people were 其中三位佼佼者是:
Stan Ulam, Richard Feynman and John von Neumann, and it was von Neumann who said, after the bomb, he was working on something much more important than bombs: he's thinking about computers. Stanislaw Ulam（斯坦尼斯.乌拉姆）,Richard Feynman（理查费曼）,John von Neumann（约翰·冯·诺伊曼） 搞完核弹后冯·诺伊曼说 他要搞一些比原子弹更重要的东西: 他在构思计算机。
So he wasn't only thinking about them; he built one. This is the machine he built. 他不仅构思,他还造了一台。这就是他造的那台。
(Laughter) （笑声）
He built this machine, and we had a beautiful demonstration of how this thing really works, with these little bits. And it's an idea that goes way back. 他造了这台机器, 可以很好的演示这台带比特位的机器是如何运行的, 这个想法可以追溯到1651年的托马斯·霍布斯（Thomas Hobbes）,他首先阐述了这个想法。
demonstration:n.示范;演示;论证;证明;
The first person to really explain that was Thomas Hobbes, who in 1651, explained how arithmetic and logic are the same thing, and if you want to do artificial thinking and artificial logic, you can do it all with arithmetic. 这个想法可以追溯到1651年的托马斯·霍布斯（Thomas Hobbes）,他首先阐述了这个想法。 这个想法可以追溯到1651年的托马斯·霍布斯（Thomas Hobbes）,他首先阐述了这个想法。 他阐述了算术运算和逻辑是一回事, 如果想要进行人工思维和人工逻辑, 你可以全部用算术运算搞定。
arithmetic:n.算术,算法; logic:n.逻辑;逻辑学;逻辑性;adj.逻辑的; artificial:adj.人造的;仿造的;虚伪的;非原产地的;武断的;
He said you needed addition and subtraction . 他认为只需要加法和减法运算就可以了。
addition:n.添加;[数]加法;增加物; subtraction:n.[数]减法;减少;差集;
Leibniz, who came a little bit later -- this is 1679 -- showed that you didn't even need subtraction. 1679年,莱布尼茨更加推进了一步 证明甚至可以不用减法运算。
You could do the whole thing with addition. 只用加法运算就可以搞定一切。
Here we have all the binary arithmetic and logic that drove the computer revolution , and Leibniz was the first person to really talk about building such a machine. 由此我们拥有了推进计算机革命所需的二进制算术和逻辑, 由此我们拥有了推进计算机革命所需的二进制算术和逻辑, 莱布尼茨就是提出建造计算机器的第一人。
binary:adj.[数]二进制的;二元的,二态的; revolution:n.革命;旋转;运行;循环;
He talked about doing it with marbles , having gates and what we now call shift registers , where you shift the gates, drop the marbles down the tracks. 他提出用弹子球和控制闸门来构造机器,相当于我们现在的移位寄存器, 他提出用弹子球和控制闸门来构造机器,相当于我们现在的移位寄存器, 转动闸门,小球落到轨道上。
marbles:n.大理石; v.使…显得斑驳; (marble的第三人称单数和复数) shift:n.移动;变化;手段;轮班;v.移动;转变;转换; registers:n.登记; v.登记;
And that's what all these machines are doing, except instead of doing it with marbles, they're doing it with electrons . 这就是计算机运行的原理, 只不过当时用弹子球, 现在用电子而已。
electrons:n.[物]电子(electron的复数形式);
And then we jump to von Neumann, 1945, when he sort of reinvents the whole same thing. 我们再回到1945年,冯·诺伊曼可以说是重新发明了一个一样的东西。 我们再回到1945年,冯·诺伊曼可以说是重新发明了一个一样的东西。
reinvents:vt.重新使用;彻底改造;重复发明(在不知他人已发明的情况下);
And 1945, after the war, the electronics existed to actually try and build such a machine. 1945年战后,电子工业已经 开始试图造这样的机器。
electronics:n.电子学;电子工业;
So June 1945. Actually, the bomb hasn't even been dropped yet, and von Neumann is putting together all the theory to actually build this thing, which also goes back to Turing , 1945年6月。原子弹还没有投放前, 冯·诺伊曼已经整理了建造计算机的所有相关理论, 这也可以追溯到图灵的理论,
Turing:n.图灵机(一种可不受储存容量限制的假想计算机);
who, before that, gave the idea that you could do all this with a very brainless , little finite-state machine, just reading a tape in and reading a tape out. 图灵在此之前已经提出了一个想法, 用一个简单的有限状态机, 通过读写纸带就可以做到。
brainless:adj.无头脑的,愚蠢的;
The other sort of genesis of what von Neumann did was the difficulty of how you would predict the weather. 冯·诺伊曼的另一个天才之处在于 解决了如何预测天气的难题。
genesis:n.发生;起源; predict:v.预报;预言;预告;
Lewis Richardson saw how you could do this with a cellular array of people, giving them each a little chunk , and putting it together. Lewis Richardson预见到可以利用单元阵列, 每个人绘制一小块,然后拼到一起。
cellular:adj.细胞的;多孔的;由细胞组成的;n.移动电话;单元; array:n.数组,阵列;排列,列阵;大批,一系列;衣服;v.排列,部署;打扮; chunk:n.大块;矮胖的人或物;
Here we have an electrical model illustrating a mind having a will, but capable of only two ideas. 我们用电子模型演示有意志的思维, 不过只有两个状态。
electrical:adj.有关电的;电气科学的; illustrating:图解; capable:adj.能干的,能胜任的;有才华的;
(Laughter). （笑声）
And that's really the simplest computer. 这就是一个最简单的计算机。
It's basically why you need the qubit, because it only has two ideas. 这就是为什么需要需要量子位了, 因为那只有两个状态。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上;
And you put lots of those together, you get the essentials of the modern computer: the arithmetic unit, the central control, the memory, the recording medium , the input and the output . 如果把这么多东西组合起来, 就可以组成现代计算机的基本部件: 算术单元,中央控制单元,内存, 存储介质,输入和输出设备。
essentials:n.要素;要点;必需品;(essential的复数) medium:n.(传播信息的)媒介;手段;工具;方法;adj.中等的;中号的; input:n.投入; v.把(数据等)输入计算机; output:n.(人、机器、机构的)产量;输出;输出功率;输出量;v.输出;
But, there's one catch. This is the fatal -- you know, we saw it in starting these programs up. 不过有个缺点。这个很要命, 计算机的起点是编码指令。
fatal:adj.致命的;灾难性的;毁灭性的;导致失败的;
The instructions which govern this operation must be given in absolutely exhaustive detail. 指令控制着计算机的运行,必须绝对精确。 指令控制着计算机的运行,必须绝对精确。
absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; exhaustive:adj.详尽的;彻底的;消耗的;
So the programming has to be perfect, or it won't work. 程序必须完美,不然就会运行出错。
If you look at the origins of this, the classic history sort of takes it all back to the ENIAC here. 如果你追根溯源, 一般的历史都可以追溯到ENIAC计算机。
origins:n.起源; (origin的复数) classic:n.名著;优秀的典范;adj.最优秀的;第一流的;有代表性的;典型的;
But actually the machine I'm going to tell you about, the Institute for Advanced Study machine, which is way up there, really should be down there. So I'm trying to revise history, and give some of these guys more credit than they've had. 不过我要讲的机器(IAS机或叫MANIC), 大规模研究机器的研究院,虽然都是在ENIAC的基础上创造的, 但是他们才是当代计算机的鼻祖。我修正一下历史, 给这些家伙更多的荣誉。
Institute:v.开始(调查);制定;创立;提起(诉讼);n.学会,协会;学院; Advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) revise:v.修改;复习;改变;温习;n.校订;[印]再校样;
Such a computer would open up universes which are at the present outside the range of any instruments , so it opens up a whole new world, and these people saw it. 这台电脑开创了一个领域 超出了当时所有设备的范围, 它开启了一个崭新的世界,这些人预见到了。
universes:语义层;此生彼世; instruments:n.器械;仪器;器具;手段(instrument的复数)
The guy who was supposed to build this machine was the guy in the middle, Vladimir Zworykin, from RCA. 有希望造这台机器的家伙,就站在照片中间,斯福罗金（Vladimir Zworykin“电视之父”）来自美国无线电公司（RCA）。 有希望造这台机器的家伙,就站在照片中间,斯福罗金（Vladimir Zworykin“电视之父”）来自美国无线电公司（RCA）。
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
RCA, in probably one of the lousiest business decisions of all time, decided not to go into computers. RCA,做了一个有史以来最遭的商业决策,不进入计算机领域。 RCA,做了一个有史以来最遭的商业决策,不进入计算机领域。
lousiest:adj.最糟糕的(lousy的最高级);
But the first meetings, November 1945, were at RCA's offices. 1945年11月,RCA的办公室里召开的会议。
RCA started this whole thing off, and said, you know, televisions are the future, not computers. RCA启动了计划,并预测电视而不是计算机会引领未来。 RCA启动了计划,并预测电视而不是计算机会引领未来。
The essentials were all there -- all the things that make these machines run. 运行计算机所需的基本要件都在这里了。　 运行计算机所需的基本要件都在这里了。
Von Neumann, and a logician , and a mathematician from the army put this together. Then they needed a place to build it. 冯·诺伊曼与一位逻辑学家和一位来自军队的数学家整合了这些。 他们需要一个地方造这机器。
logician:n.逻辑学家;论理学者; mathematician:n.数学家;善作数字计算的人;
When RCA said no, that's when they decided to build it in Princeton , where Freeman works at the Institute. 被RCA拒绝后,他们决定在普林斯顿造。 弗里曼（他老爸）就在这个研究院工作。
Princeton:n.普林斯顿(美国新泽西州中部的自治市镇); Freeman:n.自由民;享有市民权的人;荣誉市民;
That's where I grew up as a kid. 我也是从小在那里长大的。
That's me, that's my sister Esther, who's talked to you before, so we both go back to the birth of this thing. 这是我和我姐姐Esther,她以前和你们聊过的, 我们一起追溯计算机的诞生。
That's Freeman, a long time ago, and that was me. 这是弗里曼,很早以前了, 这是我。
And this is von Neumann and Morgenstern, who wrote the Theory of Games. 冯·诺伊曼和奥斯卡·摩根斯坦(Oskar Morgenstern) 他们撰写了“博弈论”。
All these forces came together there, in Princeton. 在普林斯顿,各种力量汇集到一起。
Oppenheimer, who had built the bomb. 奥本海默（Oppenheimer）主持原子弹设计的家伙。
The machine was actually used mainly for doing bomb calculations. 这机器当初主要用于核弹相关的计算。
mainly:adv.大多;大部分;主要地;首要地;
And Julian Bigelow, who took the worker's place as the engineer to actually figure out, using electronics, how you would build this thing. The whole gang of people who came to work on this, and women in front, who actually did most of the coding , were the first programmers. 比奇洛（Julian Bigelow）这家伙搞明白应该用电子器件造这种机器。 比奇洛（Julian Bigelow）这家伙搞明白应该用电子器件造这种机器。 这就是造机器的那群人, 前排的女士们编写了大部分的代码,她们是最早的程序员。
gang:n.一群; v.(英)去; coding:n.译码;v.把…编码;(code的现在分词)
These were the prototype geeks , the nerds . 他们就是geeks,nerds的原型。
prototype:n.原型;雏形;最初形态; geeks:n.奇葩(指反常的人,畸形人,野人,现也指智力超群,善于钻研但不懂与人交往的学者或知识分子); nerds:n.书呆子;网虫;讨厌鬼(nerd的复数);
They didn't fit in at the Institute. 他们不适合呆在研究院里。
This is a letter from the director, concerned about -- " especially unfair on the matter of sugar." 这是一封来自主任的信,提到 “糖的问题特别不公平。”
concerned:adj.有关的;关心的;v.关心;与…有关;(concern的过去时和过去分词) especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分;
(Laughter). （笑声）
You can read the text. 你可以读读这封信。
(Laughter). （笑声）
This is hackers getting in trouble for the first time. 这是黑客们第一次遇到麻烦。
hackers:n.黑客,骇客;电脑黑客(hacker的复数);
(Laughter). （笑声）
These were not theoretical physicists . 这些不是理论物理学家。
theoretical:adj.理论的;理论上的;假设的;推理的; physicists:n.物理学家;机械唯物论者(physicist的复数);
They were real soldering-gun type guys, and they actually built this thing. 他们是耍焊枪的家伙,他们实际造了计算机。
And we take it for granted now that each of these machines has billions of transistors , doing billions of cycles per second without failing. 现在我们认为有几十亿晶体管每秒几十亿周期的计算机不出问题是想当然的。 现在我们认为有几十亿晶体管每秒几十亿周期的计算机不出问题是想当然的。
take it for granted:认为理所当然;想当然; transistors:n.[电子]晶体管;晶体三极管(transistor的复数);
They were using vacuum tubes, very narrow sloppy techniques to get actually binary behavior out of these radio vacuum tubes. 那时,他们用的是真空管,非常粗糙的技术 用无线电真空管完成二进制动作。
vacuum:n.真空; adj.真空的; v.用真空吸尘器清扫; narrow:adj.狭窄的; v.使窄小; n.峡谷; (场所,物品等的)狭窄部分; sloppy:adj.草率的;粗心的;泥泞的;肥大的;稀薄的; techniques:n.技巧;技艺;工艺;技术;(technique的复数)
They actually used 6J6, the common radio tube, because they found they were more reliable than the more expensive tubes. 他们用的是6J6,通用电子管, 因为他们发现这种管子比其他更贵的管子更可靠。
reliable:adj.可信赖的;可依靠的;真实可信的;可靠的;
And what they did at the Institute was publish every step of the way. 他们在研究院里公布了开发的每一步。
publish:v.出版;发表;公布;
Reports were issued , so that this machine was cloned at 15 other places around the world. 发布报告,这样机器就在世界上15个不同的地方被克隆。 发布报告,这样机器就在世界上15个不同的地方被克隆。
issued:v.宣布;公布;发出;将…诉诸法律;(issue的过去分词和过去式) cloned:v.以无性繁殖技术复制;克隆;非法复制;(clone的过去分词和过去式)
And it really was. It was the original microprocessor . 实际上这就是微处理器的原型。
original:n.原件;原作;原物;原型;adj.原始的;最初的;独创的;新颖的; microprocessor:n.[计]微处理器;
All the computers now are copies of that machine. 现在的所有计算机都是仿照这台机器。
The memory was in cathode ray tubes -- a whole bunch of spots on the face of the tube, very, very sensitive to electromagnetic disturbances . 内存用的是阴极射线管(RCA公司负责设计内存) 阴极射线管表面的一簇点, 对电磁扰动非常敏感。
cathode:n.阴极(电解);n.正极(原电池); bunch:n.群;串;突出物;vi.隆起;打褶;形成一串;vt.使成一串;使打褶; sensitive:adj.敏感的;感觉的;易受影响的;n.敏感的人;有灵异能力的人; electromagnetic:adj.电磁的; disturbances:n.[通信][电子]干扰;失调(disturbance的复数形式);困惑;
So there's 40 of these tubes, like a V-40 engine running the memory. 这是40个管子, 内存运行就像V-40发动机。
(Laughter). （笑声）
The input and the output was by teletype tape at first. 最早输入输出用的是电传打字带。
teletype:n.[通信]电传打字机; vt.用电传打字机拍发; vi.用电传打字机发送;
This is a wire drive, using bicycle wheels. 这是线驱动的,用的是自行车轮子。
This is the archetype of the hard disk that's in your machine now. 这就是你计算机里的硬盘的原型。
archetype:n.原型; hard disk:n.硬盘;硬磁盘;
Then they switched to a magnetic drum . 后来改用磁鼓（magnetic drum）。
drum:n.鼓; v.打鼓;
This is modifying IBM equipment, which is the origins of the whole data-processing industry, later at IBM. 这是改进中的IBM的设备, 就是之后IBM数据处理行业的起源。
modifying:修饰;
And this is the beginning of computer graphics . 这是计算机图形的起源。
graphics:n.[测]制图学;制图法;图表算法;
The "Graph'g-Beam Turn On." This next slide, that's the -- as far as I know -- the first digital bitmap display , 1954. 图形光束打开（“Graph*g-Beam Turn On.”）,下一个幻灯片, 1954年,据我所知最早的数字位图。
as far as I know:据我所知;就我所知; bitmap:n.[计]位图,位映像; display:n.显示;炫耀;vt.显示;表现;陈列;vi.[动]作炫耀行为;adj.展览的;陈列用的;
So, Von Neumann was already off in a theoretical cloud doing abstract sorts of studies of how you could build reliable machines out of unreliable components . 冯·诺伊曼已经不搞那些理论了 埋头于研究如何用不稳定的部件造出稳定的机器。 埋头于研究如何用不稳定的部件造出稳定的机器。
abstract:n.摘要; adj.抽象的; vt.摘要; vi.做摘要; unreliable:adj.不可靠的;靠不住的; components:n.部件;组件;成份(component复数);
Those guys drinking all the tea with sugar in it were writing in their logbooks trying to get this thing to work, with all these 2,600 vacuum tubes that failed half the time. 这些家伙喝着加糖的茶,在工作日志上记录下机器的运行状况, 这些家伙喝着加糖的茶,在工作日志上记录下机器的运行状况, 有2600个真空管的机器有一半时间是有故障的。
logbooks:n.航海日志;工作日志;航行日志;值班日志;(logbook的复数)
And that's what I've been doing this last six months, is going through the logs . 这就是我上六个月所作的,察看这些日志。
logs:n.日志;原木v.记录;把…载入正式记录;采伐树木;(logs是log的复数)
'" Running time : two minutes. Input, output: 90 minutes." “运行时间:两分钟。输入输出:90分钟。”
Running time:n.(电影)片长;(旅程等的)持续时间;
This includes a large amount of human error. 这里包含了大量的人为错误。
So they are always trying to figure out, what's machine error? What's human error? 所以他们总是的分析,是机器还是人为的错误。
What's code, what's hardware ? 代码的问题,还是硬件的问题。
hardware:n.计算机硬件;五金器具;
That's an engineer gazing at tube number 36, trying to figure out why the memory's not in focus. 这是一个工程师盯着36号管子, 想弄明白为什么内存没对焦。
gazing:v.凝视;注视;盯着;(gaze的现在分词)
He had to focus the memory -- seems OK. 他不得不亲自对焦。
So he had to focus each tube just to get the memory up and running, let alone having, you know, software problems. 他不得不亲自对焦每一个内存阴极射线管来让机器可以运行。 与此而来的,还有软件问题。
let alone:更不必说;听任;不打扰;
'"No use, went home." (Laughter). “不管用,回家。”（笑声）
'"Impossible to follow the damn thing, where's a directory ?" “搞不定这该死的东西,电话簿在哪里？”
damn:v.谴责;该死;n.诅咒;adj.可恶的; directory:n.[计]目录;工商名录;姓名地址录;adj.指导的;咨询的;
So already they're complaining about the manuals : "before closing down in disgust ." 他们抱怨使用手册: “反感的关掉”
complaining:adj.抱怨的;v.抱怨;控诉;(complain的现在分词) manuals:n.手册,指南;说明书(manual的复数); disgust:n.厌恶;反感;憎恶;v.使作呕;使厌恶;使反感;
'"The General Arithmetic -- Operating Logs." 通用算法 -- 运行日志,
Burning lots of midnight oil. 开了很多夜车。
MANIAC , which became the acronym for the machine, MANIAC,成了这机器的缩写,
MANIAC:n.疯子,躁狂者;adj.发狂的;狂热的;癫狂的; acronym:n.首字母缩略词;
Mathematical And Numerical Integrator And Calculator , "lost its memory." 数学分析器数值积分器和计算机,“内存丢失。”
Mathematical:adj.数学的,数学上的;精确的; Numerical:adj.数值的;数字的;用数字表示的(等于numeric); Integrator:n.[自]积分器;[电子]积分电路;整合之人; Calculator:n.计算器;
'"MANIAC regained its memory when the power went off," "machine or human?" “MANIAC断电后找回内存”,“机器还是人为原因？”
regained:v.重新获得,恢复;回到(原位);返回;(regain的过去分词和过去式)
'"Aha!" So they figured out: it's a code problem: "Found trouble in code, I hope." “哈！”他们找到问题了:是个代码问题: “希望是代码有问题”
'"Code error, machine not guilty ." “代码错误,机器无罪。”
guilty:adj.有罪的;内疚的;
'" Dammit , I can be just as stubborn as this thing." “该死,我受不了这固执的东西了。”
Dammit:int.该死,真他妈的; stubborn:adj.顽固的;顽强的;难处理的;
(Laughter). （笑声）
'"And the dawn came." So they ran all night. “黎明来临了。”他们干了一夜。
dawn:n.黎明;开端;vt.破晓;出现;被领悟;
24 hours a day this thing was running, mainly running bomb calculations. 机器一天24小时不停运转,主要是核弹计算。
'"Everything up to this point is wasted time." "What's the use? Good night." “所有问题归结到这一点,浪费时间。” “有什么用？晚安。”
'"Master control off. The hell with it. Way off." (Laughter) “主控关闭？。怎么搞得。错的离谱。”（笑声）
'"Something's wrong with the air conditioner -- smell of burning v-belts in the air." “空调出故障了 空气中有烧焦皮带味。“
air conditioner:n.空调;
'"A short -- do not turn the machine on." “简短的,不要开机。”
'"IBM machine putting a tar-like substance on the cards . The tar is from the roof." “IBM机器在卡片上涂了焦油样的东西。焦油来自屋顶。”
substance:n.物质;实质;主旨;物品; on the cards:adv.可能; tar:n.焦油;柏油;水手;vt.涂以焦油;玷污;
So they really were working under tough conditions. 他们的工作条件确实很艰苦。
(Laughter). （笑声）
Here, "A mouse has climbed into the blower behind the regulator rack, set blower to vibrating . Result: no more mouse." 这里,“一只老鼠爬到鼓风机里了 调节器支架后面,造成鼓风机震动。结论:再没老鼠了。“
blower:n.鼓风机,吹风机;吹制工;<俚>爱吹牛的人; regulator:n.调整者;校准器; vibrating:v.(使)振动,颤动,摆动(vibrate的现在分词)
(Laughter). （笑声）
'"Here lies mouse. Born: ?. Died: 4:50am, May 1953." “这里倒下了一只老鼠。出生年代不详,死亡时间:1953年5月早上4:50分。”
(Laughter). （笑声）
There's an inside joke someone has penciled in: "Here lies Marston Mouse." 有人在这里写下了一个内部玩笑: “Marston老鼠倒在这里。”
If you're a mathematician, you get that, because Marston was a mathematician who objected to the computer being there. 你要是个数学家的话,你就会明白, 因为Marston就是个反对造计算机的数学家。 因为Marston就是个反对造计算机的数学家。
'"Picked a lightning bug off the drum." "Running at two kilocycles." “从磁鼓上拿掉一只萤火虫,以两千赫的速度运行。”
lightning bug:na."lightningbeetle"的变体;
That's two thousand cycles per second -- "yes, I'm chicken" -- so two kilocycles was slow speed. 每秒两千次循环 “是的,我是胆小” 两千赫每秒是很慢的速度。
The high speed was 16 kilocycles. 最高速度可以到16千赫每秒。
I don't know if you remember a Mac that was 16 Megahertz . 也许您还记得,以前Mac机的主频是16兆赫兹。
Megahertz:n.兆赫;
That's slow speed. 确实太慢了。
'"I have now duplicated both results. “现在有了两个不同的运行结果。
duplicated:v.复制;复印;复写;(duplicate的过去分词和过去式)
How will I know which is right, assuming one result is correct? 我不知道哪一个是正确的？
assuming:conj.假设…为真; adj.傲慢的; v.假定; (assume的现在分词)
This now is the third different output. 现在又有了第三个不同的结果。
I know when I'm licked ." 我明白我被打败了。“
licked:v.舔,舔吃;舔着喝;掠过;(火舌)舔食;(lick的过去分词和过去式)
(Laughter). （笑声）
'"We've duplicated errors before." “我们以前出现过这样的错误。”
'"Machine run, fine. Code isn't." “机器正常,代码错误。”
'"Only happens when the machine is running." “只有机器运行时才发生。”
And sometimes things are okay. 有时还不错。
'"Machine a thing of beauty, and a joy forever." "Perfect running." “美好的机器是永恒的喜悦。（仿英国诗人济慈《Endymion》诗句）” “完美的运行。”
'"Parting thought: when there's bigger and better errors, we'll have them." “临别思考:当有更大更好的错误,我们会拥有他们。”
So nobody was supposed to know they were actually designing bombs. 应该没人知道他们正在设计核弹。
They're designing hydrogen bombs. But someone in the log book, late one night, finally drew a bomb. 他们正在设计氢弹。不过某个人在日志本上: 某天晚上,画了一个炸弹。
hydrogen:n.氢;氢气; finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
So that was the result. It was Mike, the first thermonuclear bomb, in 1952. 这就是成果。第一颗氢弹Mike 1952年第一枚热核弹。
thermonuclear:adj.[核]热核的;高热原子核反应的;
That was designed on that machine, in the woods behind the institute. 就是在高等研究院后的树林的这台机器上设计的, 就是在高等研究院后的的树林的这台机器上设计的,
So von Neumann invited a whole gang of weirdos from all over the world to work on all these problems. 冯·诺伊曼还从世界各地请了一批怪人研究各种问题。 冯·诺伊曼还从世界各地请了一批怪人研究各种问题。
weirdos:古怪的人;奇怪的人(weirdo的复数);
Barricelli, he came to do what we now call, really, artificial life, trying to see if, in this artificial universe -- he was a viral-geneticist -- way, way, way ahead of his time. Barricelli就是来想搞明白,在这个人造的世界中研究人造生命的, Barricelli就是来想搞明白,在这个人造的世界是否可以产生人造生命的, 他是个病毒遗传学家 -- 他的研究远远超前于那个时代。
He's still ahead of some of the stuff that's being done now. 至今他的某些研究还是超前的。
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
Trying to start an artificial genetic system running in the computer. 他试图在计算机上启动一个人造遗传系统。
genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的;
Began -- his universe started March 3rd, '53. 1953年3月3日他的世界启动了。
So it's almost exactly -- it's 50 years ago next Tuesday, I guess. 我想到下周二就整整50年了。
And he saw everything in terms of -- 他直接读源代码
He could read the binary code straight off the machine. 他可以直接读机器的二进制代码。
straight off:立即;马上;
He had a wonderful rapport . 他和机器相处融洽。
rapport:n.密切关系,交往;和谐一致;
Other people couldn't get the machine running. It always worked for him. 别人不能让机器运行。他却可以搞定。
Even errors were duplicated. 实际上故障也是他弄出来的。
(Laughter). （笑声）
'"Dr. Barricelli claims machine is wrong, code is right." “Barricelli博士认为是机器问题,代码是正确的。”
claims:v.宣称; n.声明; (claim的第三人称单数和复数)
So he designed this universe, and ran it. 所以他设计并运行了这个世界。
When the bomb people went home, he was allowed in there. 当搞核弹的人回家的时候,他可以进来用。
He would run that thing all night long, running these things. 他可以通宵运行这些东西。
If anybody remembers Stephen Wolfram , who reinvented this stuff. 可能有人记得Stephen Wolfram, 他重发明了这些东西。
Wolfram:n.[化学]钨(金属元素,符号W);钨锰铁矿; reinvented:v.以新形象示人;以新形式出现;(reinvent的过去分词和过去式)
And he published it. It wasn't locked up and disappeared . 这一切都没有锁在柜子里被人遗忘,他把资料都发布了出来。
disappeared:adj.消失的;消失了的;v.消失,失踪;(disappear的过去式和过去分词)
It was published in the literature . 这些都被发布在文献中。
literature:n.文学;文献;文艺;著作;
'"If it's that easy to create living organisms , why not create a few yourself?" “如果制造生命组织很容易,为什么不造几个自己？”
organisms:n.[生物]生物体(organism的复数);[生物]有机体;
So he decided to give it a try, to start this artificial biology going in the machines. 他决定试一试, 在机器里启动了人造生物学。
And he found all these, sort of -- 他找到了这些,
It was like a naturalist coming in and looking at this tiny, 5,000-byte universe, and seeing all these things happening that we see in the outside world, in biology. 就像个自然学家跑进这个微小的只有5000个字节的世界里研究, 就像个自然学家跑进这个微小的只有5000个字节的世界里研究, 以生物学的角度看待这里发生的一切。 以生物学的角度看待这里发生的一切。
naturalist:n.自然主义者; adj.自然的(等于naturalistic);
This is some of the generations of his universe. 这是他的世界的某几代。
But they're just going to stay numbers; they're not going to become organisms. 不过他们仅仅停留在数字上, 数字不可能成为有机体。
They have to have something. 他们必须有些东西。
You have a genotype and you have to have a phenotype . 你有一个基因型,你必须有一个表型。
genotype:n.基因型;遗传型; phenotype:n.表型,表现型;显型;
They have to go out and do something. And he started doing that, started giving these little numerical organisms things they could play with, playing chess with other machines and so on. 他们必须走出去,做些事。然后他开始干这个, 让这些小的数字生物体和其他机器下象棋,诸如此类的东西。 让这些小的数字生物体和其他机器下象棋,诸如此类的东西。
And they did start to evolve . 然后它们开始进化。
evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;
And he went around the country after that. 之后他跑遍全国。
Every time there was a new, fast machine, he started using it, and saw exactly what's happening now: that the programs, instead of being turned off -- when you quit the program, you'd keep running 每次找到更新更快的机器,他就运行它。 看看现在到底发生了什么: 当你退出这些程序的时候,它们并不会停止, 它们一直在运行
quit:v.离开;放弃;停止;使…解除;n.离开;[计]退出;adj.摆脱了…的;已经了结的;
and, basically, all the sorts of things like Windows is doing -- running as a multi-cellular organism on many machines -- he envisioned all that happening. 有点类似于Windows 在多台机器上运行多细胞生物体 他设想了所有这些。
envisioned:v.展望;想象;(envision的过去分词和过去式)
And he saw that evolution itself was an intelligent process. 他认为它的自身进化是一个智能过程。
intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的
It wasn't any sort of creator intelligence , but the thing itself was a giant parallel computation that would have some intelligence. 这些智能并不来自于创造者, 这东西本身是并行运算 会有自己的智能。
intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报; giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 parallel:adj.平行的; v.与…相似; n.极其相似的人(或情况、事件等); computation:n.估计,计算;
And he went out of his way to say that he was not saying this was lifelike , or a new kind of life; it just was another version of the same thing happening. 他特别指出 他认为这并不意味着类生命, 或者一种新生命体, 只是同样发生的事的另一个版本。
lifelike:adj.栩栩如生的;逼真的;
And there's really no difference between what he was doing in the computer and what nature did billions of years ago. 他在计算机上做的工作和自然界数十亿年前完成的没有区别。 他在计算机上做的工作和自然界数十亿年前完成的没有区别。
And could you do it again now? 你可以再做一遍吗？
So when I went into these archives looking at this stuff, lo and behold , the archivist came up one day, saying, "I think we found another box that had been thrown out." 有天当我走进档案馆翻弄这些资料的时候, 管理员跑过来对我说 “我们找到了另一箱扔掉的东西。”
archives:n.档案;档案馆;v.把…存档;(archive的第三人称单数和复数) behold:v.看;注视;把...视为;int.瞧;看呀; archivist:n.案卷保管人;档案保管员;
And it was his universe on punch cards. 这就是在打孔卡上他的世界。
punch:n.冲床; v.拳打; (用打孔器等)打孔;
So there it is, 50 years later, sitting there. Sort of suspended animation . 50年后,坐在这里。有点类似动画的暂停。
suspended animation:n.假死;不省人事;蛰伏状态;
That's the instructions for running -- this is actually the source code for one of those universes, with a note from the engineers saying they're having some problems. 这是要运行的指令 这实际上是其中一个世界的源代码, 这实际上是其中一个世界的源代码, 以及一个工程师的注释 写道它们有些问题。
source code:n.源(代)码;
'"There must be something about this code that you haven't explained yet." “这些代码的某些东西,你还解释不了。”
And I think that's really the truth. We still don't understand how these very simple instructions can lead to increasing complexity . 我想这是事实。我们还是不了解 为什么这些简单的指令会导致复杂性大大增加。
complexity:n.复杂性;难以理解的局势
What's the dividing line between when that is lifelike and when it really is alive? 类生命和真实生命的区别在哪里呢？ 类生命和真实生命的区别在哪里呢？
dividing line:n.分界线;界限;
These cards, now, thanks to me showing up, are being saved. 由于我在场,这些卡片被保存了。
And the question is, should we run them or not? 问题是,我们应该运行它们吗？
You know, could we get them running? 我们还能运行它们吗？
Do you want to let it loose on the Internet? 你想把它释放到Internet上吗？
loose:adj.宽松的; v.释放; v.松散地; n.放纵;
These machines would think they -- these organisms, if they came back to life now, whether they've died and gone to heaven, there's a universe -- my laptop is 10 thousand million times the size of the universe that they lived in when Barricelli quit the project. 这些机器就会思考 如果它们现在复活, 无论它们是死去了还是去了天堂,那里总会有一个世界 我笔记本电脑中的世界比Barricelli退出项目时的电脑中的世界要大数十亿倍。 我笔记本电脑中的世界比Barricelli退出项目时的电脑中的世界要大数十亿倍。
laptop:n.便携式电脑;笔记本电脑;
He was thinking far ahead, to how this would really grow into a new kind of life. 他的思考远远领先于这个时代, 这将如何成长为一种新生命。
And that's what happening! 这是现在正在发生的！
When Juan Enriquez told us about these 12 trillion bits being transferred back and forth , of all this genomics data going to the proteomics lab, that's what Barricelli imagined: that this digital code in these machines is actually starting to code -- it already is coding from nucleic acids. 璜·安利奎斯 (Juan Enriquez)告诉我们 有12万亿比特位数据在来回传送, 以染色体数据的形式汇往蛋白质组学实验室, 这就是Barricelli所设想的: 这些机器里的数字代码 已经开始编码 从核酸开始。(这些代码已经开始绘制出生物的最基本单位--核酸)
trillion:n.[数]万亿;adj.万亿的;num.[数]万亿; transferred:v.(使)转移,搬迁;(使)调动;(transfer的过去分词和过去式) back and forth:前后移动的,来回的,反复的; genomics:n.基因组学;基因体学; proteomics:蛋白质组学;蛋白质体学;蛋白组学 nucleic:adj.核的;
We've been doing that since, you know, since we started PCR and synthesizing small strings of DNA. 我们已经在做了,因为我们启动了聚合酶链式反应 (PCR) 合成小段的DNA。
synthesizing:v.合成;(音响)合成;综合;(synthesize的现在分词) strings:一串,悬挂(string的第三人称单数和复数)
And real soon we're actually going to be synthesizing the proteins , and like Steve showed us, that just opens an entirely new world. 不久我们将开始合成蛋白质, 就像Steve展示给我们的,这仅仅是一个全新世界的开始。
proteins:n.[生化]蛋白质(protein复数);
It's a world that von Neumann himself envisioned. 冯·诺依曼所预见到的世界。
This was published after he died: his sort of unfinished notes on self-reproducing machines. 这是他死后发表的:他没有完成的关于自繁殖机器的笔记。 这是他死后发表的:他没有完成的关于自繁殖机器的笔记。
What it takes to get the machines sort of jump-started to where they begin to reproduce . 它会让机器进一步开始自我繁殖。 它会让机器进一步开始自我繁殖。
jump-started:vt.起动;发动;n.助动启动; reproduce:v.繁殖;复制;再现;生育;
It took really three people: 这依靠有三个人完成:
Barricelli had the concept of the code as a living thing. Barricelli提出了代码像生命体的概念。
Von Neumann saw how you could build the machines. 冯·诺依曼领悟到了如何建造这样的机器。
That now, last count, four million of these von Neumann machines is built every 24 hours. 现在每24小时就有4百万个冯·诺依曼计算机生产出来。 现在每24小时就有4百万个冯·诺依曼计算机生产出来。
And Julian Bigelow, who died 10 days ago -- this is John Markoff's obituary for him -- he was the important missing link , the engineer who came in and knew how to put those vacuum tubes together and make it work. Julian Bigelow十天前去世了 这是John Markoff发的讣告 他就是重要的丢失的一环, 他就是那个知道如何把真空管焊在一起工作的工程师。 他就是那个知道如何把真空管焊在一起工作的工程师。
obituary:adj.讣告的;死亡的;n.讣告; missing link:n.(理解问题或使事物完整的)必要的环节;
And all our computers have, inside them, the copies of the architecture that he had to just design one day, sort of on pencil and paper. 我们现在的所有计算机里面 的芯片实际上都是在复制他某天用铅笔在纸上设计的架构。 的芯片实际上都是在复制他某天用铅笔在纸上设计的架构。
architecture:n.建筑学;建筑风格;建筑式样;架构;
And we owe a tremendous credit to that. 我们欠他很多。
tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的;
And he explained, in a very generous way, the spirit that brought all these different people to the Institute for Advanced Study in the '40s to do this project, 他以一种慷慨的方式解释道, 这种精神在40年代让不同的人们来到高等研究院参与到工程中来, 这种精神在40年代让不同的人们来到高等研究院参与到工程中来,
generous:adj.慷慨的,大方的;宽宏大量的;有雅量的;
and make it freely available with no patents , no restrictions , no intellectual property disputes to the rest of the world. 成果向世界公开,没有专利,没有限制,没有知识产权争端。 成果向世界公开,没有专利,没有限制,没有知识产权争端。
patents:n.[专利]专利(patent的复数形式);专利权; restrictions:n.限制规定;限制;约束;制约因素;(restriction的复数) intellectual property:知识产权; disputes:n.争论(dispute的复数);v.争论(dispute的单数第三人称);
That's the last entry in the log book when the machine was shut down, July 1958. 这是1958年7月机器关闭那一天最后一行日志。 这是1958年7月机器关闭那一天最后一行日志。
And it's Julian Bigelow who was running it until midnight when the machine was officially turned off. Julian Bigelow最后运行到午夜, 最终机器被正式关闭。
And that's the end. 这就是结局。
Thank you very much. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）