Laura Snyder: The Philosophical Breakfast Club

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: Juliana So 審譯者: Lyra Wei-Chieh Wang

I'd like you to come back with me for a moment

我希望你可以跟著我暫時回到

to the 19th century,

十九世紀，

specifically to June 24, 1833.

準確來說，是1833年的6月24日。

The British Association for the Advancement of Science

英國科學協會（The British Association for the Advancement of Science）

is holding its third meeting at the University of Cambridge.

正在劍橋大學舉行第三次會議。

It's the first night of the meeting,

這是會議的第一個晚上，

and a confrontation is about to take place

而即將發生的一場爭執

that will change science forever.

將永遠改變科學的面貌。

An elderly, white-haired man stands up.

一位頭髮花白的長者站了起來。

The members of the Association are shocked to realize

科學協會的成員驚訝地發現

that it's the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge,

他是詩人山姆.泰勒.柯勒律治(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)，

who hadn't even left his house in years until that day.

一位多年足不出戶的詩人－直到那天。

They're even more shocked by what he says.

更讓他們驚訝的是他所說的話。

"You must stop calling yourselves natural philosophers."

「你不能再稱自己為自然哲學家。」

Coleridge felt that true philosophers like himself

柯勒律治覺得哲學家們，像他自己本身，

pondered the cosmos from their armchairs.

都是坐在扶手椅上思索宇宙的。

They were not mucking around in the fossil pits

他們並沒有把煤坑搞得一團糟

or conducting messy experiments with electrical piles

或是用電子零件作混亂的實驗，

like the members of the British Association.

不像英國科學協會的人一樣。

The crowd grew angry and began to complain loudly.

會議成員開始生氣，還大聲抗議。

A young Cambridge scholar named William Whewell stood up

一位年輕的劍橋學者，威廉.修艾爾(William Whewell)站了起來

and quieted the audience.

他讓所有人安靜下來。

He politely agreed that an appropriate name

他很禮貌地指出

for the members of the association did not exist.

一個適合協會成員使用的稱號並不存在。

"If 'philosophers' is taken to be too wide and lofty a term,"

「如果“哲學家”這個稱號過於廣義和高尚，」

he said, "then, by analogy with 'artist,'

他說。「那麼，參考“藝術家”(artist)這個稱呼，

we may form 'scientist.'"

我們可以自稱為“科學家”(scientist)。」

This was the first time the word scientist

這是「科學家」三個字第一次

was uttered in public,

在公開場合出現，

only 179 years ago.

而這只是179年前的事。

I first found out about this confrontation when I was in graduate school,

我是在研究所的時候第一次聽到這個故事，

and it kind of blew me away.

這讓我有點震驚。

I mean, how could the word scientist

我是說，「科學家」這個詞

not have existed until 1833?

怎麼可能在1833年以前都不存在？

What were scientists called before?

那他們以前被稱為甚麼呢？

What had changed to make a new name necessary

是甚麼改變了，導致

precisely at that moment?

在當時必須產生一個新詞？

Prior to this meeting, those who studied the natural world

在會議之前，那些研究自然世界的人

were talented amateurs.

都是有才能的業餘愛好者。

Think of the country clergyman or squire

想想那些鄉村裡的牧師或地主

collecting his beetles or fossils,

收集甲蟲或化石，

like Charles Darwin, for example,

像查爾斯.達爾文 (Charles Darwin)，

or, the hired help of a nobleman, like Joseph Priestley,

或是貴族雇用的幫手，像約瑟夫.普利斯特里 (Joseph Priestley)，

who was the literary companion

他曾是

to the Marquis of Lansdowne

蘭斯多恩侯爵 (Marquis of Lansdowne) 的伙伴，

when he discovered oxygen.

在他發現氧氣的時候。

After this, they were scientists,

在這之後，他們全成了科學家，

professionals with a particular scientific method,

成了專精於某種科學研究方法的專業人士，

goals, societies and funding.

有著科學研究目標、學會和資助。

Much of this revolution can be traced to four men

這個進化可以歸功於四個人

who met at Cambridge University in 1812:

他們在1812年於劍橋大學相遇：

Charles Babbage, John Herschel, Richard Jones and William Whewell.

查爾斯.巴貝奇、約翰.赫歇爾、理查.鐘斯和威廉.休厄爾。

These were brilliant, driven men

他們都是非常聰明的、有雄心的人

who accomplished amazing things.

也有不少出色的成就。

Charles Babbage, I think known to most TEDsters,

查爾斯.巴貝奇(Charles Babbage)， 我想你們多數人都知道他，

invented the first mechanical calculator

他發明了世上第一個力學計算機

and the first prototype of a modern computer.

和第一個現化電腦的原型。

John Herschel mapped the stars of the southern hemisphere,

約翰.赫歇爾 (John Herschel)畫下了南半球的星圖，

and, in his spare time, co-invented photography.

並在他空閒的時間和別人一起發明了相機。

I'm sure we could all be that productive

我相信我們都可以有如此的有生產力

without Facebook or Twitter to take up our time.

只要Facebook和Twitter不再佔用我們的時間。

Richard Jones became an important economist

理查.鐘斯 (Richard Jones)成為了一名重要的經濟學家

who later influenced Karl Marx.

他後來影響了卡爾.馬克斯 (Karl Marx)。

And Whewell not only coined the term scientist,

而休厄爾(William Whewell)不但創造了科學家一詞，

as well as the words anode, cathode and ion,

以及陽極、陰極和離子這些詞，

but spearheaded international big science

他也成為世界科學的先鋒

with his global research on the tides.

以一份關於潮汐的國際研究。

In the Cambridge winter of 1812 and 1813,

1812及13年的劍橋冬日，

the four met for what they called philosophical breakfasts.

這四個年輕人在他們的「哲學早餐會」聚會

They talked about science

他們談論科學

and the need for a new scientific revolution.

和科學革新的必要。

They felt science had stagnated

他們覺得科學正停滯不前，

since the days of the scientific revolution that had happened

自十七世紀的科學革命以後

in the 17th century.

便一直如此。

It was time for a new revolution,

事實後有所改變了，

which they pledged to bring about,

他們嘗試提出這一點，

and what's so amazing about these guys is,

而他們出色的地方在於

not only did they have these

他們不只有這些

grandiose undergraduate dreams,

大學生的偉大夢想，

but they actually carried them out,

他們更把夢想帶到現實實行，

even beyond their wildest dreams.

即使這些夢想聽起來像天馬行空。

And I'm going to tell you today

而我今天要告訴你們

about four major changes to science these men made.

這些年輕人帶來的四個重大改變。

About 200 years before,

在200年前，

Francis Bacon and then, later, Isaac Newton,

法蘭西斯.培根 (Francis Bacon) 和 之後的艾薩克.牛頓 (Issac Newton)，

had proposed an inductive scientific method.

曾提出歸納科學方法。

Now that's a method that starts from

此科學方法基於

observations and experiments

觀察和實驗

and moves to generalizations about nature called natural laws,

而後將結果歸納成大自然的規則，

which are always subject to revision or rejection

這些規則將持續被修正，甚至被否決，

should new evidence arise.

如果有新的證據出現的話。

However, in 1809, David Ricardo muddied the waters

可是，在1809年，當大衛.李嘉圖 (David Ricardo)

by arguing that the science of economics

認為經濟這門科學

should use a different, deductive method.

該以和歸納法不同的演譯法來研究。

The problem was that an influential group at Oxford

問題在於牛津一群有影響力的人

began arguing that because it worked so well in economics,

也開始認為演譯法既然在經濟學上有效，

this deductive method ought to be applied

這方法也應該適用於

to the natural sciences too.

自然科學才對。

The members of the philosophical breakfast club disagreed.

哲學早餐會的幾位成員反對。

They wrote books and articles promoting inductive method

他們為了推廣歸納法著書立說，

in all the sciences

在所有科學領域

that were widely read by natural philosophers,

包含自然哲學家

university students and members of the public.

大學生和公眾皆能閱讀的書刊上出版，

Reading one of Herschel's books

閱讀赫歇爾的其中一本著作

was such a watershed moment for Charles Darwin

對達爾文來說是一個分水嶺

that he would later say, "Scarcely anything in my life

後來他說：「在我的人生中

made so deep an impression on me.

很少有這麼讓我印象深刻的東西。

It made me wish to add my might

它讓我想要參與貢獻

to the accumulated store of natural knowledge."

去成就一個更大的自然知識資料庫。」

It also shaped Darwin's scientific method,

赫歇爾的書也助達爾文訂立了他的科學研究方法，

as well as that used by his peers.

同時也影響了他的同儕。

[Science for the public good]

[成就公益的科學]

Previously, it was believed that scientific knowledge

在這以前，科學知識常被認為是

ought to be used for the good of the king or queen,

用於滿足國王或皇后

or for one's own personal gain.

甚至個人的需求或欲望。

For example, ship captains needed to know

例如，船長們需要知道

information about the tides in order to safely dock at ports.

潮汐漲退的資料以安全停泊到港口。

Harbormasters would gather this knowledge

港口主人們會搜集這些資訊

and sell it to the ship captains.

賣給船長們。

The philosophical breakfast club changed that,

哲學早餐會改變了這樣的情況，

working together.

在眾人合力之下，

Whewell's worldwide study of the tides

休厄爾的世界潮汐研究

resulted in public tide tables and tidal maps

讓公開的潮汐表和地圖得以面世

that freely provided the harbormasters' knowledge

這些曾是港口主人的專門知識

to all ship captains.

船長們終於可以免費取得。

Herschel helped by making tidal observations

赫歇爾的貢獻包括觀察潮汐變化，

off the coast of South Africa,

在南非海岸

and, as he complained to Whewell,

還有，他也曾向休厄爾訴苦

he was knocked off the docks during a violent high tide for his trouble.

說他觀察途中曾因強烈的潮汐而在甲板上狠狠跌倒。

The four men really helped each other in every way.

他們四個真的在各方面互相幫忙。

They also relentlessly lobbied the British government

他們也不間斷地遊說英國政府

for the money to build Babbage's engines

出資給巴貝奇建造引擎

because they believed these engines

因為他們相信這些引擎

would have a huge practical impact on society.

將會對社會有重大影響。

In the days before pocket calculators,

在沒有計算機的年代，

the numbers that most professionals needed --

專業人士最需要的數字﹣﹣

bankers, insurance agents, ship captains, engineers —

銀行家、保險從業員、船長、工程師們﹣﹣

were to be found in lookup books like this,

都在像這樣的工具書裡，

filled with tables of figures.

在這些密密麻麻的圖表間。

These tables were calculated

這些圖表

using a fixed procedure over and over

是用固定的程序重複地計算出來的

by part-time workers known as -- and this is amazing -- computers,

這些打工的計算人員被稱為﹣﹣電腦，不可思議吧

but these calculations were really difficult.

但這些都是很困難的算式。

I mean, this nautical almanac

我是說，這些航海天文曆

published the lunar differences for every month of the year.

包含了每個月的月球活動差異。

Each month required 1,365 calculations,

每個月需要1365次計算，

so these tables were filled with mistakes.

所以這些圖表都有不少錯漏。

Babbage's difference engine was the first mechanical calculator

巴貝奇想製造的計算機器是最早的機械計算器

devised to accurately compute any of these tables.

是為了準確計算出圖表所需資料而設計的。

Two models of his engine were built in the last 20 years

在過去的20年間，他這個機器的兩個版本

by a team from the Science Museum of London

由倫敦科學博物館一組人員

using his own plans.

根據他的想法製造出來。

This is the one now at the Computer History Museum in California,

這就是現在加洲電腦歷史博物館內的展品

and it calculates accurately. It actually works.

它計算結果很準確。它是有效的。

Later, Babbage's analytical engine

之後，巴貝奇的分析機器

was the first mechanical computer in the modern sense.

是世上首部現代機械計算機。

It had a separate memory and central processor.

它有獨立的記憶體和中央處理器。

It was capable of iteration, conditional branching

它可以進行複述、條件分支 (conditional branching)

and parallel processing,

和平行處理 (parallel processing)。

and it was programmable using punched cards,

它也可以使用孔卡紙 (punched cards) 運算程式，

an idea Babbage took from Jacquard's loom.

這是巴貝奇參考提花織機所設計的。

Tragically, Babbage's engines never were built in his day

很可惜他設計的這部機器在他在世時並沒有被實正製作出來

because most people thought that

因為很多人以為

non-human computers would have no usefulness

純機器的「電腦」對於公眾來說

for the public.

是沒有用處的。

[New scientific institutions]

[新科學機構]

Founded in Bacon's time, the Royal Society of London

倫敦皇家學會在培根的年代創立，

was the foremost scientific society in England

它曾是英國最先進的科學學會

and even in the rest of the world.

甚至在全世界來說也是。

By the 19th century, it had become

直至19世紀，它已變成

a kind of gentleman's club

一種紳士的俱樂部

populated mainly by antiquarians, literary men and the nobility.

成員主要為考古學家、文人和貴族。

The members of the philosophical breakfast club

哲學早餐會的成員們

helped form a number of new scientific societies,

協助了數個新科學學會成立，

including the British Association.

其中包括了英國協會 (the British Association)。

These new societies required

這些新學會要求

that members be active researchers publishing their results.

他們的會員必須為活躍的研究者，並出版他們的研究成果。

They reinstated the tradition of the Q&A

他們恢復了科學研究論文公開後

after scientific papers were read,

設問答環節的傳統，

which had been discontinued by the Royal Society

這傳統曾被皇家學會下令停止

as being ungentlemanly.

原因是這不應是紳士所為。

And for the first time, they gave women a foot in the door of science.

而這也是第一次他們接納女性進入科學的世界。

Members were encouraged to bring their wives,

他們歡迎會員帶同妻子、

daughters and sisters to the meetings of the British Association,

女兒或姊妹到英國協會的會議，

and while the women were expected to attend

他們只預期女性參加

only the public lectures and the social events like this one,

公開演說和類似答辯會之類的社交活動

they began to infiltrate the scientific sessions as well.

但漸漸地女性也開始參加科學會議。

The British Association would later be the first

英國協會隨後成為

of the major national science organizations in the world

世上最重要的幾個科學組織之首

to admit women as full members.

接納女性成為會員的協會。

[External funding for science]

[支持科學研究的外來資金]

Up to the 19th century,

直至19世紀，

natural philosophers were expected to pay

自然哲學家都是自掏腰包

for their own equipment and supplies.

購買他們所需的設備和儀器。

Occasionally, there were prizes,

他們偶爾會得到獎金，

such as that given to John Harrison in the 18th century,

就像18世紀時約翰.哈里森 (John Harrison)

for solving the so-called longitude problem,

解答所謂經度問題所得的獎金，

but prizes were only given after the fact,

但這些獎賞都是研究有成果後才有可能得到的

when they were given at all.

有時即使完成了研究也拿不到。

On the advice of the philosophical breakfast club,

哲學早餐會的成員建議，

the British Association began to use the extra money

英國協會可以把多餘的資金

generated by its meetings to give grants

會議所得的金錢

for research in astronomy, the tides, fossil fish,

授予科學家作天文、潮汐、化石魚、

shipbuilding, and many other areas.

造船等等方面的研究。

These grants not only allowed

這些補助不但

less wealthy men to conduct research,

幫助不甚富有的科學家進行研究，

but they also encouraged thinking outside the box,

也鼓勵了他們更有創意、提出新的問題，

rather than just trying to solve one pre-set question.

而非只是解答已被提出的問題。

Eventually, the Royal Society

最後，皇家學會

and the scientific societies of other countries followed suit,

和其他國家的科學學會都採用了這種方法，

and this has become -- fortunately it's become --

而這種補助形式也很幸運地

a major part of the scientific landscape today.

成為了今天科學研究的主流。

So the philosophical breakfast club

所以哲學早餐會

helped invent the modern scientist.

其實對現代科學家的出現大有貢獻。

That's the heroic part of their story.

這是他們偉大的故事。

There's a flip side as well.

故事也有另外一面。

They did not foresee at least one consequence

他們並沒有想像到他們

of their revolution.

所作的事將會帶來甚麼改變。

They would have been deeply dismayed

他們會對今天科學和其他文化層面漸行漸遠的現象

by today's disjunction between science and the rest of culture.

感到驚訝和沮喪。

It's shocking to realize

這是非常令人震驚的

that only 28 percent of American adults

只有百分之二十八的美國成年人

have even a very basic level of science literacy,

對科學有基本的認識，

and this was tested by asking simple questions like,

用一個簡單的問題就可以測試出來，

"Did humans and dinosaurs inhabit the Earth at the same time?"

「人類和恐龍曾同時住在這個地球上嗎？」

and "What proportion of the Earth is covered in water?"

或是「地球表面有多少百分比是被水覆蓋的？」

Once scientists became members of a professional group,

當科學成為一種專業後，

they were slowly walled off from the rest of us.

這些學問也距離普通人愈來愈遠了。

This is the unintended consequence of the revolution

這不是科學改革想見到的後果

that started with our four friends.

是我們這四位朋友所為的後果。 (註：指哲學早餐會四人)

Charles Darwin said,

達爾文說過，

"I sometimes think that general and popular treatises

「我有時會覺得，一般的或時下流行的論文

are almost as important for the progress of science

對科學的發展和

as original work."

原創的研究差不多重要。」

In fact, "Origin of Species" was written

其實，《物種起源》一開始

for a general and popular audience,

是為了普羅大眾而寫的，

and was widely read when it first appeared.

在它出版後也被廣泛閱讀。

Darwin knew what we seem to have forgotten,

達爾文知道我們或許已經遺忘的事實：

that science is not only for scientists.

即科學不是科學家的專利。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

(掌聲)