万物简史 第42期:埃文斯牧师的宇宙(6)

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　　1934年1月15日，《物理学评论》杂志刊登了一篇论文的简短摘要。论文是由兹威基和巴德前一个月在斯坦福大学发表的。

　　Despite its extreme brevity—one paragraph of twenty-four lines—the abstract contained an enormous amount of new science: it provided the first reference to supernovae and to neutron² stars; convincingly explained their method of formation; correctly calculated the scale of their explosiveness; and, as a kind of concluding bonus, connected supernova explosions to the production of a mysterious new phenomenon called cosmic rays, which had recently been found swarming³ through the universe.

　　尽管摘要极其短小--只有24行字--但它包含了大量新的科学知识：它首次提到超新星和中子星；它令人信服地解释了它们的形成方法；它准确地计算出它们爆炸的等级；作为一种结论，它把超新星爆炸与所谓的宇宙射线这一神秘的新现象的产生联系起来。宇宙射线大批穿过宇宙，是新近才被发现的。

　　These ideas were revolutionary to say the least. Neutron stars wouldn't be confirmed for thirty-four years. The cosmic rays notion, though considered plausible⁴, hasn't been verified yet. Altogether, the abstract was, in the words of Caltech astrophysicist Kip S. Thorne, "one of the most prescient documents in the history of physics and astronomy."这些理念至少可以说是革命性的。中子星的存在要再过34年才得以确认。宇宙射线的理念虽然被认为很有道理，但还没有得到证实。总而言之，用加州理工学院天文物理学家基普·S.索恩的话来说，这篇摘要是"物理学和天文学史上最有先见之明的文献之一"。

 

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