How centuries of sci-fi sparked spaceflight | Alex MacDonald

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

I want to tell you a story about stories.

我想要跟各位說 一個關於故事的故事。

And I want to tell you this story because I think we need to remember

我之所以想要說這個故事， 是因為我認為我們得要記住，

that sometimes the stories we tell each other

我們告訴彼此的故事

are more than just tales or entertainment or narratives.

有時候不只是傳說、娛樂， 或闡述某事而已。

They're also vehicles

它們也是媒介，

for sowing inspiration and ideas across our societies

此媒介將靈感及構想的種子 散播到社會各處，

and across time.

到各個時代。

The story I'm about to tell you

我要跟各位說的故事

is about how one of the most advanced technological achievements

是關於一項現代最先進的科技成就

of the modern era

是如何根據故事創造出來，

has its roots in stories,

and how some of the most important transformations yet to come might also.

以及未來的重要科技轉型， 也可能會根據故事創造出來。

The story begins over 300 years ago,

這個故事始於三百年前，

when Galileo Galilei first learned of the recent Dutch invention

當時伽利略•伽利萊初次 接觸到一項荷蘭的新發明，

that took two pieces of shaped glass and put them in a long tube

這項發明是將兩片特定形狀的玻璃 放在一根長管子內，

and thereby extended human sight farther than ever before.

人類視線能夠透過它 延伸到前所未見的距離。

When Galileo turned his new telescope to the heavens

當伽利略把他的新望遠鏡轉向天空，

and to the Moon in particular,

特別是對準了月球時，

he discovered something incredible.

他發現了不可思議的事。

These are pages from Galileo's book "Sidereus Nuncius," published in 1610.

這些頁面出自伽利略 1610 年 出版的《星際信使》一書，

And in them, he revealed to the world what he had discovered.

他藉此向全世界揭示他的發現。

And what he discovered was that the Moon was not just a celestial object

他發現月球不僅僅是 在夜空中游移的天體，

wandering across the night sky,

but rather, it was a world,

而是一個世界，

a world with high, sunlit mountains

這個世界裡有陽光普照的高山，

and dark "mare," the Latin word for seas.

以及黑暗的「mare」， 這個字是拉丁文的「海」。

And once this new world and the Moon had been discovered,

在這個新世界和月球被發現之後，

people immediately began to think about how to travel there.

大家立即開始思考 要如何前往那裡。

And just as importantly,

同樣重要的，

they began to write stories

他們開始寫故事，

about how that might happen

幻想要如何前往月球， 及旅途可能會是什麼樣子。

and what those voyages might be like.

One of the first people to do so was actually the Bishop of Hereford,

最早這麼做的其中一人， 是赫里福德的主教，

a man named Francis Godwin.

他名叫法蘭西斯•戈德溫。

Godwin wrote a story about a Spanish explorer,

戈德溫寫了一個關於西班牙探險家

Domingo Gonsales,

多明哥•岡薩雷斯的故事，

who ended up marooned on the island of St. Helena

他被困在大西洋中的聖赫倫那島上，

in the middle of the Atlantic,

and there, in an effort to get home,

為了要回家，

developed a machine, an invention,

他發明了一台機器，

to harness the power of the local wild geese

利用當地野鵝的力量載他飛翔，

to allow him to fly --

and eventually to embark on a voyage to the Moon.

最終還讓他進行一趟 飛往月球的旅程。

Godwin's book, "The Man in the Moone, or a Discourse of a Voyage Thither,"

戈德溫的書 《月中人或論月球之旅》

was only published posthumously and anonymously in 1638,

在他死後才於 1638 年匿名出版。

likely on account of the number of controversial ideas that it contained,

出版的波折可能是因為 書中出現好幾個爭議性的觀點，

including an endorsement of the Copernican view of the universe

像是為哥白尼的宇宙觀背書。

that put the Sun at the center of the Solar System,

哥白尼認為太陽是太陽系的中心，

as well as a pre-Newtonian concept of gravity

並在牛頓之前就提出 地心引力的概念：

that had the idea that the weight of an object

物體的重量會在離地球越遠時越輕。

would decrease with increasing distance from Earth.

And that's to say nothing of his idea of a goose machine

更不用說他用野鵝機器 登上月球的點子了。

that could go to the Moon.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

And while this idea of a voyage to the Moon by goose machine

雖然用野鵝機器 進行登月之旅的想法

might not seem particularly insightful or technically creative to us today,

在今天看來不是甚麼洞見 或技術的創意，

what's important is that Godwin described getting to the Moon not by a dream

重點是，戈德溫描述的登月之旅，

不是約翰尼斯•克卜勒所寫的， 要透過作夢或魔法來完成，

or by magic, as Johannes Kepler had written about,

but rather, through human invention.

而是用人類的發明來實現。

And it was this idea that we could build machines

就是這種建造機器的想法，

that could travel into the heavens,

讓我們能航向天空，

that would plant its seed in minds across the generations.

而這個想法在往後 世世代代的人心中播下種子。

The idea was next taken up by his contemporary, John Wilkins,

下一個延續這個想法的 是同時期的約翰•威爾金斯，

那時他只是個牛津的年輕學生，

then just a young student at Oxford,

but later, one of the founders of the Royal Society.

後來他成為皇家學會的創辦人之一。

John Wilkins took the idea of space travel in Godwin's text seriously

約翰•威爾金斯很認真看待 戈德溫文中關於太空旅行的想法，

and wrote not just another story

他寫的不僅是故事，

but a nonfiction philosophical treatise,

還是一部非虛構的哲學論文，

entitled, "Discovery of the New World in the Moon,

名為《發現月球新世界，

or, a Discourse Tending to Prove

或，可能證明在該星球上

that 'tis Probable There May Be Another Habitable World in that Planet."

還有另一個適居世界的論述》。

And note, by the way, that word "habitable."

請注意，他用了「適居」這個詞。

That idea in itself would have been a powerful incentive

這個想法本身就是個強大的誘因，

for people thinking about how to build machines that could go there.

讓人們思考如何建造出 登上月球的機器。

In his books, Wilkins seriously considered a number of technical methods

威爾金斯在他的書中認真考慮了

幾種太空飛行的方法。

for spaceflight,

and it remains to this day the earliest known nonfiction account

這本書至今仍是我們所知

最早用非虛構的文字 來描述登月的可能方法。

of how we might travel to the Moon.

Other stories would soon follow, most notably by Cyrano de Bergerac,

許多故事很快地相繼出現， 以西哈諾•德貝熱拉克的

with his "Lunar Tales."

《月亮的故事》最為知名。

By the mid-17th century, the idea of people building machines

到了十七世紀中，

人類建造機器飛往天空的想法

that could travel to the heavens

was growing in complexity and technical nuance.

變得更複雜，也有更多技術細節。

And yet, in the late 17th century,

但，在十七世紀末，

this intellectual progress effectively ceased.

這方面的發展卻停止了。

People still told stories about getting to the Moon,

大家仍然會說登月的故事，

but they relied on the old ideas

但故事都建立在舊想法上，

or, once again, on dreams or on magic.

或者，又回頭去談作夢或魔法。

Why?

為什麼？

Well, because the discovery of the laws of gravity by Newton

因為牛頓發現了地心引力的定律，

and the invention of the vacuum pump by Robert Hooke and Robert Boyle

還有羅伯特•虎克和勞勃•波以耳 發明了真空幫浦，

meant that people now understood

這表示，大家現在知道

that a condition of vacuum existed between the planets,

各行星之間的空間是真空的，

and consequentially between the Earth and the Moon.

而地球和月球之間也是真空。

And they had no way of overcoming this,

他們無法克服這一點，

no way of thinking about overcoming this.

無法想像要如何克服這一點。

And so, for well over a century,

所以，有足足一個世紀多，

the idea of a voyage to the Moon made very little intellectual progress

登月之旅的構想沒有甚麼進展。

until the rise of the Industrial Revolution

一直到工業革命興起，

and the development of steam engines and boilers

發明了蒸汽引擎和鍋爐，

and most importantly, pressure vessels.

最重要的是，高壓容器出現了。

And these gave people the tools to think about how they could build a capsule

有了這些工具，大家就 可以去思考如何建造出

that could resist the vacuum of space.

能抗拒真空狀態的太空艙。

So it was in this context, in 1835,

1835 年，在這樣的情境下，

that the next great story of spaceflight was written,

出現了下一個 偉大的太空飛行故事，

by Edgar Allan Poe.

作者是愛倫坡。

Now, today we think of Poe in terms of gothic poems

現在提到愛倫坡， 我們想到的是哥德體詩作，

and telltale hearts and ravens.

以及《告密的心》、《烏鴉》等著作。

But he considered himself a technical thinker.

但他自認是個技術思想家。

He grew up in Baltimore,

他在巴爾的摩長大，

the first American city with gas street lighting,

那是美國第一個 採用煤氣街燈的城市，

and he was fascinated by the technological revolution

他周遭隨處可見的 這項技術革命讓他很著迷。

that he saw going on all around him.

He considered his own greatest work not to be one of his gothic tales

他認為他最偉大的作品 並不是他的哥德體故事，

but rather his epic prose poem "Eureka,"

而是他的長篇散文詩《我發現了》，

in which he expounded his own personal view

這部作品詳細說明了 他的個人觀點，

of the cosmographical nature of the universe.

闡釋他如何看待 天地萬物的宇宙學本質。

In his stories, he would describe in fantastical technical detail

他在故事中用充滿想像力的細節

machines and contraptions,

來描述機器和新發明。

and nowhere was he more influential in this than in his short story,

最有影響力的當然是他的短篇故事：

"The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall."

《漢斯•普法爾歷險記》。

It's a story of an unemployed bellows maker in Rotterdam,

主角是一名鹿特丹的 失業鼓風器製造師。

who, depressed and tired of life -- this is Poe, after all --

他很憂鬱且厭世—— 畢竟這是愛倫坡作品——

and deeply in debt,

還欠了很多債，

he decides to build a hermetically enclosed balloon-borne carriage

他決定要打造一個 用氣球運載的密封車廂，

that is launched into the air by dynamite

可以用炸藥發射到空中，

and from there, floats through the vacuum of space

然後穿過太空的真空，

all the way to the lunar surface.

一路漂到月球表面。

And importantly, he did not develop this story alone,

重要的是，這個故事不是 他一個人發展出來的，

for in the appendix to his tale,

因為，在他的故事附錄中，

he explicitly acknowledged Godwin's "A Man in the Moone"

他特別對戈德溫 兩百年前的作品《月中人》致謝，

from over 200 years earlier

as an influence,

因為這部作品影響了他，

calling it "a singular and somewhat ingenious little book."

他稱之為「非凡且聰明的一本小書」。

And although this idea of a balloon-borne voyage to the Moon may seem

雖然這個用氣球載人到月球的想法

在技術上並沒有 比野鵝機器成熟多少，

not much more technically sophisticated than the goose machine,

in fact, Poe was sufficiently detailed

事實上，愛倫坡用充分的細節

in the description of the construction of the device

來描述這個裝置的建造方法，

and in terms of the orbital dynamics of the voyage

以及這趟旅程的軌道動力學，

that it could be diagrammed in the very first spaceflight encyclopedia

仔細的程度讓第一本太空飛行百科全書 能依照他的描述畫出圖解，

as a mission in the 1920s.

列為 1920 年代的太空任務。

And it was this attention to detail, or to "verisimilitude," as he called it,

他特別注意細節的特質—— 他自稱是重視「逼真感」——

that would influence the next great story:

讓他影響了下一個偉大的故事：

Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon," written in 1865.

朱爾•凡爾納 1865 年 寫的《從地球到月球》。

And it's a story that has a remarkable legacy

這個故事對後世有很大的貢獻，

and a remarkable similarity to the real voyages to the Moon

且和一百年之後 才發生的真實登月之旅

that would take place over a hundred years later.

有很高的相似性。

Because in the story, the first voyage to the Moon takes place from Florida,

因為，在這個故事中，第一次 登月之旅是從佛羅里達出發，

with three people on board,

機上有三個人，

in a trip that takes three days --

旅程為三天——

exactly the parameters that would prevail during the Apollo program itself.

與阿波羅計畫所規劃的相同。

And in an explicit tribute to Poe's influence on him,

為了對艾倫坡帶來的影響 明確表達致敬之意，

Verne situated the group responsible for this feat in the book in Baltimore,

凡爾納安排了這本書的 幕後功臣們到巴爾的摩，

at the Baltimore Gun Club,

在巴爾的摩槍械俱樂部裡 會員一起大喊「敬艾倫坡！」

with its members shouting, "Cheers for Edgar Poe!"

as they began to lay out their plans for their conquest of the Moon.

同時開始規劃 他們遠征月球的計畫。

And just as Verne was influenced by Poe,

正如同凡爾納受到艾倫坡的影響，

so, too, would Verne's own story go on to influence and inspire

凡爾納自己的故事 後來也影響和鼓舞了

the first generation of rocket scientists.

第一代的火箭科學家。

The two great pioneers of liquid fuel rocketry in Russia and in Germany,

俄國和德國的兩位偉大 液態燃料火箭技術先鋒，

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Hermann Oberth,

康斯坦丁齊奧爾科夫斯基 和赫爾曼奧伯特，

both traced their own commitment to the field of spaceflight

都說他們之所以決定 投身到太空飛行的領域，

to their reading "From the Earth to the Moon" as teenagers,

是因為在青少年時期 閱讀了《從地球到月球》，

and then subsequently committing themselves

從此之後，就決定盡自己的努力

to trying to make that story a reality.

試圖實現那個故事。

And Verne's story was not the only one in the 19th century

十九世紀，影響長遠的故事 不只是凡爾納的故事。

with a long arm of influence.

On the other side of the Atlantic,

在大西洋的另一頭，

H.G. Wells's "War of the Worlds" directly inspired

H. G. 威爾斯的 《世界大戰》直接啟發了

a young man in Massachusetts, Robert Goddard.

麻州的年輕人羅伯特•戈達德。

And it was after reading "War of the Worlds"

他在閱讀了《世界大戰》之後，

that Goddard wrote in his diary,

在 1890 年代末的某一天， 戈達德在他的日記中寫道，

one day in the late 1890s,

of resting while trimming a cherry tree on his family's farm

他在修剪家庭農場中的櫻桃樹時，

and having a vision of a spacecraft taking off from the valley below

腦中出現一幅景象： 一艘太空船從山谷起飛，

and ascending into the heavens.

上升飛向天際。

And he decided then and there that he would commit the rest of his life

就在那一刻， 他決定把餘生投入

to the development of the spacecraft that he saw in his mind's eye.

開發那幅景象中的太空船。

And he did exactly that.

而他真的做到了。

Throughout his career, he would celebrate that day

在他的職涯中， 他都會把櫻桃樹的那一天，

as his anniversary day, his cherry tree day,

當作紀念日來慶祝，

and he would regularly read and reread the works of Verne and of Wells

而且他常會一讀再讀 凡爾納和威爾斯的作品，

in order to renew his inspiration and his commitment

讓他能夠在數十年的辛勞和努力中，

over the decades of labor and effort that would be required

重新找回他的靈感和決心，

to realize the first part of his dream:

最後實現了他夢想的第一部分：

the flight of a liquid fuel rocket,

讓火箭使用液態燃料飛行，

which he finally achieved in 1926.

他在 1926 年終於達成這個目標。

So it was while reading "From the Earth to the Moon" and "The War of the Worlds"

所以，因為讀了 《從地球到月球》和《世界大戰》，

that the first pioneers of astronautics were inspired to dedicate their lives

讓航太學的先鋒受到啟發， 決定奉獻一生來解決太空飛行的問題。

to solving the problems of spaceflight.

而他們的論文和工作成果

And it was their treatises and their works in turn

that inspired the first technical communities

接著啟發第一批技術工作者

and the first projects of spaceflight,

及最早的太空飛行專案計畫，

thus creating a direct chain of influence

進而創造出了直接的一連串影響，

that goes from Godwin to Poe to Verne

從戈德溫，到艾倫坡，到凡爾納，

to the Apollo program

到阿波羅計畫，

and to the present-day communities of spaceflight.

到現今的太空飛行組織團體。

So why I have told you all this?

所以，我為什麼要告訴各位這些？

Is it just because I think it's cool,

只因為我覺得很酷嗎？

or because I'm just weirdly fascinated by stories

或因為我是個奇怪的 17、19 世紀科幻小說迷？

of 17th- and 19th-century science fiction?

It is, admittedly, partly that.

我得承認，那是部分原因沒錯。

But I also think that these stories remind us

但我也認為這些故事 能讓我們記得

of the cultural processes driving spaceflight

帶動太空飛行及科技創新的 歷史文明進程，

and even technological innovation more broadly.

As an economist working at NASA,

身為在美國太空總署工作的 經濟學家，我花了很多時間

I spend time thinking about the economic origins

思考我們向外朝宇宙前進 有什麼樣的經濟起源。

of our movement out into the cosmos.

And when you look before the investments of billionaire tech entrepreneurs

如果去探究在身價億萬的 科技企業家開始投資之前，

and before the Cold War Space Race,

在冷戰期間的太空競賽之前，

and even before the military investments in liquid fuel rocketry,

甚至在軍方投資 液態燃料火箭技術之前，

the economic origins of spaceflight are found in stories and in ideas.

太空飛行的經濟起源 都是在故事和構想中找到的。

It was in these stories that the first concepts for spaceflight were articulated.

太空飛行最早的構想 就描繪在這些故事中，

And it was through these stories

人類未來在太空中生存的景象， 也透過這些故事的描述，

that the narrative of a future for humanity in space

began to propagate from mind to mind,

廣大的深植人心，

eventually creating an intergenerational intellectual community

最終創造出跨世代的知識團體，

that would iterate on the ideas for spacecraft

反覆發展出太空船的新構想。

until such a time as they could finally be built.

直到真的建造出太空船。

This process has now been going on for over 300 years,

至今，這個過程已經 經過了三百多年，

and the result is a culture of spaceflight.

結果產出的是一個太空飛行文化。

It's a culture that involves thousands of people

這個文化涉及了

over hundreds of years.

數百年來的數千人。

Because for hundreds of years, some of us have looked at the stars

因為數百年來，人們仰望 星星並渴望前往，

and longed to go.

也因為數百年來，

And because for hundreds of years,

我們投入辛勞，

some of us have dedicated our labors

to the development of the concepts and systems

去發展這些概念和系統，

required to make those voyages possible.

讓太空旅行成為可能。

I also wanted to tell you about Godwin, Poe and Verne

我和大家談戈德溫、 艾倫坡，和凡爾納，

because I think their stories also tell us of the importance

是因為我認為他們的故事 能讓我們普遍了解到，

在我們之間流傳的、 關於未來的故事的重要性。

of the stories that we tell each other about the future more generally.

Because these stories don't just transmit information or ideas.

因為這些故事不只是 在傳遞資訊或想法。

They can also nurture passions,

它們也能培養出熱情，

passions that can lead us to dedicate our lives

讓我們願意投身的熱情，

to the realization of important projects.

讓我們實現重要計畫的熱情。

Which means that these stories can and do

這就表示，這些故事能夠也確實會

influence social and technological forces

影響未來數世紀的 社會和科技主力人士。

centuries into the future.

I think we need to realize this and remember it when we tell our stories.

我認為，當我們在訴說自己的 故事時，必須了解並記住這點。

We need to work hard to write stories

我們得要努力去寫的故事

that don't just show us the possible dystopian paths we may take

不能只是呈現出我們 理想破滅的反烏托邦之路，

for a fear that the more dystopian stories we tell each other,

因為如果我們告訴彼此 越多反烏托邦的故事，

the more we plant seeds for possible dystopian futures.

恐怕會為未來播下越多絕望的種子。

Instead we need to tell stories that plant the seeds,

反之，我們需要說的故事， 就算不是為烏托邦播下種子，

if not necessarily for utopias,

then at least for great new projects of technological, societal

至少也是為了偉大的 新計畫，在科技、社會，

and institutional transformation.

和制度面帶來轉變。

And if we think of this idea that the stories we tell each other

如果我們認為，

透過跟彼此說故事的方式 來轉變未來，

can transform the future

is fanciful or impossible,

是太過虛幻或不可能的想法，

then I think we need to remember the example of this,

那麼，我認為我們 得要記得這個例子，

our voyage to the Moon,

我們登月之旅的想法來自 17 世紀，

an idea from the 17th century

that propagated culturally for over 300 years

在文化中孕育了三百多年，

until it could finally be realized.

直到它被實現。

So, we need to write new stories,

所以，我們必須要寫新的故事，

stories that, 300 years in the future,

在三百年後的未來，

people will be able to look back upon and remark

讓人們可以回顧並討論

how they inspired us to new heights and to new shores,

這些故事如何啟發我們 追求新高度和新疆界，

how they showed us new paths and new possibilities,

如何讓我們看見新的路徑 和新的可能性，

and how they shaped our world for the better.

及如何把我們的世界變得更好。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）