Electric Vocabulary

電子學用語 - James Sheils

譯者: Jephian Lin 審譯者: Geoff Chen

（音樂）

I'm going to try to shine a historical light on our language,

我想試著在我們語言裡 點亮歷史的光輝，

and tell you a story about the electric vocabulary.

並告訴你一些 關於電子學用語的歷史。

這一切要從兩千六百年前說起。

It all begins over 2,600 years ago.

一位被稱作「米利都的泰勒斯」 （Thales of Miletus）的古希臘人

An ancient Greek, called Thales of Miletus,

is thought to be the first person to observe

被認為是觀察到今日所稱「電子現象」 的第一人。

what we would today call electrical phenomena.

被認為是觀察到今日所稱「電子現象」 的第一人。

He discovered that a piece of amber, when rubbed with fur,

他發現用毛皮摩擦過的琥珀

could pick up small pieces of straw.

可以吸引一小撮稻草。

In Thales's language, amber was called "electron."

在泰勒斯的語言裡，琥珀就叫作 electron。

For a long time, that was pretty much all anybody knew about the subject.

有好一段時間， 這些就是人類所了解的電子學了。

而這世界一直等了兩千兩百多年

And nature had to wait around 2,200 years

before any new investigations were made into amber's properties.

才對琥珀的性質 有更進一步的了解。

才對琥珀的性質 有更進一步的了解。

William Gilbert, a 17th-century English scientist,

十七世紀的 英國科學家吉爾伯特（William Gilbert）

discovered that with a careful experimentation,

發現只要經過妥善的試驗

a number of other materials

許多材質也會有 琥珀那樣的吸引現象。

could display the attractive properties of amber.

許多材質也會有 琥珀那樣的吸引現象。

He also found that they could attract objects besides straw.

他同時發現會被吸引的物質 不只有稻草。

吉爾伯特把琥珀這類的東西

Gilbert named these amberlike objects

after the Greek for amber.

用希臘文的琥珀來命名。

He called them "electrics."

他把他們稱作 electrics。

About 40 years later, in nearby Norwich,

大約又過了四十年後， 在諾里奇附近，

Sir Thomas Browne carried out similar experiments.

布朗爵士（Sir Thomas Browne） 又做了許多實驗。

He didn't figure out anything different from William Gilbert,

他沒有研究出任何 和吉爾伯特結論不同的東西，

yet the way he described the experiments

但是他描述實驗的方法

coined the word we use all the time.

建立了我們今日的用語。

The way he saw it, when you rub, say, a crystal with a cloth,

在他的說法裡， 比如說你用布摩擦水晶，

it becomes an electric object.

它就變成「帶電的」物體。

And just as we speak of elastic objects,

而就如同我們會說

and say they possess the property of elasticity,

彈性物體擁有「彈」的特性，

electric objects possess the property of electricity.

我們會說 帶物體擁有「電」的特性。

十八世紀的法國物理學家

The 18th-century French physicist Charles Du Fay

was the next person to make an important new discovery.

杜費（Charles du Fay） 是下一位有重大發現的人。

He found that almost any object, except for metals and fluids,

他發現除了金屬和液體 幾乎所有物體

could be turned electric

都可以變成帶電的，

after subjecting them to a combination of heating and rubbing.

只要經過適當的加熱與摩擦 就能達成。

In addition, he found that when two electrics are place near each other,

此外，他發現當 兩個帶電物體放在一起，

they sometimes attract, and sometimes repel.

它們有時候會相吸、而有時候相斥。

With this extra knowledge,

有了這份更多的了解，

Du Fay found that there were two distinct groups of electrics.

杜費發現帶電物體 可以分為兩類。

Any two objects from the same group will always repel,

當同類的物體放一起

它們就會相斥；

while a pair of one from each group will always attract.

而兩類和拿一個放一起

它們就會相吸。

Despite these new discoveries,

儘管有這些新發現，

Du Fay's descriptions of the physics are all lost to history.

杜費對物理的描述 則都隨著歷史消逝了。

相反地，反倒是一位有魅力的 美國年輕人

Instead, it is the vocabulary of a charismatic young American

that we still remember and use to this day.

他的說法一直流傳、 並沿用至今。

富蘭克林（Benjamin Franklin） 聽到了歐州的這些研究，

Benjamin Franklin heard of the work going on in Europe,

and started his own playful experiments.

並展開他那玩樂般的實驗。

He quickly learned how to make electric devices

他很快地學會怎樣製造一種 會在放電時

that would De-electrify by producing very large sparks.

產生大量火花的電子裝置。

由於喜愛惡作劇，

Keen on mischievous pranks,

Franklin would often shock his friends with these machines.

富蘭克林時常用這些裝置 來嚇他的朋友們。

As he built more effective devices,

他做了許多效能更好裝置，

he likened the act of electrifying and De-electrifying

他把帶電和放電的過程 比喻成軍火在填充和射擊。

他把帶電和放電的過程 比喻成軍火在「填充」和「射擊」。

to charging and discharging weaponry.

富蘭克林和一些人 並沒有花太長的時間

It didn't take long for Franklin and others to realize

that it was possible to link these weapons of mischief together.

就發現這些軍火可以聯結在一起。

Franklin, continuing with the metaphor,

富蘭克林延伸他的比喻，

likened this grouping to cannons on a ship.

把這整套比喻成船上的眾多大砲。

整艘軍艦上的大砲

The gun deck on a military vessel

fired their cannons simultaneously, in a battery.

會整個「砲組」同時發射。

Similarly, this electric battery,

同樣地，這個電能砲組

would discharge all at the same time,

也會全部同時放電，

causing large sparks.

產成更大的火花。

This new technology raised an interesting question:

這項新的技術帶來了 一個有趣的問題：

Was a lightning cloud just a large electrical battery?

發閃電的烏雲會不會 就是個很大的電能砲組？

Franklin's description of all this was as follows:

富蘭克林對 這整個現象的解釋是這樣：

他假設有種物質叫作

he supposed that there is a substance

he called the electrical fluid, that is common to all things.

「電流質」（electrical fluid）， 而這物質在各物體上都很常見。

If, say, a person rubs a glass tube,

比如說當一個人摩擦玻璃試管時，

this rubbing, or charging, causes a flow of this fluid,

這就相當於在填充軍火， 會造成電流質的流動，

or an electrical current, to move from the person to the glass.

或者說會造成 從人流往玻璃的電流。

結果導致人和試管 都變成帶電的。

Both the person and the tube become electrics as a result.

一般來說， 如果人站在地板上，

Normally, if the person was standing on the ground,

their electrical fluid would return to normal,

那身上的電流質就會回歸正常，

with an exchange from the common stock of the Earth,

因為人體的電流質會和 地球本身的「貯存」流通，

as Franklin called it.

富蘭克林是這麼稱呼它的。

Standing on something like a wax block can cut off this supply.

如果站在蠟塊這類的東西上

就可以阻斷流通。

富蘭克林有過多電流質的物體

Franklin said that an object with an excess of this fluid

was positively charged,

叫作帶正電；

and something lacking this fluid was negatively charged.

而有過少電流質的物體 則叫作帶負電。

When objects touch, or are near each other,

當物體相接觸、 或至少很接近時，

the electrical fluid can flow between them

電流質就可以在 兩者之間流動，

until they reach a balance.

直到達到平衡。

The bigger the difference in the fluid between the two objects,

和平衡點的差距愈大， 那電流質就可以彈跳愈遠，

the larger the distance the fluid can jump,

和平衡點的差距愈大， 那電流質就可以彈跳愈遠，

causing sparks in the air.

並造成空中的火花。

And, it is the material of the object

而物體本身的材質

that determines if it gains or loses electrical fluid

決定了它在帶電的過程中 是增加還減少電流質。

during charging.

決定了它在帶電的過程中 是增加還減少電流質。

These are Du Fay's two groups of electrics.

而這就是杜費口中的 那兩類帶電體。

You might have heard the phrase:

你也許聽過： 「異性相吸、

"Opposite charges attract, like charges repel."

同性相斥。」

That's why.

這就是原因。

For the next 150 years,

在接下來的一百五十年裡，

Franklin's theory was used to develop

富蘭克林的理論其後 變成許多想法和發現的基礎，

many more ideas and discoveries,

富蘭克林的理論其後 變成許多想法和發現的基礎，

all using the vocabulary he invented.

它們都依循富蘭克林的用語。

這項科學研究 推進了科技的發展，

This scientific inquiry brought forth technological advances

and eventually, scientists were able to take a closer look

而最後 科學家們終於找到辦法

at the electric fluid itself.

來一窺電流質的秘密。

In 1897, J.J. Thomson, working in Cambridge, England,

在一八九七年， 在英國劍橋從事研究的湯姆森（J.J. Thomson）

發現電流質

discovered that the electrical fluid is actually made up of small particles

其實是由很小的粒子組成，

named by the physicist George Stoney as "electrons."

而這粒子被物理學家斯托尼（George Stoney） 命名為電子（electron）。

而這粒子被物理學家斯托尼（George Stoney） 命名為電子（electron）。

And so we return to the ancient Greek word for amber,

這下我們要回顧一下 琥珀的希臘文了，

where our story began.

也就是我們故事的開頭。

However, there's an epilogue to this tale.

然而，這個故事還有後緒發展。

It was discovered that these electrons flow

大家發現這些電子的流動

in the opposite direction to what Franklin supposed.

和富蘭克林假設的方向相反。

Therefore, objects that are positively charged

因此，帶正電的物體

don't have an excess of electrical fluid,

並沒有過多的電子流入，

they actually lack electrons.

反而是缺少電子。

Yet, instead of relabeling everything the other way around,

然而，與其推翻所有先前的說法，

people have decided to hold on to Franklin's vocabulary

基於習慣和方便的因素 人們決定保留富蘭克林的用語。

as a matter of habit and convention.

基於習慣和方便的因素 人們決定保留富蘭克林的用語。

While acknowledging the discovery of electrons,

這一方面認同了富蘭克林 對發現電的貢獻，

they kept Franklin's flow of electrical fluid,

一方面也保留了他的電流觀念

renaming it: conventional current.

並稱之為「常規電流」 （conventional current）。

The electron has become the salmon of electricity,

而電子就變成了電能的鮭魚

在常規電流這條不存在的河裡

swimming upstream in a ghostly river of conventional current.

逆流而上。

This can be, understandably, confusing for many people

這對不熟悉 這些概念來龍去脈的人來說

who aren't familiar with the history of these ideas.

容易造成理解上的混淆。

所以我希望

And so I hope,

with this short story about the electric vocabulary,

有了這篇 關於電子學用語的小故事，

you will be able to see

你可以參透這些 命名上的意外與反覆無常，

through the accident and whimsy of this subject

並對電子現象的物理

and can gain a clearer understanding

of the physics of electrical phenomena.

有更清楚的了解。