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GregoryHeyworth_2015X-_我如何发掘出古代文字的秘密_
On January 26, 2013, a band of al-Qaeda militants entered the ancient city of Timbuktu on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. 2013年1月26日 一群基地武装分子进入了 在撒哈拉沙漠的南边廷巴克图的古城市
band:n.带;波段;频带;箍;v.加彩条(或嵌条等);(将价格、收入等)划分档次; al-Qaeda:n.基地组织; militants:n.激进份子(militant的复数); Timbuktu:n.遥远的地方;
There, they set fire to a medieval library of 30,000 manuscripts written in Arabic and several African languages and ranging in subject from astronomy to geography, history to medicine, including one book which records perhaps the first treatment for male erectile dysfunction . 他们放火烧了保存了三万本由阿拉伯语 和一些非洲语写成的手稿的中世纪图书馆 并且被分类成天文、地理、历史、医疗科目 在医疗科目中包括一本记录了 可能是第一本治疗男性勃起功能障碍的的书
set fire to:点燃,使燃烧; medieval:adj.中世纪的;原始的;仿中世纪的;老式的; manuscripts:n.[图情]手稿;草稿(manuscript的复数形式); astronomy:n.天文学; treatment:n.治疗;疗法;对待;处理;讨论; erectile:adj.勃起的;[昆]可使直立的; dysfunction:n.功能紊乱;机能障碍;官能不良;vi.功能失调;出现机能障碍;垮掉;
Unknown in the West, this was the collected wisdom of an entire continent , the voice of Africa at a time when Africa was thought not to have a voice at all. 西方不知道的是 在非洲一直被认为是不能发出声音的时候 这些都是非洲的声音和整个非洲可以被收集到的智慧
wisdom:n.智慧;明智;才智;学问; continent:n.大陆,洲,陆地;adj.自制的,克制的;
The mayor of Bamako, who witnessed the event, called the burning of the manuscripts "a crime against world cultural heritage ." 巴马科市长目睹了这个事件 说这个焚烧手稿事件 是一群罪犯在对抗世界的遗产
mayor:n.市长;镇长; witnessed:v.当场看到,目击;见证;作证;(witness的过去式和过去分词) cultural:adj.与文化有关的;文化的;与艺术、文学、音乐等有关的; heritage:n.遗产;传统;继承物;继承权;
And he was right -- or he would have been, if it weren't for the fact that he was also lying. 他曾经是对的 或者本应一直都是如果他没有撒谎的话
In fact, just before, 事实上 就在之前
African scholars had collected a random assortment of old books and left them out for the terrorists to burn. 非洲学者们随机收集了各种各样的旧书 免得让恐怖分子烧毁这些书
scholars:n.学者们(scholar的复数); random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地; assortment:n.分类;混合物;
Today, the collection lies hidden in Bamako, the capital of Mali, moldering in the high humidity . 今天这些书就藏在马里的首都 巴马科里面 书因为高湿度而被侵蚀
moldering:v.腐朽;崩坏;使腐朽(molder的现在分词); humidity:n.[气象]湿度;湿气;
What was rescued by ruse is now once again in jeopardy , this time by climate. 这些曾经被救出来的书 再一次陷入危险之中 这一次是因为气候
rescued:v.营救;援救;抢救;(rescue的过去分词和过去式) ruse:n.策略,计策;诡计; jeopardy:n.危险;(被告处于被判罪或受处罚的)危险境地;
But Africa, and the far-flung corners of the world, are not the only places, or even the main places in which manuscripts that could change the history of world culture are in jeopardy. 但那些危如累卵 却可以改变世界文化历史的手稿 不唯一 甚至不主要 储存于非洲 或那些偏远的地方
far-flung:adj.遥远的;广泛的;广布的;
Several years ago, I conducted a survey of European research libraries and discovered that, at the barest minimum , there are 60,000 manuscripts pre-1500 that are illegible because of water damage, fading , mold and chemical reagents . 几年前我对欧洲研究图书馆进行了一个调查 发现最少有 60000本 1500年前的手稿 因为水的侵蚀、褪色、发霉、化学侵蚀 而变得字迹模糊 难以辨认
conducted:v.组织;安排;实施;执行;指挥;带领;引导;(conduct的过去分词和过去式) survey:n.调查;测量;审视;纵览;vt.调查;勘测;俯瞰;vi.测量土地; barest:adj.裸露的(bare的最高级); minimum:n.最低限度;最小值;最少量;极小量;adj.最低的;最小的;最低限度的; illegible:adj.难辨认的;字迹模糊的; fading:v.(使)变淡,变暗;逐渐消失;衰退,衰落(fade的现在分词) chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; reagents:n.[试剂]试剂(reagent的复数);
The real number is likely double that, and that doesn't even count 真实的数据可能是这个的两倍 这还没有算那些
real number:n.实数;
Renaissance manuscripts and modern manuscripts and cultural heritage objects such as maps. 文艺复兴和现代的手稿 和一些文化的遗产比如地图
Renaissance:n.文艺复兴(欧洲14至17世纪);
What if there were a technology that could recover these lost and unknown works? 如果有一种高科技 可以还原这些丢失的和未知的文字呢
What if:如果…怎么办? technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
Imagine worldwide how a trove of hundreds of thousands of previously unknown texts could radically transform our knowledge of the past. 想想看世界范围内这些成百上千 以前不为人知的手稿 可以彻底地改变我们对于过去的了解
worldwide:adj.全世界的;adv.在世界各地; trove:n.被发现的东西;收藏的东西; previously:adv.先前;以前; radically:adv.根本上;彻底地;以激进的方式; transform:v.使改变;使改观;使转换;n.[数]变换式;[化]反式;
Imagine what unknown classics we would discover which would rewrite the canons of literature , history, philosophy , music -- or, more provocatively , that could rewrite our cultural identities , building new bridges between people and culture. 想想看那些我们会发掘的不为人知的名着 可以改写文学经典、历史 哲学、音乐等等 甚至更激进点说能改写我们的文化身份 在人和文化之间建立新的桥梁
classics:n.经典;名著;杰作;(classic的复数) canons:(某作家的)真作;真经(canon的复数); literature:n.文学;文献;文艺;著作; philosophy:n.哲学;哲理;人生观; provocatively:挑衅的;挑拨的;激怒的;刺激的;煽动的; identities:n.身份;本身;本体;特征;同一性;相同;(identity的复数)
These are the questions that transformed me from a medieval scholar, a reader of texts, into a textual scientist. 这些问题改变了我 从一个中世纪的学者一个文本读者 变为一个考证学家
transformed:v.使改变形态;使改变外观(或性质);(transform的过去分词和过去式) textual:adj.本文的;按原文的;
What an unsatisfying word "reader" is. 单单“读者”这个词语难以满足我
unsatisfying:adj.无法令人满足的;v.不满意;不安心(unsatisfy的ing形式);
For me, it conjures up images of passivity , of someone sitting idly in an armchair waiting for knowledge to come to him in a neat little parcel . 对我来说它会让人感觉很被动 就像一个人懒散地坐在贵妃椅上 在一个整洁的小方块里面 守株待兔 等着知识朝他走来
conjures:v.变魔术;变戏法;(conjure的第三人称单数) images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数) passivity:n.被动性;被动结构;无抵抗; idly:adv.无所事事地;懒惰地,空闲地;无益地; armchair:n.扶手椅;足不出户的; neat:adj.整洁的;整齐的;有序的;有条理的; parcel:n.包裹;小包;一块地;一片地;v.包;裹好;打包;adj.部分(时间)的;adv.局部地;
How much better to be a participant in the past, an adventurer in an undiscovered country, searching for the hidden text. 做一个过去的参与者岂不是更好 去做在未知的国度里 寻找不为人知的文字的冒险家岂不是更好
participant:adj.参与的;有关系的;n.参与者;关系者; adventurer:n.冒险家;投机商人; undiscovered:adj.未被发现的;未勘探的;
As an academic , I was a mere reader. 作为学者 我过去仅是一枚读者
academic:adj.学术的;理论的;学院的;n.大学生,大学教师;学者; mere:adj.仅仅的;只不过的;n.小湖;池塘;
I read and taught the same classics that people had been reading and teaching for hundreds of years -- 那些同样的名着维吉尔, 奥维德, 乔叟, 彼特拉克... 我读了教 教了读
Virgil, Ovid, Chaucer , Petrarch -- and with every scholarly article that I published 然而人们已经这么做上百年了 我把我发表的每一篇学术文章
Chaucer:n.乔叟(英国作家); scholarly:adj.博学的;学者风度的;学者派头的;
I added to human knowledge in ever-diminishing slivers of insight . 都贡献到了那些洞察力在不断减少的知识当中
insight:n.洞察力;洞悉;
What I wanted to be was an archaeologist of the past, a discoverer of literature, an Indiana Jones without the whip -- or, actually, with the whip. 我想成为的 是过去的考古学家 一个文献的发现者 一个没有鞭子的印第安纳琼斯 或者 事实上 有鞭子
archaeologist:n.考古学家; discoverer:n.发现者; whip:n.鞭子; v.鞭打;
(Laughter) （笑）
And I wanted it not just for myself but I wanted it for my students as well. 我想要这些不光为了自己还为了我的学生
And so six years ago, I changed the direction of my career . 6年前我改变了我事业的方向
career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历;
At the time, I was working on "The Chess of Love," 当时 我还在处理“爱的象棋”
the last important long poem of the European Middle Ages never to have been edited . 欧洲中世纪的最后一首长诗 还没有被编辑过
Middle Ages:n.中世纪(欧洲历史上从公元1000年到1450年); edited:v.编辑,校订;编选;编集;(edit的过去分词和过去式)
And it wasn't edited because it existed in only one manuscript which was so badly damaged during the firebombing of Dresden in World War II that generations of scholars had pronounced it lost. 它没有被编辑是因为关于它的只有一篇手稿 而这篇手稿已经在第二次世界大战期间 被德累斯顿的燃烧弹严重损坏 一代代的学者已经宣布它遗失了
firebombing:n.火焰炸弹(燃烧弹和凝固汽油弹的总称);vt.用燃烧弹进攻;
For five years, I had been working with an ultraviolet lamp trying to recover traces of the writing and I'd gone about as far as technology at the time could actually take me. 五年以来我一直尝试用紫外线灯 试着还原手稿的一些痕迹 当时的科技能帮我多少 我也确实就做了多少
ultraviolet:adj.紫外的;紫外线的;n.紫外线辐射,紫外光; lamp:n.灯;台灯;(理疗用的)发热灯; traces:v.跟踪;探索;n.痕迹;踪迹;(trace的复数和第三人单数) as far as:至于…;
And so I did what many people do. 我做了很多人都会做的事
I went online, and there I learned about how multispectral imaging had been used to recover two lost treatises of the famed Greek mathematician Archimedes from a 13th-century palimpsest . 上网 在那里我学到了 如何用多光谱成象来恢复十三世纪 由着名的希腊数学家阿基米德撰写的重写本上 两篇遗失的论文
multispectral:adj.多谱线的; imaging:n.[物]成像;造像;v.反映;想像;作…的像;象征;(image的现在分词形式) treatises:n.论文,论述(treatise的复数形式);政府论(书名); famed:adj.著名的; mathematician:n.数学家;善作数字计算的人; Archimedes:n.阿基米德(古希腊数学家,物理学家,发明家,学者); palimpsest:n.重写本;写在重写本上的;
A palimpsest is a manuscript which has been erased and overwritten . 重写本是指被擦除过然后重写的手稿
erased:v.清除;消除;消灭;擦掉,抹掉(erase的过去分词和过去式) overwritten:adj.覆盖的;重写的;v.写得过多;写满;重写(overwrite的过去分词);
And so, out of the blue , 并且 让我吃惊的是
out of the blue:突然地;意外地;
I decided to write to the lead imaging scientist on the Archimedes palimpsest project, 我决定写信给当时的成像科学家的 在阿基米德重写项目上的负责人
Professor Roger Easton, with a plan and a plea . 罗杰 伊斯顿教授 信中写了计划和请求
Roger:n.罗杰;[男名]男子名;int.明白;v.与某人性交; plea:n.请求;恳求;答辩;借口;
And to my surprise, he actually wrote back. 令我吃惊的是他回信了
With his help, I was able to win a grant from the US government to build a transportable , multispectral imaging lab, 有了他的帮助我得到了美国政府的津贴 建立了一个可移动的光谱成象实验室
grant:v.授予;允许;承认;同意;n.拨款;[法]授予物; transportable:adj.可运输的;便携式的;n.便携式电视机;便携式计算机;
And with this lab, I transformed what was a charred and faded mess into a new medieval classic. 有了实验室 我将被烧黑的和褪色的手稿 变为崭新的中世纪杰作
charred:adj.烧焦的; v.(使)烧黑,烧焦; (char的过去分词和过去式) faded:adj.已褪色的;已凋谢的; mess:n.混乱;餐厅;杂乱;肮脏;v.使不整洁;弄脏;弄乱;随地便溺;
So how does multispectral imaging actually work? 所以光谱成像到底是如何起作用的呢
Well, the idea behind multispectral imaging is something that anyone who is familiar with infrared night vision goggles will immediately appreciate that what we can see in the visible spectrum of light is only a tiny fraction of what's actually there. 恩…一个很熟悉红外夜视镜的人 能够立刻领会光谱成像的原理 我们看到的可见光 只是光谱中的很小一部分
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友; infrared:n.红外线;adj.红外线的; vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见; goggles:n.护目镜;风镜;游泳镜;v.瞪大眼睛看;(goggle的第三人称单数和复数) appreciate:v.欣赏;感激;感谢;理解; visible:adj.明显的;看得见的;现有的;可得到的;n.可见物;进出口贸易中的有形项目; spectrum:n.光谱;频谱;范围;余象; fraction:n.分数;小部分;小数;少量;
The same is true with invisible writing. 对于那些看不见的笔迹也是同理
invisible:adj.看不见的;n.看不见的人或物;
Our system uses 12 wavelengths of light between the ultraviolet and the infrared, and these are shown down onto the manuscript from above from banks of LEDs , and another multispectral light source which comes up through the individual leaves of the manuscript. 我们的系统用了12个不同的光的波长 从紫外线到红外线 LED管和其他光源 从上往下投射 投射到这些手稿上面 投射穿过手稿的每一页
wavelengths:n.[物]波长(wavelength的复数); LEDs:v.领导;通向;指引(lead的过去分词); source:n.来源;水源;原始资料; individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的;
Up to 35 images per sequence per leaf are imaged this way using a high-powered digital camera equipped with a lens which is made out of quartz . 这么做 能用带有石英镜头的 高能数码相机 每次每页呈现至多35张图片
sequence:n.顺序; v.按顺序排列; imaged:想象;反映;象征(image的过去式和过去分词); high-powered:adj.高性能的;精力充沛的,强有力的;马力大的; digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; lens:n.透镜,镜头;晶状体;隐形眼镜;汽车的灯玻璃;v.给…摄影; quartz:n.石英;
There are about five of these in the world. 世界仅有五个这种相机
And once we capture these images, we feed them through statistical algorithms to further enhance and clarify them, using software which was originally designed for satellite images and used by people like geospatial scientists and the CIA. 一旦我们抓取了这些图片 我们便将统计算法加入其中 并使用原本应该 给地理空间科学家和中情局服务的 专门给卫星设计的软件 让这些图片增强 变得清晰
capture:v.俘虏;捕获;攻占;夺得;刻画,描述;n.(被)捕获;(被)俘获 statistical:adj.统计的;统计学的; enhance:v.提高;增强;增进; clarify:v.澄清;阐明;得到澄清;得到净化; originally:adv.原来;起初; geospatial:n.地理空间;
The results can be spectacular . 结果是令人惊叹的
spectacular:adj.壮观的;壮丽的;令人惊叹的;n.壮观的场面;精彩的表演;
You may already have heard of what's been done for the Dead Sea Scrolls , which are slowly gelatinizing. 你可能已经听说过我们在 死海古卷中做的了 我们将他们慢慢地胶化
Scrolls:n.卷轴;目录(scroll的复数);v.卷动(scroll的第三人称单数);
Using infrared, we've been able to read even the darkest corners of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 使用红外线 我们就可以去阅读 甚至是死海古卷最模糊的部分
You may not be aware, however, of other Biblical texts that are in jeopardy. 然而 你可能还没有意识到 其他的圣经文本也陷入危险当中
Biblical:adj.圣经的;依据圣经的(等于biblical);
Here, for example, is a leaf from a manuscript that we imaged, which is perhaps the most valuable Christian Bible in the world. 这里举个例子是一本手稿的其中一页 我们成像出来的 可能是世界上最有价值的基督圣经
valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品; Bible:n.有权威的书;
The Codex Vercellensis is the oldest translation of the Gospels into Latin , and it dates from the first half of the fourth century. 维切里法典可能是世界上最早的拉丁福音书的译文 它可以追溯到四世纪前期
Codex:n.法典;古抄本;药典; Gospels:n.福音书(指《圣经新约》中的马太,马可,路加,约翰四福音书); Latin:adj.拉丁语的;用拉丁语写成的;n.拉丁语;
This is the closest we can come to the Bible at the time of the foundation of Christendom under Emperor Constantine, and at the time also of the Council of Nicaea, when the basic creed of Christianity was being agreed upon. 这是我们可以看到的最接近的 在那个时候的基督教圣经 当时还是君士坦丁大帝的统治之下 尼西亚委员会的时期 当时关于基督教的基础教义刚刚被商定好
foundation:n.基础;地基;基金会;根据;创立; Christendom:n.基督教徒的总称;信奉基督教的国家; Council:n.(市、郡等的)政务委员会;市政(或地方管理)服务机构; creed:n.信条,教义; Christianity:n.基督教;基督教精神,基督教教义;
This manuscript, unfortunately , has been very badly damaged, and it's damaged because for centuries it had been used and handled in swearing in ceremonies in the church. 这个手稿 不幸运的是 已经严重被损坏了 原因是世纪以来 它都在教堂开典礼时 宣誓被使用
unfortunately:adv.不幸地;
In fact, that purple splotch that you see in the upper left hand corner is Aspergillus , which is a fungus which originates in the unwashed hands of a person with tuberculosis . 事实上 你看到的左上角那个紫色的斑点 是曲霉菌 它是一种真菌 来源于 没有洗手的肺结核病人
purple:n.紫色;紫袍;v.变紫;使成紫色;adj.紫色的;华丽的文辞; splotch:n.污点;斑点;vt.使…有斑点; upper:adj.上面的;内陆的;n.靴面;兴奋剂; Aspergillus:n.曲霉属真菌; fungus:n.真菌,霉菌;菌类; originates:v.起源于(originate的第三人称单数形式); unwashed:adj.未洗的,不清洁的;平民百姓的;下层人民的; tuberculosis:n.肺结核;结核病;
Our imaging has enabled me to make the first transcription of this manuscript in 250 years. 我们的成像可以让我 对这个250年的手稿进行首次誊写
enabled:v.使得;授予…权力;(enabled是enable的过去式) transcription:n.抄写;抄本;誊写;
Having a lab that can travel to collections where it's needed, however, is only part of the solution . 然而 有一个可以去那些古物需要它的地方的实验室 这只是解决方案的一部分
solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答;
The technology is expensive and very rare, and the imaging and image processing skills are esoteric . 这种高科技昂贵而稀有 而且成像和成像过程技巧是晦涩的
processing:v.加工;处理;审核;数据处理;v.列队行进;缓缓前进;(process的现在分词) esoteric:adj.秘传的;限于圈内人的;难懂的;
That means that mounting recoveries is beyond the reach of most researchers and all but the wealthiest institutions . 这意味着越来越多的恢复 超出了大部分研究者的能力除了一些最富裕的机构
mounting:n.安装;固定;悬挂;adj.上升的;增长的;v.准备;安排;登上;(mount的现在分词) recoveries:n.恢复;追回款;补偿(recovery的复数); institutions:n.机构;慈善机构;风俗习惯,制度;(institution的复数)
That's why I founded the Lazarus Project, a not-for-profit initiative to bring multispectral imaging to individual researchers and smaller institutions at little or no cost whatsoever . 这也就是为什么我要建穷人的项目 一个非盈利的机构 把多谱成像技术很少或者没有成本的 带给独立的研究人员和小型机构
not-for-profit:adj.非营利的;无利可图的; initiative:n.倡议;主动性;积极性;主动权;adj.起始的; whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
Over the past five years, our team of imaging scientists, scholars and students has travelled to seven different countries and have recovered some of the world's most valuable damaged manuscripts, 在过去超过5年的时间里 我们的小队由成像科学家、学者和学生组成 他们已经旅行了七个不同的国家 并恢复了一些世界上最有价值并被损坏的手稿
included the Vercelli Book, which is the oldest book of English, the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest book of Welsh, and some of the most valuable earliest Gospels located in what is now the former Soviet Georgia. 包括维切里集它是最老的一本英文书 喀麦登的黑皮书 一本最老的威尔士书 还有一些最有价值的最早期福音书 现在位于前苏联的格鲁吉亚
located:adj.位于; v.确定…的准确地点; (locate的过去分词和过去式) Soviet:adj.苏维埃的;苏联的;n.苏维埃(前苏联的各级代表会议);苏联人;
So, spectral imaging can recover lost texts. 所以 光谱成像技术可以恢复遗失的卷帙
More subtly , though, it can recover a second story behind every object, the story of how, when and by whom a text was created, and, sometimes, what the author was thinking at the time he wrote. 可更精妙的是,他可以挖掘出每个古物品中所暗藏的第二个故事 这故事包括了这些卷帙如何、什么时候和被什么人创造出来 以及作者当时写的时候是怎么想的
subtly:adv.精细地;巧妙地;敏锐地;
Take, for example, a draft of the Declaration of Independence written in Thomas Jefferson's own hand, which some colleagues of mine imaged a few years ago at the Library of Congress . 举个例子 独立宣言的草案 出自于Thomas Jefferson之手 我的一些同事几年前把它加以成像 在国会的图书馆里
draft:n.草案; v.起草; adj.供役使的; Declaration of Independence:n.[美史]独立宣言: colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数); Library of Congress:n.(美国)国会图书馆;
Curators had noticed that one word throughout had been scratched out and overwritten. 馆长注意到有一个遍布全文的词 不断被划掉和重写
Curators:n.馆长;监护人;管理者; throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及; scratched:adj.受抓损的;有刮痕;v.抓;搔;(scratch的过去式及过去分词)
The word overwritten was "citizens." 这个被重写的词就是“公民”
Perhaps you can guess what the word underneath was. 也许你们可能猜到下面那个词是什么了
underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的;
'"Subjects." “主体”
There, ladies and gentlemen, is American democracy evolving under the hand of Thomas Jefferson. 这里 女士们先生们美国民主政治开始 由托马斯杰斐逊展开
democracy:n.民主,民主主义;民主政治; evolving:v.(使)逐渐形成,逐渐演变;进化形成;(evolve的现在分词)
Or consider the 1491 Martellus Map, which we imaged at Yale's Beinecke Library. 或者再考虑一下1491年的马塞勒斯地图 我们在耶鲁的白洁图书馆将它成像
This was the map that Columbus likely consulted before he traveled to the New World and which gave him his idea of what Asia looked like and where Japan was located. 这个地图是哥伦布在他出海去新大陆前 很有可能参考过的 让他了解到亚洲是什么样子的 以及日本位于什么地方
consulted:v.咨询;请教;商议;查阅;查询;参看(consult的过去分词和过去式)
The problem with this map is that its inks and pigments had so degraded over time that this large, nearly seven-foot map, made the world look like a giant desert. 问题在于这张地图它的墨水和颜料 随着时间的推移 严重褪色 这个巨大的 几乎有七英尺的地图 使世界看起来像一个巨大的沙漠
pigments:n.[颜料]颜料,染料;[物][生化]色素(pigment的复数形式); degraded:adj.退化的; v.分解; (degrade的过去分词和过去式) giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的
Until now, we had very little idea, detailed idea, that is, of what Columbus knew of the world and how world cultures were represented . 直到现在 我们还是不了解其中的细节 关于哥伦布对世界的了解 以及世界文化是如何表示的
represented:v.代表; (represent的过去式和过去分词)
The main legend of the map was entirely illegible under normal light. 地图上的主要图案在正常光下很难被辨认
legend:n.传奇;说明;图例;刻印文字;
Ultraviolet did very little for it. 紫外线在这里很难起作用
Multispectral gave us everything. 但多谱成像技术给了我们一切支持
In Asia, we learned of monsters with ears so long that they could cover the creature's entire body. 在亚洲 我们知道了有种怪兽有巨长的耳朵 可以遮住整个生物的身体
In Africa, about a snake who could cause the ground to smoke. 在非洲 有种蛇能使地面引起烟雾
Like starlight , which can convey images of the way the Universe looked in the distant past, so multispectral light can take us back to the first stuttering moments of an object's creation . 地图就好像星光一样 告知我们 遥远过去的宇宙是什么样的 所以多谱成像的光可以让我们回到物体被首先创造出来时 那个稚嫩而不成熟的时刻
starlight:n.星光;adj.有星光的;星光照耀的; convey:vt.传达;运输;让与; distant:adj.遥远的;远处的;久远的; stuttering:v.口吃;结结巴巴地说;艰难运转;(stutter的现在分词) creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物;
Through this lens, we witness the mistakes, the changes of mind, the na?vetés, the uncensored thoughts, the imperfections of the human imagination that allow these hallowed objects and their authors to become more real, that make history closer to us. 通过透镜 我们目的了错误的发生思维的改变 天真和未经雕琢的想法 不够完美的人类想象 让这些神圣的物体和它们的作者 变得更加真实 让历史与我们更进一步
uncensored:adj.未经审查的;无保留的;无约束的; imperfections:n.不合格折贴(imperfection的复数); imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物; hallowed:adj.神圣的,神圣化的;
What about the future? 未来是怎样的呢
There's so much of the past, and so few people with the skills to rescue it before these objects disappear forever. 过去的东西有那么多 但是可以挽救它的人却又那么少 在这些物品完全消失之前
disappear:v.消失;失踪;不复存在;
That's why I have begun to teach this new hybrid discipline that I call "textual science." 这也是为什么我开始教授一个新的混合学科 我把它称之为“考证科学”
hybrid:n.杂种,混血儿;混合物;adj.混合的;杂种的; discipline:n.纪律;训练;自制力;风纪;v.训练;管教;惩罚;处罚;
Textual science is a marriage of the traditional skills of a literary scholar -- the ability to read old languages and old handwriting, the knowledge of how texts are made in order to be able to place and date them -- with new techniques like imaging science, the chemistry of inks and pigments, computer-aided optical character recognition . 考证科学是由将传统技术 和文学探索的合并起来的学者组成 他们拥有阅读古文字和古文献的能力 还了解关于文献是如何被创造的知识 为了能够处理和确定这些文献的年代 运用新的科技 比如像成像技术 油墨和颜料化学 计算机辅助光学和字符识别
traditional:传统的,惯例的, literary:adj.文学的;书面的;精通文学的; techniques:n.技巧;技艺;工艺;技术;(technique的复数) computer-aided:adj.[计]计算机辅助的,电脑辅助; optical character recognition:n.光符识别(用光学方法识别印刷字符,以便用于计算机系统);
Last year, a student in my class, a freshman, with a background in Latin and Greek, was image-processing a palimpsest that we had photographed at a famous library in Rome. 一年前 一个我课上的学生 新人 拥有拉丁语和希腊语的背景 运用成像技术处理一篇重写本 重写本是我们在罗马的一个着名图书馆拍摄的
image-processing:[计][遥感]图像处理;图象加工;
As he worked, tiny Greek writing began to appear from behind the text. 随着工作的进行 微小的希腊文字在文本中开始浮现出来
Everyone gathered around, and he read a line from a lost work of the Greek comic dramatist Menander. 所有人聚在一起 他开始读上面的文字 是关于一个当时失去工作 的希腊喜剧作家米南德
dramatist:n.剧作家,剧本作者;
This was the first time in well over a thousand years that those words had been pronounced aloud. 这是史上第一次 在这些文字过了整整一千年之后 被重新大声读出来
In that moment, he became a scholar. 在这个时候 他成了一名学者
Ladies and gentlemen, that is the future of the past. 女士们先生们这就是关于过去的未来
Thank you very much. 非常感谢
(Applause) （鼓掌）