Margaret Wertheim: The beautiful math of coral (and crochet)

128,945 views ・ 2009-04-20

TED


请双击下面的英文字幕来播放视频。

翻译人员: lin qiang 校对人员: Tony Yet
00:18
I'm here today, as June said,
0
18330
2000
我今天在此,就如琼所说,
00:20
to talk about a project
1
20330
2000
要讲述一个我和同胞姐姐
00:22
that my twin sister and I have been doing for the past three and half years.
2
22330
4000
做了三年半时间的项目。
00:26
We're crocheting a coral reef.
3
26330
3000
我们在编织一个珊瑚礁。
00:29
And it's a project that we've actually
4
29330
3000
实际上,现在已经有成百上千,来自世界各地的人们
00:32
been now joined by hundreds of people around the world,
5
32330
3000
加入到我们的行列中,
00:35
who are doing it with us. Indeed thousands of people
6
35330
3000
他们和我们一起工作,事实上,
00:38
have actually been involved in this project,
7
38330
2000
成千上万的人们,已经通过各种各样的方式
00:40
in many of its different aspects.
8
40330
2000
参与到这个项目中。
00:42
It's a project that now reaches across three continents,
9
42330
3000
这个项目现在已经扩展到三个大陆。
00:45
and its roots go into the fields of mathematics,
10
45330
4000
它的基础涉及数学,
00:49
marine biology, feminine handicraft
11
49330
3000
海洋生物学,女性手工艺品
00:52
and environmental activism.
12
52330
3000
和环保主义。
00:55
It's true.
13
55330
2000
是这样的。
00:57
It's also a project
14
57330
2000
这同时也是一个
00:59
that in a very beautiful way,
15
59330
2000
十分美妙的项目,
01:01
the development of this
16
61330
2000
因为项目在进行的同时
01:03
has actually paralleled the evolution of life on earth,
17
63330
4000
也与地球生命进化的脉络并行,
01:07
which is a particularly lovely thing to be saying
18
67330
2000
这是个很可爱的话题,
01:09
right here in February 2009 --
19
69330
2000
2009年2月,
01:11
which, as one of our previous speakers told us,
20
71330
2000
就如之前有位演讲者所说,
01:13
is the 200th anniversary
21
73330
2000
是查尔斯·达尔文的
01:15
of the birth of Charles Darwin.
22
75330
2000
200周年诞辰。
01:17
All of this I'm going to get to in the next 18 minutes, I hope.
23
77330
4000
这就是接下来18分钟内,我所想要与你们分享的。
01:21
But let me first begin by showing you
24
81330
2000
但首先请我给你们
01:23
some pictures of what this thing looks like.
25
83330
3000
展示一些这些东西的图片。
01:26
Just to give you an idea of scale,
26
86330
2000
为使你们对大小有个概念,
01:28
that installation there is about six feet across,
27
88330
3000
那个作品大概6英尺宽,
01:31
and the tallest models are about two or three feet high.
28
91330
4000
而最高的模型大约2到3英尺高。
01:35
This is some more images of it.
29
95330
2000
这是它的另一些图片。
01:37
That one on the right is about five feet high.
30
97330
2000
右边的那个大约有5英尺高。
01:39
The work involves hundreds of different crochet models.
31
99330
4000
整个作品包含了数百件不同的针织模型。
01:43
And indeed there are now thousands and thousands of models that people
32
103330
3000
事实上,类似这样的模型,现在已经有数千件,
01:46
have contributed all over the world as part of this.
33
106330
3000
都来自世界各地人们的捐献。
01:49
The totality of this project
34
109330
2000
整个项目
01:51
involves tens of thousands of hours
35
111330
2000
包含了成千上万个小时
01:53
of human labor --
36
113330
2000
的人力劳动——
01:55
99 percent of it done by women.
37
115330
2000
99%是有妇女完成的。
01:57
On the right hand side, that bit there is part of an installation
38
117330
3000
在右手边,那是一个大约12英尺长
02:00
that is about 12 feet long.
39
120330
2000
的作品的一部分。
02:02
My sister and I started this project in 2005
40
122330
3000
我和姐姐在2005年开始了这个项目,
02:05
because in that year, at least in the science press,
41
125330
2000
因为那一年,至少在科学出版上,
02:07
there was a lot of talk about global warming,
42
127330
3000
出现了很多有关全球变暖的讨论,
02:10
and the effect that global warming was having on coral reefs.
43
130330
3000
而全球变暖将对珊瑚礁产生影响。
02:13
Corals are very delicate organisms,
44
133330
2000
珊瑚是非常脆弱的生物。
02:15
and they are devastated by any rise in sea temperatures.
45
135330
3000
海水温度稍一上升就会对它们产生致命的影响。
02:18
It causes these vast bleaching events
46
138330
2000
这也导致了这些大规模的白化现象,
02:20
that are the first signs of corals of being sick.
47
140330
3000
而这正是珊瑚生病的第一个征兆。
02:23
And if the bleaching doesn't go away --
48
143330
2000
如果白化不能够消失,
02:25
if the temperatures don't go down -- reefs start to die.
49
145330
3000
如果温度不下降,珊瑚礁就会开始死去。
02:28
A great deal of this has been happening in the Great Barrier Reef,
50
148330
3000
在大堡礁已经有许多这样的情形出现,
02:31
particularly in coral reefs all over the world.
51
151330
2000
全世界的珊瑚礁也同样如此。
02:33
This is our invocation in crochet of a bleached reef.
52
153330
4000
这个白化珊瑚礁的针织模型寄托了我们的祈祷。
02:37
We have a new organization together called The Institute for Figuring,
53
157330
3000
我们还一起成立了一个新的组织,称作计算研究所,
02:40
which is a little organization we started
54
160330
2000
这是个小组织,目的是
02:42
to promote, to do projects about the
55
162330
2000
促进并从事有关
02:44
aesthetic and poetic dimensions of science and mathematics.
56
164330
3000
表现科学和数学中美学和诗意方面的项目。
02:47
And I went and put a little announcement up on our site,
57
167330
3000
在我们的网站上我做了个小小的声明,
02:50
asking for people to join us in this enterprise.
58
170330
2000
希望人们加入到这项事业中。
02:52
To our surprise, one of the first people who called
59
172330
3000
出乎我们意料,首先打电话过来的
02:55
was the Andy Warhol Museum.
60
175330
2000
竟是安迪·沃霍尔博物馆。
02:57
And they said they were having an exhibition
61
177330
2000
他们说要举办一个有关
02:59
about artists' response to global warming,
62
179330
2000
艺术家们对全球变暖作何反应的展览,
03:01
and they'd like our coral reef to be part of it.
63
181330
2000
并希望我们的珊瑚礁能成为其中一部分。
03:03
I laughed and said, "Well we've only just started it,
64
183330
2000
我笑了,说:“我们才刚刚开始,
03:05
you can have a little bit of it."
65
185330
2000
你们可以拿一小部分去。”
03:07
So in 2007 we had an exhibition,
66
187330
3000
因此2007年我们就办了个展览,
03:10
a small exhibition of this crochet reef.
67
190330
2000
一次这种编织珊瑚的小展览。
03:12
And then some people in Chicago came along and they said,
68
192330
2000
然后有些从芝加哥过来参观的人就说,
03:14
"In late 2007, the theme of the Chicago Humanities Festival is
69
194330
5000
“2007年底,芝加哥人文艺术节的主题就是全球变暖,
03:19
global warming. And we've got this 3,000 square-foot gallery
70
199330
3000
我们有3000平方英尺的展厅,
03:22
and we want you to fill it with your reef."
71
202330
3000
希望你们用珊瑚礁来填满它。”
03:25
And I, naively by this stage, said, "Oh, yes, sure."
72
205330
3000
而我,天真得很,说,“噢,好的,没问题。”
03:28
Now I say "naively" because actually
73
208330
2000
我说“天真”其实是因为
03:30
my profession is as a science writer.
74
210330
2000
我的职业是科学作家。
03:32
What I do is I write books about the cultural history of physics.
75
212330
3000
我所做的是写有关物理学文化历史的书籍。
03:35
I've written books about the history of space,
76
215330
2000
我已经写过有关太空历史、
03:37
the history of physics and religion,
77
217330
2000
物理学和宗教历史的书,
03:39
and I write articles for people like the New York Times and the L.A. Times.
78
219330
3000
我也为纽约时报和洛杉矶时报之类撰写文章。
03:42
So I had no idea what it meant to fill a 3,000 square-foot gallery.
79
222330
4000
所以我对填满3000平方英尺的展厅没有丝毫概念。
03:46
So I said yes to this proposition.
80
226330
2000
所以我就答应了这个提议。
03:48
And I went home, and I told my sister Christine.
81
228330
2000
回家之后,我告诉了姐姐克里斯汀,
03:50
And she nearly had a fit
82
230330
2000
她几乎大发雷霆,
03:52
because Christine is a professor at one of
83
232330
2000
因为她在洛杉矶最主要的艺术学院,
03:54
L.A.'s major art colleges, CalArts,
84
234330
3000
加州艺术学院里当教授,
03:57
and she knew exactly what it meant to fill a 3,000 square-foot gallery.
85
237330
3000
十分清楚填满3000平方英尺的展厅是什么概念。
04:00
She thought I'd gone off my head.
86
240330
3000
她认为我是发疯了。
04:03
But she went into crochet overdrive.
87
243330
2000
但她还是加紧投入了编织中。
04:05
And to cut a long story short, eight months later
88
245330
2000
长话短说,八个月之后,
04:07
we did fill the Chicago Cultural Center's
89
247330
3000
我们真的把芝加哥文化中心3000平方英尺
04:10
3,000 square foot gallery.
90
250330
2000
的展厅填满了。
04:12
By this stage the project had taken on
91
252330
2000
通过这次展示,我们的项目
04:14
a viral dimension of its own,
92
254330
2000
出现了“病毒式传播”的效应,
04:16
which got completely beyond us.
93
256330
2000
完全出乎我们的想象。
04:18
The people in Chicago decided
94
258330
2000
芝加哥的人们决定,
04:20
that as well as exhibiting our reefs, what they wanted to do
95
260330
3000
在我们的珊瑚礁展览的同时,他们也希望
04:23
was have the local people there make a reef.
96
263330
2000
当地的人们也能造一个珊瑚礁出来。
04:25
So we went and taught the techniques. We did workshops and lectures.
97
265330
3000
所以我们就去教授技术。我们开培训班,开讲座,
04:28
And the people in Chicago made a reef of their own.
98
268330
3000
芝加哥人就做出了自己的珊瑚礁,
04:31
And it was exhibited alongside ours.
99
271330
2000
并在我们的展品旁展览。
04:33
There were hundreds of people involved in that.
100
273330
2000
成百上千的人参与其中。
04:35
We got invited to do the whole thing
101
275330
3000
我们受邀前往纽约、
04:38
in New York, and in London,
102
278330
2000
伦敦和洛杉矶
04:40
and in Los Angeles.
103
280330
2000
进行同样的工作。
04:42
In each of these cities, the local citizens,
104
282330
2000
在每一个城市,当地居民,
04:44
hundreds and hundreds of them, have made a reef.
105
284330
2000
成百上千的人们都来制作珊瑚礁。
04:46
And more and more people get involved in this,
106
286330
3000
而且越来越多的人们参与进来,
04:49
most of whom we've never met.
107
289330
2000
大部分都是新鲜的面孔。
04:51
So the whole thing has sort of morphed
108
291330
2000
所以整个事情似乎渐渐演变成
04:53
into this organic, ever-evolving creature,
109
293330
2000
这种有机的、不断进化的生物,
04:55
that's actually gone way beyond Christine and I.
110
295330
4000
实际上已经远远超出我和克里斯汀的想象。
04:59
Now some of you are sitting here thinking,
111
299330
3000
现在在座的一些人会想,
05:02
"What planet are these people on?
112
302330
2000
“这些人到底是从哪里来的?
05:04
Why on earth are you crocheting a reef?
113
304330
3000
你到底为什么要编织一个珊瑚礁?
05:07
Woolenness and wetness aren't exactly
114
307330
2000
羊毛织物和湿漉漉的东西
05:09
two concepts that go together.
115
309330
2000
根本就是风马牛不相及的两个东西。
05:11
Why not chisel a coral reef out of marble?
116
311330
2000
为什么不用大理石来雕刻珊瑚礁?
05:13
Cast it in bronze."
117
313330
2000
或者是用青铜来浇铸?”
05:15
But it turns out there is a very good reason
118
315330
2000
但事实上我们为什么编织它
05:17
why we are crocheting it
119
317330
2000
的原因很合理,
05:19
because many organisms in coral reefs
120
319330
2000
因为许多珊瑚礁生物
05:21
have a very particular kind of structure.
121
321330
2000
的形状结构都很特别。
05:23
The frilly crenulated forms that you see
122
323330
2000
你们在珊瑚、海带、海绵和海兔等生物上看到
05:25
in corals, and kelps, and sponges and nudibranchs,
123
325330
3000
的镶褶边的形状,
05:28
is a form of geometry known as hyperbolic geometry.
124
328330
3000
实际上是一种称为双曲线的几何形状。
05:31
And the only way that mathematicians know
125
331330
3000
而数学家们所知的
05:34
how to model this structure
126
334330
2000
模拟这种结构的唯一方法,
05:36
is with crochet. It happens to be a fact.
127
336330
2000
就是要靠编织。事实也刚好是这样。
05:38
It's almost impossible to model this structure any other way,
128
338330
3000
几乎没有别的方法来模拟这种形状。
05:41
and it's almost impossible to do it on computers.
129
341330
3000
在电脑上也几乎不可能做出来。
05:44
So what is this hyperbolic geometry
130
344330
2000
那么珊瑚和海蛞蝓到底
05:46
that corals and sea slugs embody?
131
346330
3000
展示了什么样的双曲线几何呢?
05:49
The next few minutes is, we're all going to get raised up
132
349330
3000
接下来几分钟,我们要向
05:52
to the level of a sea slug.
133
352330
2000
海蛞蝓的水平看齐。
05:54
(Laughter)
134
354330
1000
(笑声)
05:55
This sort of geometry revolutionized mathematics
135
355330
3000
在19世纪这种几何形状第一次被发现的时候,
05:58
when it was first discovered in the 19th century.
136
358330
3000
它就引起了数学的革命。
06:01
But not until 1997 did mathematicians actually understand
137
361330
3000
但直到1997年,数学家们才真正知道
06:04
how they could model it.
138
364330
2000
怎么去模拟它。
06:06
In 1997 a mathematician
139
366330
2000
1997年,康奈尔大学的数学家
06:08
at Cornell, Daina Taimina,
140
368330
2000
Daina Taimina,
06:10
made the discovery that this structure
141
370330
2000
发现可以用编织和钩针
06:12
could actually be done in knitting and crochet.
142
372330
2000
来表现这种结构。
06:14
The first one she did was knitting.
143
374330
2000
她的第一个作品是用针织法做的。
06:16
But you get too many stitches on the needle. So she quickly realized
144
376330
2000
但这种方法会使针上面的缝线过多。因此她很快意识到,
06:18
crochet was the better thing.
145
378330
2000
钩针编织是更好的方法。
06:20
But what she was doing was actually making a model
146
380330
3000
但她所做的,其实是一个模型,
06:23
of a mathematical structure, that many mathematicians
147
383330
2000
一个数学结构的模型,而许多数学家
06:25
had thought it was actually impossible to model.
148
385330
3000
都认为这种结构是无法模拟的。
06:28
And indeed they thought that anything like this structure
149
388330
2000
事实上他们认为像这种结构的东西
06:30
was impossible per se.
150
390330
2000
本身是不存在的。
06:32
Some of the best mathematicians spent hundreds of years
151
392330
2000
一些最好的数学家花费了数百年时间,
06:34
trying to prove that this structure was impossible.
152
394330
3000
试图证明这种结构不可能存在。
06:37
So what is this impossible hyperbolic structure?
153
397330
3000
那么这种不可能的双曲结构是什么呢?
06:40
Before hyperbolic geometry, mathematicians knew
154
400330
2000
在双曲几何出现之前,数学家已经知道了
06:42
about two kinds of space:
155
402330
2000
两种空间,
06:44
Euclidean space, and spherical space.
156
404330
3000
欧几里得空间和球面空间。
06:47
And they have different properties.
157
407330
2000
它们的特性不同。
06:49
Mathematicians like to characterize things by being formalist.
158
409330
3000
数学家们喜欢用形式主义的方式来定义事物。
06:52
You all have a sense of what a flat space is, Euclidean space is.
159
412330
4000
你们都会有平面空间,也就是欧几里得空间的概念。
06:56
But mathematicians formalize this in a particular way.
160
416330
3000
但数学家们用一种特别的方式来定义它。
06:59
And what they do is, they do it through the concept
161
419330
2000
他们是通过平行线的概念
07:01
of parallel lines.
162
421330
2000
来解释的。
07:03
So here we have a line and a point outside the line.
163
423330
3000
这里我们有一条直线和直线外的一点,
07:06
And Euclid said, "How can I define parallel lines?
164
426330
3000
欧几里得说,“我怎么定义平行线呢?
07:09
I ask the question, how many lines can I draw through
165
429330
3000
问,经过这一点我可以画多少条直线,
07:12
the point but never meet the original line?"
166
432330
2000
且这些直线不与原直线相交?”
07:14
And you all know the answer. Does someone want to shout it out?
167
434330
3000
你们都知道答案。有谁想大声喊出来的?
07:17
One. Great. Okay.
168
437330
2000
一条,没错。好的。
07:19
That's our definition of a parallel line.
169
439330
2000
这就是我们对平行线的定义。
07:21
It's a definition really of Euclidean space.
170
441330
3000
它是欧几里得空间真正的定义。
07:24
But there is another possibility that you all know of:
171
444330
2000
但还有另一种可能性,你们都知道
07:26
spherical space.
172
446330
2000
球面空间,
07:28
Think of the surface of a sphere --
173
448330
2000
想象一个球体的表面,
07:30
just like a beach ball, the surface of the Earth.
174
450330
2000
如沙滩球,地球表面。
07:32
I have a straight line on my spherical surface.
175
452330
3000
在这个球面上有一条直线,
07:35
And I have a point outside the line. How many straight lines
176
455330
2000
在直线外有一个点,那么过这个点,我可以在
07:37
can I draw through the point
177
457330
2000
球面上画多少条直线
07:39
but never meet the original line?
178
459330
2000
而不与原直线相交呢?
07:41
What do we mean to talk about
179
461330
2000
我们所说的弯曲表面上的
07:43
a straight line on a curved surface?
180
463330
3000
直线是怎么回事呢?
07:46
Now mathematicians have answered that question.
181
466330
3000
现在数学家们已经回答了这个问题。
07:49
They've understood there is a generalized concept
182
469330
2000
他们对直线有个总体上的共识,
07:51
of straightness, it's called a geodesic.
183
471330
2000
这被称为测地线。
07:53
And on the surface of a sphere,
184
473330
2000
而在球体表面,
07:55
a straight line is the biggest possible circle you can draw.
185
475330
3000
直线就是你所能画出的最大的圆圈。
07:58
So it's like the equator or the lines of longitude.
186
478330
4000
就像赤道或经线。
08:02
So we ask the question again,
187
482330
2000
因此我们再问一下,
08:04
"How many straight lines can I draw through the point,
188
484330
2000
“经过这一点,我们能够画出多少条直线
08:06
but never meet the original line?"
189
486330
2000
而不与原来的直线相交?”
08:08
Does someone want to guess?
190
488330
3000
有谁想来猜一猜?
08:11
Zero. Very good.
191
491330
2000
零。非常好。
08:13
Now mathematicians thought that was the only alternative.
192
493330
2000
数学家们认为这只是其中一个答案。
08:15
It's a bit suspicious isn't it? There is two answers to the question so far,
193
495330
3000
有点蹊跷是吧?目前这个问题有两个答案,
08:18
Zero and one.
194
498330
2000
零和一。
08:20
Two answers? There may possibly be a third alternative.
195
500330
2000
两个答案?还可能有第三个答案。
08:22
To a mathematician if there are two answers,
196
502330
2000
对一个数学家来说,如果有两个答案,
08:24
and the first two are zero and one,
197
504330
2000
分别是0和1,
08:26
there is another number that immediately suggests itself
198
506330
2000
那另一个作为第三个答案的数字
08:28
as the third alternative.
199
508330
2000
也就呼之欲出了。
08:30
Does anyone want to guess what it is?
200
510330
3000
有谁想来猜一下是什么?
08:33
Infinity. You all got it right. Exactly.
201
513330
3000
无穷多。你们都对了,没错。
08:36
There is, there's a third alternative.
202
516330
2000
有第三个答案。
08:38
This is what it looks like.
203
518330
2000
这就是那个答案。
08:40
There's a straight line, and there is an infinite number of lines
204
520330
3000
这里有条直线,然后有无数多的直线
08:43
that go through the point and never meet the original line.
205
523330
2000
能经过这点而不与原直线相交。
08:45
This is the drawing.
206
525330
2000
画起来就是这样。
08:47
This nearly drove mathematicians bonkers
207
527330
2000
这几乎使数学家们发疯,
08:49
because, like you, they're sitting there feeling bamboozled.
208
529330
3000
因为,像你们一样,他们也是坐在那里感觉受到欺骗。
08:52
Thinking, how can that be? You're cheating. The lines are curved.
209
532330
3000
想想,这怎么做到的?你在骗人,这些线是曲线。
08:55
But that's only because I'm projecting it onto a
210
535330
2000
但之所以如此只是因为我是在
08:57
flat surface.
211
537330
2000
平面上展示它。
08:59
Mathematicians for several hundred years
212
539330
2000
数百年来,数学家们为此
09:01
had to really struggle with this.
213
541330
2000
真的付出了太多了。
09:03
How could they see this?
214
543330
2000
他们怎么看到这个的?
09:05
What did it mean to actually have a physical model
215
545330
3000
在实际中用物理模型来表现它
09:08
that looked like this?
216
548330
2000
意味着什么?
09:10
It's a bit like this: imagine that we'd only ever encountered Euclidean space.
217
550330
3000
有点像这样:想象我们只看见过欧几里得空间,
09:13
Then our mathematicians come along
218
553330
2000
然后数学家们走过来,
09:15
and said, "There's this thing called a sphere,
219
555330
2000
说,“这种东西叫做球体,
09:17
and the lines come together at the north and south pole."
220
557330
2000
它上面的线在南极和北极汇合。”
09:19
But you don't know what a sphere looks like.
221
559330
2000
但你不知道球体看起来是什么样的。
09:21
And someone that comes along and says, "Look here's a ball."
222
561330
3000
然后有人过来说,“看那有个球。”
09:24
And you go, "Ah! I can see it. I can feel it.
223
564330
2000
你走过去,“啊!我能看到它,我能感觉它。
09:26
I can touch it. I can play with it."
224
566330
3000
我们触摸它。它还能用来玩。”
09:29
And that's exactly what happened
225
569330
2000
而这正是1997年,
09:31
when Daina Taimina
226
571330
2000
当Daina Taimina展示出
09:33
in 1997, showed that you could crochet models
227
573330
4000
可以用编织模型来模拟双曲空间
09:37
in hyperbolic space.
228
577330
2000
时的情景。
09:39
Here is this diagram in crochetness.
229
579330
3000
这里是钩针编织的一个图示。
09:42
I've stitched Euclid's parallel postulate on to the surface.
230
582330
4000
我已经把欧几里得平行共设缝到了上面。
09:46
And the lines look curved.
231
586330
2000
这些线看起来是弯的。
09:48
But look, I can prove to you that they're straight
232
588330
3000
但请看,我向你们证明它们其实是直的,
09:51
because I can take any one of these lines,
233
591330
2000
因为我可以随便拿起一条线,
09:53
and I can fold along it.
234
593330
3000
然后顺着线折叠起来。
09:56
And it's a straight line.
235
596330
2000
这是条直线。
09:58
So here, in wool,
236
598330
3000
因此,这些毛线,
10:01
through a domestic feminine art,
237
601330
2000
通过一种居家女性的艺术形式,
10:03
is the proof that the most famous postulate
238
603330
2000
证明了数学史上最著名的假设
10:05
in mathematics is wrong.
239
605330
3000
原来是错的。
10:08
(Applause)
240
608330
6000
(掌声)
10:14
And you can stitch all sorts of mathematical
241
614330
2000
你可以把各种各样的数学定理
10:16
theorems onto these surfaces.
242
616330
3000
都缝在这些上面。
10:19
The discovery of hyperbolic space ushered in the field of mathematics
243
619330
3000
双曲空间的发现导致了数学领域中
10:22
that is called non-Euclidean geometry.
244
622330
2000
非欧几何学的出现。
10:24
And this is actually the field of mathematics
245
624330
2000
正是这一数学的新领域
10:26
that underlies general relativity
246
626330
2000
构成了广义相对论的基础
10:28
and is actually ultimately going to show us
247
628330
2000
并将最终向我们揭示
10:30
about the shape of the universe.
248
630330
2000
宇宙的形状。
10:32
So there is this direct line
249
632330
2000
因此在女性手工艺和
10:34
between feminine handicraft,
250
634330
2000
欧几里得以及广义相对论之间
10:36
Euclid and general relativity.
251
636330
3000
有直接的联系。
10:39
Now, I said that mathematicians thought that this was impossible.
252
639330
3000
好的,我说过数学家们曾认为这是不可能的。
10:42
Here's two creatures who've never heard of Euclid's parallel postulate --
253
642330
4000
这是两种从未听过欧几里得平行公设的生物,
10:46
didn't know it was impossible to violate,
254
646330
2000
它们并不知道这条不能违背的定理,
10:48
and they're simply getting on with it.
255
648330
2000
依旧继续着简单的生活。
10:50
They've been doing it for hundreds of millions of years.
256
650330
4000
亿万年来,它们一直保持这样的形态。
10:54
I once asked the mathematicians why it was
257
654330
2000
我曾问过数学家它为什么会这样,
10:56
that mathematicians thought this structure was impossible
258
656330
3000
而数学家们认为这种结构是不可能的,
10:59
when sea slugs have been doing it since the Silurian age.
259
659330
3000
即使海蛞蝓从志留纪开始就一直是这样。
11:02
Their answer was interesting.
260
662330
2000
他们的答案很有趣。
11:04
They said, "Well I guess there aren't that many mathematicians
261
664330
2000
他们说,“呃,我猜也没有多少数学家
11:06
sitting around looking at sea slugs."
262
666330
2000
会坐下来观察海蛞蝓。”
11:08
And that's true. But it also goes deeper than that.
263
668330
3000
这是真的。但这背后还有更多东西。
11:11
It also says a whole lot of things
264
671330
2000
它能告诉我们很多,
11:13
about what mathematicians thought mathematics was,
265
673330
3000
数学家们对数学是什么、
11:16
what they thought it could and couldn't do,
266
676330
2000
数学能做到和不能做到的
11:18
what they thought it could and couldn't represent.
267
678330
2000
数学能表达和不能表达出来的等的思考。
11:20
Even mathematicians, who in some sense
268
680330
2000
甚至数学家,他们在某种程度上
11:22
are the freest of all thinkers,
269
682330
2000
是最自由的思想者,
11:24
literally couldn't see
270
684330
2000
不仅不能确实看到
11:26
not only the sea slugs around them,
271
686330
2000
身边的海蛞蝓,
11:28
but the lettuce on their plate --
272
688330
2000
也看不到盘子里的生菜叶,
11:30
because lettuces, and all those curly vegetables,
273
690330
2000
因为生菜叶,还有所有有褶的蔬菜,
11:32
they also are embodiments of hyperbolic geometry.
274
692330
4000
它们都能体现出双曲几何。
11:36
And so in some sense they literally,
275
696330
3000
某种程度上他们确实,
11:39
they had such a symbolic view of mathematics,
276
699330
2000
他们对数学有种符号化的观点,
11:41
they couldn't actually see what was going on
277
701330
3000
他们看不到面前的生菜叶
11:44
on the lettuce in front of them.
278
704330
3000
到底体现了什么。
11:47
It turns out that the natural world is full of hyperbolic wonders.
279
707330
4000
而事实上自然界到处都有双曲线的奇观。
11:51
And so, too, we've discovered
280
711330
2000
同样,我们已经发现
11:53
that there is an infinite taxonomy
281
713330
2000
编织出来的双曲线型生物
11:55
of crochet hyperbolic creatures.
282
715330
2000
也有无穷无尽的种类。
11:57
We started out, Chrissy and I and our contributors,
283
717330
3000
我们着手开始,克丽希和我,还有我们的志愿者,
12:00
doing the simple mathematically perfect models.
284
720330
2000
从简单的,数学上完美的模型开始做。
12:02
But we found that when we deviated from the specific
285
722330
4000
但我们发现,当我们偏离了那一整套
12:06
setness of the mathematical code
286
726330
3000
特定的数学准则,
12:09
that underlies it -- the simple algorithm
287
729330
2000
以简单的运算法则为基础的数学准则,
12:11
crochet three, increase one --
288
731330
2000
钩针编织三次,放一次针。
12:13
when we deviated from that and made embellishments to the code,
289
733330
3000
当我们偏离了这些准则并对它做了一些修饰之后,
12:16
the models immediately started to look more natural.
290
736330
4000
模型立刻变得更加自然起来。
12:20
And all of our contributors, who are an amazing
291
740330
2000
而且我们的志愿者们,他们来自世界各地,
12:22
collection of people around the world,
292
742330
2000
非常出色的一群人,
12:24
do their own embellishments.
293
744330
2000
他们用自己的方式进行修饰。
12:26
As it were, we have this ever-evolving,
294
746330
2000
由此,我们拥有了一棵不断演化
12:28
crochet taxonomic tree of life.
295
748330
2000
的编织分类学生命之树。
12:30
Just as the morphology
296
750330
2000
就好比地球上的生命
12:32
and the complexity of life on earth is never ending,
297
752330
2000
从未停止在形态学和复杂性上的进化,
12:34
little embellishments and complexifications
298
754330
3000
对DNA编码稍微的
12:37
in the DNA code
299
757330
2000
修饰和复杂化,
12:39
lead to new things like giraffes, or orchids --
300
759330
3000
就导致了像长颈鹿或兰花这样的新物种出现。
12:42
so too, do little embellishments in the crochet code
301
762330
3000
同样的,对钩针编织法则一点点的修饰
12:45
lead to new and wondrous creatures
302
765330
3000
就能导致在编织生命进化树上
12:48
in the evolutionary tree of crochet life.
303
768330
3000
新的,更完美的生物的出现。
12:51
So this project really has
304
771330
2000
所以这一项目真正地
12:53
taken on this inner organic life of its own.
305
773330
3000
具有它本身内在的有机的生命力。
12:56
There is the totality of all the people who have come to it.
306
776330
3000
这里是所有参加这个项目的人的总数。
12:59
And their individual visions,
307
779330
2000
还有他们的个人观点,
13:01
and their engagement with this mathematical mode.
308
781330
3000
和他们对这一数学模式的理解。
13:04
We have these technologies. We use them.
309
784330
2000
我们有这些技术,我们利用这些技术。
13:06
But why? What's at stake here? What does it matter?
310
786330
3000
但为什么?什么才是利害攸关的?什么才是重要的?
13:09
For Chrissy and I, one of the things that's important here
311
789330
3000
对于克里希和我来说,这里最重要的事情之一,
13:12
is that these things suggest
312
792330
2000
就是这些东西表明了
13:14
the importance and value of embodied knowledge.
313
794330
3000
具体表达出知识的重要性和价值。
13:17
We live in a society
314
797330
2000
我们生活在一个
13:19
that completely tends to valorize
315
799330
2000
完全趋向于为各种象征性的表述方式
13:21
symbolic forms of representation --
316
801330
2000
规定价格的社会,
13:23
algebraic representations,
317
803330
2000
代数式的表述,
13:25
equations, codes.
318
805330
2000
等式,编码等等。
13:27
We live in a society that's obsessed
319
807330
2000
我们生活的社会深深迷恋上
13:29
with presenting information in this way,
320
809330
2000
这一种表述信息
13:31
teaching information in this way.
321
811330
3000
和传授信息的方式。
13:34
But through this sort of modality,
322
814330
3000
但通过模型的方式,
13:37
crochet, other plastic forms of play --
323
817330
4000
如钩针编织,其他塑料形式的展示,
13:41
people can be engaged with the most abstract,
324
821330
3000
人们能理解那些最抽象的,
13:44
high-powered, theoretical ideas,
325
824330
2000
高难度的理论化的概念,
13:46
the kinds of ideas that normally you have to go
326
826330
2000
也就是那些你通常需要跑到
13:48
to university departments to study in higher mathematics,
327
828330
3000
大学里面才能学到的高等数学,
13:51
which is where I first learned about hyperbolic space.
328
831330
3000
其实我也是在那里才第一次学到双曲空间的。
13:54
But you can do it through playing with material objects.
329
834330
4000
但你们可以用实际的物件来做到这些。
13:58
One of the ways that we've come to think about this
330
838330
2000
我们已经想到了这一点,
14:00
is that what we're trying to do with the Institute for Figuring
331
840330
3000
这也是我们想要通过计算研究所来尝试的一个项目,
14:03
and projects like this, we're trying to have
332
843330
2000
像这样的项目,我们想要
14:05
kindergarten for grown-ups.
333
845330
2000
建一个属于成人的幼儿园。
14:07
And kindergarten was actually a very formalized
334
847330
2000
幼儿园其实是一种非常形象化
14:09
system of education,
335
849330
2000
的教育系统,
14:11
established by a man named Friedrich Froebel,
336
851330
2000
由19世纪一位名叫福禄贝尔
14:13
who was a crystallographer in the 19th century.
337
853330
2000
的检晶科学家创立。
14:15
He believed that the crystal was the model
338
855330
2000
他认为晶体可以作为
14:17
for all kinds of representation.
339
857330
2000
所有表述方式的模型。
14:19
He developed a radical alternative system
340
859330
3000
他发展了一套激进另类的系统,
14:22
of engaging the smallest children
341
862330
2000
即使最小的孩子也能够通过
14:24
with the most abstract ideas
342
864330
2000
寓于物理形式的玩耍
14:26
through physical forms of play.
343
866330
2000
来理解最抽象的概念。
14:28
And he is worthy of an entire talk on his own right.
344
868330
2000
他自己本身就值得作一整个演讲了。
14:30
The value of education
345
870330
2000
福禄贝尔通过
14:32
is something that Froebel championed,
346
872330
3000
娱乐的可塑模式
14:35
through plastic modes of play.
347
875330
2000
捍卫了教育的价值。
14:37
We live in a society now
348
877330
2000
我们现在身处的社会,
14:39
where we have lots of think tanks,
349
879330
2000
有许多的“智库”,
14:41
where great minds go to think about the world.
350
881330
3000
许多优秀的头脑在那里思索世界问题。
14:44
They write these great symbolic treatises
351
884330
2000
他们写下这些伟大的符号化的专著,
14:46
called books, and papers,
352
886330
2000
也叫书籍,和论文,
14:48
and op-ed articles.
353
888330
2000
还有专栏文章。
14:50
We want to propose, Chrissy and I,
354
890330
2000
我们,克里希和我想要提出,
14:52
through The Institute for Figuring, another alternative way of doing things,
355
892330
3000
通过计算研究所来提出,另一种做事情的方式,
14:55
which is the play tank.
356
895330
3000
我们称之为“玩库”。
14:58
And the play tank, like the think tank,
357
898330
2000
玩库,就像智库,
15:00
is a place where people can go
358
900330
2000
是一个人们过来
15:02
and engage with great ideas.
359
902330
2000
认识那些伟大思想和概念的地方。
15:04
But what we want to propose,
360
904330
2000
但我们想提议的,
15:06
is that the highest levels of abstraction,
361
906330
2000
是那些最高层次的抽象思维,
15:08
things like mathematics, computing, logic, etc. --
362
908330
3000
如数学,计算,逻辑等等,
15:11
all of this can be engaged with,
363
911330
2000
所有这些都能够,
15:13
not just through purely cerebral algebraic
364
913330
2000
不仅仅通过单纯的代数性的,
15:15
symbolic methods,
365
915330
2000
符号化的方法,
15:17
but by literally, physically playing with ideas.
366
917330
4000
也可以通过文学的,物理上的方法“玩转”概念。
15:21
Thank you very much.
367
921330
2000
非常感谢。
15:23
(Applause)
368
923330
5000
(掌声)
关于本网站

这个网站将向你介绍对学习英语有用的YouTube视频。你将看到来自世界各地的一流教师教授的英语课程。双击每个视频页面上显示的英文字幕,即可从那里播放视频。字幕会随着视频的播放而同步滚动。如果你有任何意见或要求,请使用此联系表与我们联系。

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7