万物简史 第283期:砰!(18)

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　　gleaming at the memory of it, when I met him and Witzke in their offices on a dismal¹, rainy morning in June. 眼睛一亮，对我说。7月一个阴暗的上午，天下着雨，我在他们的办公室里遇上了他和威策克。

　　"It was a wonderful time." “这是个美妙的时刻。”

　　I asked them about Gene² Shoemaker, a man who seems to have been universally revered³. 我向他打听尤金·苏梅克。苏梅克好像是一位深受大家敬重的人物。

　　"He was just a great guy," Witzke replied without hesitation⁴. “他真是个了不起的家伙，”威策克毫不犹豫地答道，

　　"If it hadn't been for him, the whole thing would never have gotten off the ground. “要不是他，整个事情压根儿不会有进展。

　　Even with his support, it took two years to get it up and running. 即使有了他的支持，也花了两年时间才开始运作起来。

　　Drilling's an expensive business—about thirty-five dollars a foot back then, more now, and we needed to go down three thousand feet." 钻孔是一件很花钱的事──当时每钻进1米大约要花115美元，现在花得更多，而我们需要钻到近1000米深。”

　　Sometimes more than that, Anderson added. “有时候还要深。”安德森补充说。

　　Sometimes more than that, Witzke agreed. “有时候还要深，”威策克表示同意，

　　"And at several locations. “在有几个地方。

　　So you're talking a lot of money. 因此，你就需要大量的钱。

　　Certainly more than our budget would allow." 肯定会超过我们的预算。”

　　So a collaboration⁵ was formed between the Iowa Geological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey. 于是，艾奥瓦地质勘测局和美国地质勘测局决定联手合作。

　　At least we thought it was a collaboration, said Anderson, producing a small pained smile. “至少我们以为是一次合作，”安德森露出一丝苦笑说，

　　It was a real learning curve for us, Witzke went on. “实际上，这对我们来说是交了一次学费，”威策克接着说，

　　"There was actually quite a lot of bad science going on throughout the period, “在整个合作期里出现了大量伪科学，

　　people rushing in with results that didn't always stand up to scrutiny⁶." 有的人匆忙得出结论，那些结论并不总是经得起检验的。”

　　One of those moments came at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in 1985, 有一次发生在1985年的美国地球物理学联合会年会上，

　　when Glenn Izett and C. L. Pillmore of the U.S. Geological Survey 美国地质勘测局的格伦·艾泽特和C·L·皮尔莫尔，

　　announced that the Manson crater⁷ was of the right age to have been involved with the dinosaurs⁸' extinction⁹. 宣布曼森大坑的年代恰好与恐龙灭绝有关。

　　The declaration attracted a good deal of press attention but was unfortunately premature¹⁰. 这个说法引起了新闻界的高度重视，但不幸的是尚不成熟。

　　A more careful examination of the data revealed that Manson was not only too small, but also nine million years too early. 你只要仔细检查一下那个数据就会发现，曼森大坑不仅很小，还早了900万年。

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