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2009年11月,伦敦自然科学博物馆从其众多馆藏品中挑选了10件“改变了未来”的发明,请广大市民为自己最喜爱的馆藏品投票,结果19世纪的X光机脱颖而出,拔得了头筹。下面就让我们一起来看看这10件馆藏品。

1. 19th Century X-Ray Machine

Without X-rays, first discovered and put to medical use in the late 19th century, modern medicine would not exist. Or rather, it would exist, but it would be far bloodier and more painful, as doctors would spend an awful lot more time cutting people open to try and find out what ailed2) them.

2. Penicillin3)

Derived from fungi4), penicillin is actually a group of antibiotics5) that has, for around 70 years, been used to treat and even cure various diseases that, prior to its discovery, were invariably6) fatal.

1. 19世纪的X光机

人类于19世纪末期发现了X射线并将其应用于医疗领域。如果没有这一发现,现代医学将不会存在。或者更确切地说,即便现代医学存在,如果没有X射线,它将会十分血腥,让人更加痛苦,因为医生们将会耗费大量的时间为病人开刀,努力找出他们疼痛的症结所在。

2. 青霉素

青霉素取自真菌,实际上是一组抗生素群。七十余年来,人们用它来治疗并治愈了许多疾病。而在发现青霉素之前,这些疾病往往是致命的。

3. DNA Double Helix7)

The more we learn about our own DNA, the more astonishing, thrilling, and humbling8) our own journey as a species becomes.

4. Apollo 10 Capsule

In July 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar module9) landed on the moon, and Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface. But just two months earlier, astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan flew Apollo 10 through a dry run10) of the mission, without landing on the moon. This is the capsule that got them safely back to Earth.

5. V2 Rocket

First developed by Nazi Germany"s scientists to fire rockets at London during WWII, the V2 is the precursor11) to all Space Age rocket technology.

6. Stephenson"s Rocket

This early steam engine locomotive12), built in England in the mid-19th century, is often cited as the first "modern" locomotive, and was the model or inspiration for steam-powered vehicles for the next 100 years.

7. Pilot ACE Computer

One of the first computers built in the UK, in the 1950s, and for a while the fastest computer in the world, the Pilot ACE was the brainchild13) of the great British mathematician and computer scientist, Alan Turing.

8. Steam Engine

For most science historians, the steam engine was the single most significant driver of change in the 19th century, as it basically enabled and supercharged14) the entire Industrial Revolution.

9. The Model T Ford

The Model T Ford set 1908 as the historic year that the automobile came into popular usage. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car that "put America on wheels".

10. Electric Telegraph

The electric telegraph revolutionized long-distance communication, replacing earlier semaphore15) communication lines. In addition to its primary use for point-to-point messages, other applications were developed, including printing telegraphs ("tickers") used for distributing stock quotes and news reports.

3. DNA双螺旋结构

我们对自己的DNA了解越多,就越觉得人类作为一个物种的历程让人惊异,令人激动,使人自惭形秽。

4. 阿波罗10号太空舱

1969年7月,阿波罗11号登月舱降落在月球上,巴兹·奥尔德林和尼尔·阿姆斯特朗成为首批在月球表面留下足迹的人类。但就在更早的两个月前,宇航员托马斯·斯塔福德、约翰·扬和尤金·塞尔南搭载阿波罗10号太空舱进行了任务预演,只是没有登陆月球。就是该太空舱将他们安全地带回了地球。

5. V2火箭

V2火箭最初由纳粹德国的科学家们研发,用于二战期间轰炸伦敦,它是太空时代所有火箭技术的先驱。

6. 斯蒂芬森的“火箭号”

19世纪中期,英国制造出了这个早期的蒸汽机式火车,被誉为第一辆“现代”火车,是此后100年中蒸汽动力机车的原型和灵感来源。

7. 飞行者ACE计算机

飞行者ACE计算机是伟大的英国数学家和计算机科学家阿兰·图灵的杰作,是20世纪50年代于英国诞生的第一代计算机。在当时的很长一段时间内,它都是世界上处理速度最快的计算机。

8. 蒸汽机

对于大多数自然科学史学家而言,蒸汽机是唯一对19世纪大变革具有至关重要推动作用的发明,因为它从根本上确保了工业革命的发生,并推动了整个工业革命的进程。

9. 福特T型车

福特T型车使1908年成了具有历史意义的年份——这一年,汽车开始得到广泛使用。这款车通常被视为普通民众可以买得起的第一款汽车,它“把美国装在了汽车轮子上”。

10. 电报机

电报机取代了早先的信号通信线路,使长途通信发生了革命性的变化。除了其点对点的消息传送这一主要用途外,它的其他应用如印刷电报机(“出票机”)也得以开发,用以发布股票信息和新闻报道。

1.gizmo [5^IzmEu] n. (名称已被遗忘或尚未定名的)机械装置(或零件);东西;小玩意儿

2.ail [eIl] vt. [一般以疑问代词作主语,不用作被动语态]使受病痛;使苦恼

3.penicillin [7penI5sIlIn] n. 【微】青霉素(又译盘尼西林,一种抗菌素)

4.fungi [5fQndVaI, 5fQN^aI] fungus的复数;fungus [5fQN^Es] n. 【植】真菌;真菌类植物(如蘑菇、毒蕈、霉菌等)

5.antibiotic [7AntIbaI5CtIk] n. 【微】抗菌素,抗生素

6.invariably [In5veErIEblI] adv. 不变地,始终如一地

7.helix [5hi:lIks] n. 螺旋结构

8.humbling [5hQmblIN] adj. 使人谦逊的;使人感到自惭的

9.module [5mCdju:l] n. 【空】(航天器的)舱

10.dry run: 演习,排练

11.precursor [7pri:5kE:sE(r)] n. 先驱;先锋

12.locomotive [7lEukE5mEutIv] n. 机车

13.brainchild [5breIntFaIld] n. <口>脑力劳动的产物(如思想、作品、发明、发现等)

14.supercharge [5sju:pEtFB:dV] vt. 为……增加动力;对……加压

15.semaphore: 参考P117注释6