精品文摘：Fame, at last——迟到的名望（1）
导读：2005年诺贝尔物理学奖、化学奖、医学奖10月初陆续揭晓，这些获奖成果和获奖者引起了全球的特别关注，其焦点主要集中在这些科学研究的广泛应用性以及科学家对人类作出的巨大贡献上：物理学获奖者的研究成果开发了精密激光技术，化学获奖者的成果广泛用于研发药物和先进塑材上，而医学奖获得者的成果使胃病成为可以彻底治愈的疾病。但是，《经济学家》杂志的这篇文章则从另一个角度对本话题进行解读，视角独特，不但给人以新鲜感，而且也颇耐人寻味无论从语言还是内容上看，文章最后一句都是神来之笔：“Not all that is famous is important and not all that is important is famous.” (不是所有著名的都是重要的，也不是所有重要的都是著名的)。该句的后半句是点题的，可以说是中心思想。从语言上讲，该句看起来对称和谐，读起来节奏感强，堪称“简洁英语”的典范。另外，文章在选词上灵活多变，有口语、拉丁语和俚语，如：geeky (过时的)，fiat lux(让光出现吧)，sleight of hand(巧妙的手法)，既恰到好处地表达了意思，又不乏风趣幽默，增加了文章的可读性。
Fame, at last
迟到的名望
Prizes for the elimination of stomach ulcers, an explanation of light, a better clock and a better way of making chemicals
为消除胃溃疡、解释光本质、制造精密钟表和改进化学物质制造技术颁奖
IT IS one of the paradoxes of the Nobel prizes—at least of those awarded for science—that while everyone agrees they are terribly important, usually no one has heard of either the winners or what they have done. For this year's medicine prize, though, that is only half true. It is, to be sure, unlikely that many readers will be familiar with the names of Barry Marshall and Robin Warren. But quite a few will be aware of their discovery. For Dr Marshall and Dr Warren are responsible for abolishing what was once one of the most frequent and unpleasant pieces of abdominal surgery: the cutting out of stomach and duodenal ulcers.
As the Karolinska Institute, the Swedish medical-research university that decides who gets the prize for medicine, realised, “their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease” was one of the most important medical findings of the 20th century. Until the two winners identified the bug responsible and showed what it was doing (in Dr Marshall's case by deliberately infecting himself), ulcers were seen as the result of a biochemical error (the production of too much stomach acid), often brought on by stress. In some circles, indeed, an ulcer was the badge of a hard-working executive: perhaps not as definitive proof of dedication to the job as a heart attack, but a lot less lethal. Now they are treated with antibiotics and a drug that reduces stomach-acid production.
The work of Dr Marshall and Dr Warren has certainly had an effect on everyday life. But if the Karolinska could be seen as playing to the gallery in giving them a prize, such an accusation could not be levelled at Sweden's Royal Academy of Science, which awards the physics and chemistry prizes. This year's winners could hardly be geekier. The academy gave half the physics prize to Roy Glauber “for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence”. The other half, divided evenly, went to John Hall and Theodore Hänsch “for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique”. Meanwhile the chemistry prize, also split three ways, was awarded for “the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis”. In this case Yves Chauvin, Robert Grubbs and Richard Schrock were the recipients.
Fiat lux
Dr Glauber's contribution to science, translated into English, was to drag the field of optics into the modern, quantum world. Quantum theory started at the beginning of the 20th century, in part with work on light. But it was, ironically, not until the invention of the laser in 1960 that understanding the quantum nature of optics became crucial. Before then, although physicists knew that light was a quantum phenomenon, they had been able to get away with using the old wave-based descriptions. Afterwards, they needed a proper quantum theory, and Dr Glauber provided it. If the length of time this took is ironic, however, the 40-plus years that elapsed before the achievement was acknowledged are even more so.
Dr Hall and Dr Hänsch, meanwhile, are responsible for taking the art of measurement to new extremes. An optical frequency comb is a way of measuring the frequency of light with great precision. That, in turn, can be used to measure time in segments a few billionths of a billionth of a second long, and distance with similar accuracy—which might seem pointless, but is vital when studying such things as the speed of the chemical reactions for which the chemistry prize was awarded.
Metathesis, the technique for which Dr Chauvin, Dr Grubbs and Dr Schrock will receive their prizes, is a form of chemical sleight of hand that allows groups of atoms to be moved efficiently from one molecule to another. Dr Chauvin worked out the theory in the early 1970s, while in the 1990s Dr Grubbs and Dr Schrock used that theory to design catalysts that make the process far more effective. Since the molecules involved (so-called organic molecules, which are organised around a core of interconnected carbon atoms) are the basis of industries as diverse as petrochemicals and drugs, this technique has had as great a practical impact in its area as the discovery of H. pylori has had on medicine. Not all that is famous is important, and not all that is important is famous
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