How inventions change history (for better and for worse) - Kenneth C. Davis

Transcriber: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Tien-Hsin Yang 審譯者: Allen Li

This is the story of an invention that changed the world.

這個故事是關於一項 改變世界的發明

Imagine a machine that could cut 10 hours of work down to one.

想像有台機器 能將十小時工作減到一小時

A machine so efficient that it would free up people to do other things,

這台機器效率很高 可釋出人力去做別的事

kind of like the personal computer.

有點像個人電腦

But the machine I'm going to tell you about did none of this.

但是我要介紹的機器 跟剛剛講的完全無關

In fact, it accomplished just the opposite.

其實是完全相反

In the late 1700s, just as America was getting on its feet as a republic under the new U.S Constitution,

十八世紀末，美國正要開始制定 共和制的新憲法

slavery was a tragic American fact of life.

奴隸制度是美國生活的一大悲劇

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both became President while owning slaves,

喬治華盛頓和湯瑪斯傑佛遜 在當總統時，都還擁有奴隸

knowing that this peculiar institution contradicted the ideals and principles for which they fought a revolution.

他們也明白這制度根本違反 他們革命奮鬥的理想和原則

But both men believed that slavery was going to die out as the 19th century dawned,

但他們都相信奴隸制度 在二十世紀初必會結束

They were, of course, tragically mistaken.

當然，很不幸的，他們錯了

The reason was an invention,

原因是一項發明

a machine they probably told you about in elementary school:

這台機器或許你小學時就聽過

Mr. Eli Whitney's cotton gin.

伊萊惠特尼 (Eli Whitney) 的軋棉機

A Yale graduate, 28-year-old Whitney had come to South Carolina to work as a tutor in 1793.

他 28 歲時從耶魯大學畢業 1793 年到南卡羅來納州當家教

Supposedly he was told by some local planters about the difficulty of cleaning cotton.

據說，當地農民告訴他 清理棉花的困難

Separating the seeds from the cotton lint was tedious and time consuming.

挑掉棉花裡的種子，費時又費工

Working by hand, a slave could clean about a pound of cotton a day.

奴隸每天可手工清理一磅棉花

But the Industrial Revolution was underway,

但當時工業革命興起

and the demand was increasing.

需求增加

Large mills in Great Britain and New England were hungry for cotton to mass produce cloth.

英國和新英格蘭的大型紡織廠 都需要大批棉花來大量生產布

As the story was told, Whitney had a "eureka moment" and invented the gin, short for engine.

故事說，惠特尼「靈光一閃」 發明了軋棉機，不含蒸汽機

The truth is that the cotton gin already existed for centuries in small but inefficient forms.

事實上軋棉機已經有幾百年歷史 只是又小、又沒效率

In 1794, Whitney simply improved upon the existing gins and then patented his "invention":

1794 年惠特尼只是改進軋棉機 再為他的「發明」申請了專利

a small machine that employed a set of cones that could separate seeds from lint mechanically,

這台小機器使用一組錐型物 可機械化挑掉棉花裡的種子

as a crank was turned.

只需轉動曲柄

With it, a single worker could eventually clean from 300 to one thousand pounds of cotton a day.

有了它，一名工人每天能清理 300 到 1000 磅棉花

In 1790, about 3,000 bales of cotton were produced in America each year.

1790 年，美國全年可生產 三千包棉花

A bale was equal to about 500 pounds.

每包約 500 磅重

By 1801, with the spread of the cotton gin,

到 1801 年，隨著軋棉機的普及

cotton production grew to 100 thousand bales a year.

棉花產量增加到每年十萬包

After the destructions of the War of 1812,

1812 年美英戰爭的破壞後

production reached 400 thousand bales a year.

產量達到每年四十萬包

As America was expanding through the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803,

1803 年路易斯安那購地後 美國土地大幅增加

yearly production exploded to four million bales. Cotton was king.

年產量暴增至四百萬包 棉花為王

It exceeded the value of all other American products combined,

棉花的價值比其他 美國產品加起來還多

about three fifths of America's economic output.

佔美國經濟總產值的五分之三

But instead of reducing the need for labor, the cotton gin propelled it,

但是軋棉機對勞力的需求 不但沒減少，反而還增加

as more slaves were needed to plant and harvest king cotton.

需要更多奴隸耕種、採收棉花

The cotton gin and the demand of Northern and English factories re-charted the course of American slavery.

軋棉機與北方及英國工廠的需求 重繪了美國奴隸的統計圖

In 1790, America's first official census counted nearly 700 thousand slaves.

1790 年美國首次人口普查 共有七十萬名奴隸

By 1810, two years after the slave trade was banned in America,

1810 年，美國禁止販奴兩年後

the number had shot up to more than one million.

奴隸人口飆升至超過一百萬

During the next 50 years, that number exploded to nearly four million slaves in 1860,

接下來五十年，1860 年 奴隸人口暴增至近四百萬人

the eve of the Civil War.

這是南北戰爭前夕

As for Whitney, he suffered the fate of many an inventor.

至於惠特尼，他的命運 跟很多發明家一樣

Despite his patent, other planters easily built copies of his machine, or made improvements of their own.

雖有專利，但其他種植者 很容易仿造或自行改良

You might say his design was pirated.

你可以說他的設計被盜版了

Whitney made very little money from the device that transformed America.

在這台改變美國的機器上 惠特尼沒賺幾塊錢

But to the bigger picture, and the larger questions.

但宏觀來看，更重要的問題是：

What should we make of the cotton gin?

我們該如何看待軋棉機的發明？

History has proven that inventions can be double-edged swords.

歷史證明了，發明是雙刃劍

They often carry unintended consequences.

常會造成意想不到的後果

The factories of the Industrial Revolution spurred innovation and an economic boom in America.

工業革命的工廠，帶動了 美國的創新和經濟的繁榮

But they also depended on child labor,

但工廠卻依賴著童工

and led to tragedies like the Triangle Shirtwaist fire that killed more than 100 women in 1911.

導致像 1911 年紐約三角內衣工廠 火災，超過 100 名婦女死亡的悲劇

Disposable diapers made life easy for parents,

拋棄型尿布給父母帶來很多方便

but they killed off diaper delivery services.

但終結了清洗遞送尿布的服務

And do we want landfills overwhelmed by dirty diapers?

我們想要垃圾掩埋場 堆滿髒尿布嗎？

And of course, Einstein's extraordinary equation opened a world of possibilities.

愛因斯坦非凡的方程式 帶來了無限的可能性

But what if one of them is Hiroshima?

但如果其中一個可能性是廣島呢？