How did clouds get their names? - Richard Hamblyn

譯者: Ann Chen 審譯者: Max Chern

The Naming of Clouds

雲的命名

On a cold December evening in 1802,

1802 年 12 月 一個寒冷的夜晚

a nervous young man named Luke Howard

一位緊張兮兮的年輕人 名叫盧克·霍華德

stood before the assembled members of a London science club

站在倫敦科學俱樂部會員前

about to give a lecture that would change his life

準備做一場演講 這將改變他一生

and go on to change humanity's understanding of the skies.

繼而改變人類對天空的認識

Luke Howard was a pharmacist by profession,

盧克·霍華德的職業是藥師

but he was a meteorologist by inclination,

但他的志趣是成為氣象學家

having been obsessed by clouds and weather since childhood.

他從小就一直 著迷於雲和天氣

As a school boy, he spent hours staring out of the classroom window,

學生時期，他常花數小時 望向教室窗外

gazing at the passing clouds.

凝視著飄過的雲朵

Like everyone else at the time, he had no idea how clouds formed,

正如那時候的其他人 對於雲是如何形成

or how they stayed aloft.

或它們如何在停高空飄浮 一無所知

But he enjoyed observing their endless transformations.

但他沉浸於觀察 雲無止盡的變換

By his own admission, Luke paid little attention to his lessons,

他自己承認 很少關心課業

but fortunately for the future of meteorology,

但對氣象學的發展是個福音

he managed to pick up a good knowledge of Latin.

因為他學習並精通拉丁文

Compared to the other natural sciences,

相較於其他自然科學

meteorology, the study of weather, was a late developer,

研究天氣的氣象學 發展得比較晚

mainly because weather is elusive.

主要是因為天氣 難以捉摸

You can't snap off a piece of rainbow

你無法折一段彩虹

or a section of cloud for convenient study.

或摘一小片雲 以便研究

You can, of course, collect rain water in calibrated containers,

當然，你能將雨 收集在測量容器內

but all you really end up with are buckets of water.

但最後你所得的 終究是幾桶水而已

Understanding clouds required a different approach,

要瞭解雲 需要不同的方法

which is where Luke Howard's idea came in.

而這方法正是 盧克·霍華德想出來的

His simple insight based on years of observation

基於多年的觀察 他單純地理解到

was that clouds have many individual shapes

雲有許多種 獨特的形狀

but they have few basic forms.

但它們僅有少數 幾種基本類型

In fact, all clouds belong to one of three principle types

事實上，所有雲都屬於 三個主要種類其中之一

to which Howard gave the names:

霍華德為它們命名為：

cirrus, Latin for tendril or hair,

卷雲 -- 在拉丁語是 捲髮或頭髮之意

cumulus, heap or pile,

積雲 -- 堆積或堆疊之意

and stratus, layer or sheet.

層雲 -- 層或片之意

But that wasn't the clever part.

可是那不是最聰明的部分

Clouds are constantly changing, merging, rising, falling, and spreading

雲一直持續在變化 聚、升、降、散

throughout the atmosphere,

於大氣中

rarely maintaining the same shapes for more than a few minutes.

少有保持相同形狀 超過數分鐘

Any successful naming system

任何成功的命名系統

had to accommodate this essential instability,

都必須適用於 這種基本的不穩定性

as Howard realized.

霍華德了解這一點

So, in addition to the three main cloud types,

所以，除了三種 雲的主要種類外

he introduced a series of intermediate and compound types

他還提出一系列 中間型及混合型

as a way of including the regular transitions that occur among clouds.

以涵蓋在雲之間 常見的轉換

A high, whispy cirrus cloud that descended and spread into a sheet

當高而纖細的卷雲 下降且散成片狀時

was named cirrostratus,

命名為 ‘卷層雲’

while groups of fluffy cumulus clouds that joined up and spread

當成群毛絨絨的積雲 匯合展延

were named stratocumulus.

命名為 “層積雲”

Howard identified seven cloud types,

霍華德鑑別出 七種雲的種類

but these have since been expanded to ten,

而今已增加到十種

cloud nine being the towering cumulonimbus thunder cloud,

第九種是高聳的 積雨雷雲

which is probably why being on cloud nine means to be on top of the world.

這可能是它被擺在 “欣喜若狂 (cloud nine)” 意即世界之頂（天堂）的理由吧！

Howard's classification had an immediate international impact.

霍華德的分類立即 在國際間產生影響

The German poet and scientist J.W. von Goethe

德國詩人科學家 約翰·沃爾夫岡·馮·歌德

wrote a series of poems in praise of Howard's clouds,

寫了一系列的詩 讚頌霍華德的雲

which ended with the memorable lines,

結尾有令人 難以忘懷的詞句

"As clouds ascend, are folded, scatter, fall,

『當雲上升、折疊、散開、下降

Let the world think of thee who taught it all,"

讓世人想起教導這一切的你』

while Percy Shelley also wrote a poem "The Cloud,"

珀西·比希·雪萊 也寫了一首 "雲" 的詩

in which each of Howard's seven cloud types

詩裡，霍華德 七種雲中的每一種

was characterized in turn.

都輪流被加以描繪

But perhaps the most impressive response to the naming of clouds

但或許對雲的命名迴響 最感人的是

was by the painter John Constable,

畫家約翰·康斯特勃

who spent two summers on Hampstead Heath painting clouds in the open air.

他花了兩個夏天在 漢普斯特德荒野的戶外畫雲

Once they had been named and classified,

一旦雲被命名與分類

clouds became easier to understand

它們就變得清晰易懂

as the visible signs of otherwise invisible atmospheric processes.

猶如將不可見的大氣運作 轉為可見的標誌

Clouds write a kind of journal on the sky

雲寫下一種天空日誌

that allows us to understand the circulating patterns

讓我們瞭解了

of weather and climate.

天氣與氣候的循環型式

Perhaps the most important breakthrough in understanding clouds

或許在認識雲的 最重大突破是

was realizing that they are subject to the same physical laws

領悟了它們是遵循 相同的物理定律

as everything else on Earth.

如同地球上的 其他事物一樣

Clouds, for example, do not float,

例如：雲並不一直飄浮在空中

but fall slowly under the influence of gravity.

而是受重力影響 緩緩地下沉

Some of them stay aloft

有些停在高空飄浮

due to upward convection from the sun-heated ground,

是因為受太陽 - 熾熱大地 所產生向上的對流的影響

but most are in a state of slow, balletic descent.

但大多以緩慢的 芭蕾舞姿下降

"Clouds are the patron goddesses of idle fellows,"

『雲是無所事事者的守護女神』

as the Greek dramatist Aristophanes wrote in 420 B.C.

西元前 420 年希臘戲劇家 阿里斯托芬寫道

and nephology, the study of clouds, remains a daydreamer's science,

“雲學”- 研究雲 – 仍是做白日夢者的科學

aptly founded by a thoughtful young man

恰好是由一位 思想豐富的年輕人所創立

whose favorite activity was staring out of the window at the sky.

他的樂趣就是 凝視窗外的天空