這部影片之中戲劇化的訪談， 是根據艾薩克‧牛頓和 同時代人物的原文
「我不知道要以何種面貌來面對世界， 'I do not know what I may appear to the world
「但對我自己而言 'but to myself,
「我似乎只是一個在海邊遊戲的小男孩， 'I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore,
「偶爾找到光滑一點的卵石自娛 'amusing myself by now and then finding a smoother pebble
「比普通漂亮一點的貝殼， 'or prettier shell than ordinary,
「在我對面渺無人跡、浩瀚無涯的真理之洋時」 'while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.'
艾薩克．牛頓被公認為 Isaac Newton is considered by many
永遠都是最偉大的天才 to be the greatest genius of all time.
他的品德證明他的聖潔 His virtues proved him a saint
他的發現更是被認為... and his discoveries might well pass...
奇蹟 ..for miracles.
在他有生之年就已經被視為科學界超凡入聖的人物 He was revered as a scientific demigod in his own lifetime.
以他現在智慧的鋒芒 Now the keenness of his sublime intellect
直接刺穿諸神的住所 has allowed us to penetrate the dwellings of the gods
上達天堂的高度！ and ascend the heights of heaven!
如果有人可被稱為天才， If anybody was a genius,
非牛頓莫數 Newton was.
牛頓揭示了光的本質， Newton revealed the nature of light,
讓我們可以藉此探索宇宙 allowing us to explore the universe.
他讓我們能夠對運動進行計算 He enabled us to calculate motion
並且預測變化量 and predict change.
他精鍊出統一整個宇宙的力 He distilled the force that unites the whole universe
以精確的數學方程式呈現出來－ into a precise mathematical formula -
萬有引力定律 the Universal Law of Gravity.
牛頓被讚誦為理性的天才 Newton is celebrated as the rational genius
促使我們結束中世紀的黑暗時代 who propelled us out of medieval darkness
進入啟蒙時代 and into the Enlightenment.
但是艾薩克．牛頓也是一個複雜， But Isaac Newton was also a complex,
難懂和神秘的人 difficult and secretive man.
他不善交際 He wasn't communicative.
他不要和別人共事 He didn't want to work with anybody else.
他非常易怒 He was easily offended.
惡意攻訐的牆頭草，比他自己更糟糕！ Spiteful and swayed by those who were worse than himself!
用世俗的現代說法， In vulgar modern terms,
牛頓是重度神經質的人 Newton was profoundly neurotic.
牛頓最深沉的癡迷只有在他 Newton's deepest obsession would only be revealed
死後兩百年之後才被揭露出來 200 years after his death,
是一種深奧難懂的異端宗教和煉金術 an occult world of heretical religion and alchemy.
有一種精力的介質，在泥土裏滲透到萬物之中 There is a vital agent, diffuse through everything in the earth,
一種汞狀的精氣， a mercurial spirit,
極端細微和非常易變 extremely subtle and supremely volatile.
但是牛頓神秘的癡迷 But Newton's secret obsessions
會轉化成我們理解宇宙的方式 would transform the way we understand the universe.
牛頓不是理性時代的第一人 Newton was not the first of the Age of Reason.
他是最後一位魔法師 He was the last of the magicians.
艾薩克．牛頓 最後的魔法師
1705年，艾薩克．牛頓爵士六十三歲 In 1705, Sir Isaac Newton was 63 years old
英國國教會裏豎立了一座牛頓的臺柱 and a pillar of the British Establishment.
他才剛剛封爵 He had just been knighted.
他才被全歐洲認為是啟蒙運動的大師級人物 He was recognised across Europe as the master of the Enlightenment.
他不會自謙 He did not suffer from self-doubt.
他比較喜歡把自己比喻為新的彌賽亞， He rather liked to think of himself as the new Messiah,
一種科學化的基督 a sort of scientific Christ
帶來新的知識來拯救世界 who was bringing a new kind of knowledge to save the world.
這位彌賽亞對一般普通人的要求很沒力 This messiah had a low opinion of lesser mortals.
我可以計算天體的運行 I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies
但對於人類的瘋狂是無能為力 but not the madness of people.
牛頓離群所居是從他在伍爾索普莊園，林肯郡 Newton's estrangement from humanity began from the moment he was born
出生就養成的個性 at Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire,
1642年聖誕節的早晨 on Christmas morning, 1642.
我出生的時候，我小到可以放進一夸脫的罐子裏， When I was born, I was so little they put me in a quart pot,
虛弱到他們都覺得我沒辦法存活下來 and so weakly, they did not think I would live.
我是個小傢伙 I was a little fellow.
1640年代是英國歷史中最動亂不安的十年 The 1640s were the most tumultuous decade in English history.
英國的內戰造成十分之一男人的死亡 The English Civil War left one-in-ten men dead.
查理一世被斬首 King Charles I was beheaded.
奧利弗·克倫威爾的清教徒政府 Oliver Cromwell's puritanical government
對君主體制的天主教宣戰 waged war against Catholicism in the monarchy.
鼠疫肆虐 Bubonic plague was rampant.
人們真誠相信世界末日的到來 People genuinely believed the world was coming to an end.
這段時間的混亂和不安，為牛頓留下永生難忘的傷痕 This time of chaos and upheaval marked Newton for life.
牛頓渴望確定性 Newton craved certainty.
牛頓所有的工作都是在尋找確定性， All of Newton's work is about finding certainty,
尋找真理 finding the truth
你可以絕對相信的東西 and the things that you can absolutely believe in.
他的家絕對不是個避風港 His home was anything but a haven.
他的父親在他出生前幾個月就去世了 His father died a few months before he was born.
之後又被母親排斥 He was then rejected by his mother.
在他三歲時，她就離開他，重新組成新的家庭 She abandoned him to start another family when he was three years old.
牛頓在當時新教徒精神的氛圍下長大的 Newton grew up in tune with the Protestant spirit of the age,
反天主教、閱讀聖經和自我內省 anti-Catholic, Bible-reading and introspective.
他把孩童時期所犯的罪，列表整理，並編密碼記錄下來 He made a list of childhood sins, written in code.
這個表從純潔無暇開始 The list begins innocently.
「星期天晚上做派... "Making pies on Sunday night...
「在那天，製作捕鼠器... "..making a mousetrap on Thy Day,
「在那天，灑水...」 "squirting water on Thy Day..."
然後比較黑暗的一面被揭露出來 Then a darker side is revealed.
「鞭打米妮， "Striking Minnie,
「痛扁我妹... "punching my sister...
「威脅我的父母，史密斯夫婦要把他們和房子都燒光」 "..threatening my Father and Mother Smith to burn them and the house over them."
他就是這麼妄想 He was so obsessive.
他就是那種一輩子都活在自己腦袋裏的人，這就是他所做所為的原因 He was a man who lived his entire life inside his head, and that's how he did what he did.
你看看他留下來的遺稿 You look at the papers he left behind
有數百萬字，潦草的字跡 and there are millions of words, of scribbling.
它們不用寫來讓其他人看的 They are not words written to impress anybody.
不是為了印書發行而寫的 They're not words written for publication.
這些字記錄著牛頓是怎麼思考的，這就是他所做的 They're words written because that was how Newton thought. That's what he did.
二十世紀的經濟學長約翰·梅納德·凱因斯 The 20th-century economist John Maynard Keynes
對這位科學界的傳奇人物感到非常驚奇 was fascinated by the man behind the scientific legend.
天才們都有怪癖－ Geniuses are peculiar -
不安、憂鬱、神經質... the uneasiness, the melancholy, the nervous agitation...
用世俗的現代說法， In vulgar modern terms,
牛頓是重度神經質的人 Newton was profoundly neurotic.
牛頓從不依賴別人... Newton relied on no-one...
...只靠自己 ..but himself.
他有一種出自內心的厭惡 He has almost a sort of visceral dislike
厭惡盲從別人 of following other people.
他有著非常強烈相信自己原創性的信念 He has a very strong belief in his own originality.
在學時期， As a schoolboy,
牛頓充滿創意的心靈已經開始運作起來 Newton's innovative mind was already at work.
他決定用自己的方法來確定時間 He decided to invent his own way to tell the time.
牛頓把閣樓變成了一個巨大的天文鐘 Newton turned the attic into a giant astronomical clock.
像是一種日晷 It was like a sundial.
他每十五分鐘測量一次太陽的移動 He plotted the sun's movement every 15 minutes
當太陽橫越他房裏的牆上時 as it moved across the walls of his room.
他可以到任何房間裏，藉由觀看牆上的陰影 He could go into any room and he could tell what time it was
告訴你現在幾點鐘 by looking at the shadows on the walls.
光、空間和時間 Light, space and time
已經變成他的玩具 were already his playthings.
牛頓在他十多歲的筆記裏都沒提到朋友 Newton's teenage notebooks mention no friends.
反而呈現出他對實際問題進行解答的努力， Instead, they reveal his efforts to find his own answers to practical problems,
像是緩和脹氣 like alleviating wind.
把馬糞浸濕，特別是種馬的馬糞， Steep horse dung, especially a stone-horse,
浸到麥酒裏 in ale.
然後取出來，丟進濃稠的果汁裏 Then take it out, strongly express the juice
然後喝下去 and drink it.
但是牛頓創意豐沛的心靈，在可以開始結果之前 But Newton's fertile mind was almost stifled
差點被悶熄 before it could flourish.
在他17歲的時候，和他不和的母親把他拖出學校，要他經營家裏的農莊 His estranged mother pulled him out of school when he was 17 to run the family farm.
他的媽媽故意要他管理家裏的產業， His mother intended he apply himself to the management of the estate
但是他的天份豈能如何浪費 but his genius could not brook such an employment.
牛頓是你所能想像得到，最糟糕的農場經營者， Newton was the most useless manager of a farm you can possibly imagine,
根據他媽媽的弟弟所說的，牛頓就是夠優秀， and it was his mother's brother who suggested that Newton was too good,
夠天賦到逃不掉他的天命， too talented to be kept away from his destiny,
進到大學讀書 which was university.
艾薩克馬上就前往劍橋的三一學院就讀 Isaac was soon packed off to Trinity College, Cambridge.
他對自然哲學感到興趣， He was drawn to natural philosophy,
研究真實的世界， the study of the physical world,
現在稱之為科學 what we now call science.
在十七世紀末，牛頓還是學生的年代， In the late 17th century, when Newton was a student,
科學根本還沒受到任何青睞 science was not held in any particular esteem at all.
沒有科學的學位，沒有科學的專業 There was no degree in science, there was no career in science.
科學完全還沒產出... Science hadn't so far produced...
...任何有用的成果 ..any useful results.
牛頓的教授傳授亞里斯多德有關 Newton's professors taught Aristotle's concept
重力和浮力的概念 of gravity and levity.
他們會說蘋果有某種重力 You know, they would've said an apple has some gravity.
我們怎麼會知道呢？因為它有向下掉的趨勢 And how do we know? Because it has a tendency to fall down.
他們會說火和煙有浮力 They would've said fire and smoke have levity
因為他們會上升到高空 because they rise to the heavens.
這就是亞里斯多德教他們的東西 That's what Aristotle taught them.
但牛頓準備好要反駁 But Newton was ready to reject 2,000 years
二千年的科學正統 of scientific orthodoxy.
他深思並確信他們寫的東西是錯的 He thought and believed that what other people wrote was wrong.
如同他所確信的一樣，即使在那麼年輕的階段－ It's as if he believed, even at this early period -
只有21、22歲－ he's 21, 22 -
他就是註定要重整自然哲學的那個人 that he was destined to be the person to reform natural philosophy.
牛頓只相信 Newton only believed
他自己能證明出來的東西 what he could prove himself.
自然哲學不應該用形而上的哲學觀點來發現的 Natural philosophy should not be founded on metaphysical opinions.
它的結論只能從實驗證明出來 Its conclusions can only be proved by experiment.
他想知道所有的事 He wanted to know everything.
他有著永不滿足的好奇心 He had an insatiable curiosity.
他被這個有趣的、複雜的世界深深吸引 He was handed this interesting, complicated world
他幾乎可以看得出機關所在 and he could almost see the gears turning
他要把它們理解出來 and he wanted to figure them out.
1664年， By 1664,
年僅二十一歲， aged only 21,
牛頓替自己想出的課題－ Newton devised a curriculum for himself -
讓他餘生著迷不已的四十五個主題 45 topics that obsessed him for the rest of his life.
他稱之為 He called them
「確定的哲學問題」 "Certain Philosophical Questions".
時間與永恆， Of time and eternity,
太陽、行星和彗星， of the sun and planets and comets,
空氣， of air,
流星， of meteors,
原子、密度， of atoms, of density,
真空， of vacuum,
反射， of reflection,
磁力， of attraction - magnetical,
靜電力， of attraction - electrical,
光， of light,
顏色，冷熱， of colours, of heat and cold,
重力和浮力， of gravity and levity,
視覺... of vision...
牛頓對視覺和光的奧秘特別感到興趣 Newton was obsessed by the mysteries of vision and light.
他花極長的時間 He went to extraordinary lengths
檢查眼睛如何運作的機械原理 to examine the mechanics of how the eye works.
我用我的右眼注視映在玻璃上的太陽， I looked upon the sun in a looking glass with my right eye,
然後把眼睛轉向房間裏較暗的角落裏，眨眼進行 and then turned my eyes into a darker corner of my chamber and winked
觀察剛剛製造出來的影像和包圍圓圈周圍的顏色 to observe the impression made and the circles of colours which encompassed it
看它們怎麼漸漸褪色，最後消失 and how they decayed and at last vanished.
他想要設法找出 He's trying to work out
我們在看東西，有多少是根據我們的意願，也就是我們的心靈 how much of what we see is due to the will, so to our mind,
和有多少是根據外在世界的事物所影響的 and how much of it is due to what there is in the outside world.
經過幾個小時，我把自己的眼睛弄到 In a few hours time, I had brought my eyes to such a pass
只能看到發光的東西 that I could look upon no bright object.
我只能看得到眼前的太陽 I only saw the sun before me!
我不能寫，也不能讀 I could neither write nor read.
為了恢復視力， To recover the use of my eyes,
我整整把自己鎖在黑暗的房間裏三天 I shut myself up in my darkened chamber for three days.
DOOR CLOSES & LOCKS
牛頓準備冒著失明的危險 Newton was prepared to risk blindness
也要確認他的發現是正確無誤的 to ensure his findings were correct.
在他的筆記裏，有些令人訝異的插圖 In his notebooks, there are some wonderful diagrams
他用一種狀似現在牙籤的長針， of him putting a bodkin, which is a long toothpick,
儘量刺進到他的眼睛的正後方 as close to the back of his eye as he could get.
在我的眼球和骨頭之間， Betwixt my eye and the bone,
儘量靠近我的眼球的正後方 as near to the back of my eye as I could,
並且用長針的末端壓一壓， and pressing it with the end of the bodkin,
這樣就出現了幾圈周圍明亮色彩的暗圈 there appeared several bright dark circles of colours.
他所做的眼睛實驗，是想要理解 What he's doing with the eye experiments, he's trying to work out
對視覺的貢獻，有多少是出自於想像， how much the imagination, what he calls the will or the fancy,
他稱之為意志或幻想 contributes towards vision.
牛頓的數學化的心靈 Newton's mathematical mind
被驅使到找尋更困難的答案 was driven to search for bigger answers
再到最困難的答案 to ever bigger questions.
1665年，鼠疫爆發，橫掃整個英國， In 1665, an outbreak of bubonic plague swept through England,
十萬人罹難 killing 100,000.
牛頓回到孩提時代的家－伍爾索普莊園避難 Newton took refuge in his childhood home, Woolsthorpe Manor.
比以往更封閉隔絕， More isolated than ever,
他持續思考著他魂縈夢牽的問題 he continued his compulsive questioning.
牛頓發覺有些特定的問題， Newton realised there were certain problems,
大部分的運動和自由落體 mostly motion and falling objects,
你就是沒辦法用傳統的數學來解這些問題 that you just couldn't solve with the classical mathematics.
他發明了一些工具來計算實際上任意的變化率... He invented the means to compute virtually any rate of change...
...月球繞著地球的軌跡... ..the moon's path around the earth...
...貝殼生長的螺旋線... ..the growth pattern of a spiral shell...
...從大砲發射砲彈的彈道軌跡 ..the trajectory of a projectile fired from a cannon.
一種新型態的數學誕生了 A new type of mathematics was born.
微積分 Calculus.
微積分現在運用在 Calculus is used today
數學化的科學和工程的每一分支之中 in every branch of the mathematical sciences and engineering.
每當你有變化量－ Every time you have a changing quantity -
舉例來話，汽車在加速， say, for example, the acceleration on a car,
要注入多少汽油到引擎裏－ how much petrol is being injected into the engine -
這裏頭有變化量 there's a changing quantity there
所以你要用到微積分 so you have to use calculus.
不靠任何人一丁點的幫忙和指導， Without the least help or instruction from any person,
他在24歲以前，就為自己的全部發現 he laid the foundation of all his discoveries
奠下基礎 before he was 24 years old.
牛頓現在是世界上最頂尖的數學家 Newton was now the world's leading mathematician
但沒有人知道 but no-one else knew it.
他坐擁自己最偉大的發明 He kept his great inventions to himself.
他反而去進行了全新系列的實驗， Instead he started an entirely new set of experiments,
這一次... this time...
...是光 ..with light.
1665年八月， In August, 1665,
艾薩克爵士在斯陶爾布里奇的市集裏買了一個三稜鏡 Sir Isaac bought at Stourbridge Fair a prism
想辦法進行在笛卡爾書裏關於顏色的實驗， to try some experiments on Descartes' book of colours,
他回到家，在窗戶的百葉窗上鑽了個小洞 and when he came home, he made a small hole in the window shutters
讓房間暗下來 and darkened the room.
...著名的顏色現象... ..the celebrated phenomena of colours...
把我的房間弄暗一點 Having darkened my chamber
在我的窗簾上挖個小洞 and made a hole in my window shuts
讓適量的陽光射進來 to let in a convenient quantity of the sun's light,
我在它射進來之處放了三稜鏡 I placed my prism at its entrance
使陽光被折射到對面的牆上 that it might be refracted to the opposite wall.
這是件令人愉悅的消遣 It was a very pleasing divertissement
看著鮮豔光亮的五光十射 to view the vivid and intense colours produced.
幾個世紀以來，白光一直被視為 For centuries, white light was considered
宇宙之中最純淨的能量 the purest form of energy in the universe,
代表著上帝的力量 a symbol of God's power.
牛頓卻證明出白光... Newton was about to prove that white light...
...並不純淨 ..was not pure.
每個人都知道，如果讓陽光通過三稜鏡， Everybody knew that if you let sunlight shine through a prism,
三稜鏡會把陽光色散為七彩的光譜 the prism divides it into a spectrum of colours.
但大家所不知道的是接下來發生的事 What they didn't know was what happens next
如果你拿第二個三稜鏡放在部分的光束之中 if you put a second prism into a piece of the beam.
牛頓發現光譜中的顏色 Newton showed that the colours of the spectrum
不能再分解下去 could not be split any further.
它們才是最基本的 They were elemental.
白光是合成的 White light was composite.
牛頓馬上就看出來白光本身並不純淨 Newton saw right away that white itself is not pure.
白光是混合起來的 White is a mixture.
牛頓用可以重現的證明，粉碎了當時 Newton had shattered one of the most fundamental beliefs of his time
最基本的看法之一 with demonstrable proof.
在牛頓之前，三稜鏡只是個玩具 Before Newton, a prism was just a toy.
現在他讓它變成了一種工具 Now he had made it into a tool
對我們世界及外太空的研究 that would transform the study of our world
全面改觀 and outer space.
我們關於宇宙的知識有百分之九十甚至更多 90 percent or more of our knowledge of the universe
是從天空、恆星和行星收集來的光線 has come from collecting light from the sky and stars and planets,
再進行分光，實際上就是利用三稜鏡 and splitting it, effectively, through a prism.
可以由此得知關於行星大氣的組成 They can tell us about the composition of planetary atmospheres
或是恆星本身的成分 or the composition of stars.
也可以利用這個方法找出行星旋轉的速率 They can tell us about the rotation rates of planets.
全都是從牛頓觀察顏色的方法衍生出來的 All of that derives from Newton's looking at the colours.
而當時的牛頓仍是安於命定中的沒沒無聞 And yet Newton still seemed destined for obscurity.
他對於發行他所發現的成果興趣缺缺 He showed no interest in publishing his findings
似乎對於因此而帶來的喝采感到鄙視 and seemed to despise the acclaim it could bring.
我對於大眾的崇拜一點慾望也沒有 I do not see what is desirable in public esteem,
就算我能輕易獲得並且維持聲望不墜 were I able to acquire and maintain it.
只會增加我認識的人 It would only increase my acquaintance,
降低我重要的研究分量 the thing I chiefly study to decline.
牛頓的隱遁就要被破壞掉了， Newton's reclusiveness was about to be shattered,
這要歸功於他對光的貢獻 thanks to his obsession with light
和那個有實際用途的小發明 and a practical little invention.
在1660年代中期， By the mid-1660s,
望遠鏡是個簡單的管狀物，長達20英吋 telescopes were simple tubes, up to 20-feet-long,
使用一系列的鏡片來加強影像 using a series of lenses to magnify the image.
牛頓想出了嶄新的方法 Newton tried a radical new approach.
反射式的望遠鏡利用內部的鏡子，使得管子大大的減短 The reflecting telescope uses mirrors inside a much shorter tube
使得光線得以足夠的彎曲 so that the beam of light is bent often enough
這讓鏡片可以非常靠近 that the lenses can be much closer together.
這非常有用，因為現在你可以把它帶上船， That's wonderful. Now you can take it on-board ship,
事實上，你可以帶著它在全國跑來跑去 and, indeed, you can carry it around the country.
牛頓對他的望遠鏡感到非常驕傲 Newton was extremely proud of his telescope.
我親手打造的 I did it myself.
如果我要等別人幫我製作工具或其他東西， If I had waited for others to make my tools and things for me,
我可能什麼事都做不了！ I would never have made anything.
牛頓的反射式望遠鏡只有六英吋長 Newton's reflecting telescope was only six-inches-long,
而且和十倍長的折射式望遠鏡 yet it was as powerful as lens telescopes
效果相當 ten-times the length.
完全可以帶著走 It was totally portable
準備用來進行導航的徹底改革 and ready to revolutionise navigation.
望遠鏡和時鐘就是你在海上告訴你在何處 The telescope and the clock are what is needed
所必需的東西 to tell you where you are at sea.
直到GPS出現， And until GPS,
一直都是在海上航行所必要的物件 it was still the way that it was done if you were on a sailing ship.
1671年，牛頓的數學老師艾薩克·巴羅 In 1671, Newton's mathematics don Isaac Barrow
最終讓牛頓引起世界上 finally brought Newton to the attention
第一個科學組織 of the world's first scientific organisation,
在倫敦的皇家學會的注意 the Royal Society in London.
成員包括當時最偉大的心靈 Its members included great minds of the time
像是克里斯多佛·雷恩和天文學家愛德蒙·哈雷， such as Christopher Wren and astronomer Edmund Halley,
同時也是非常古怪的人 as well as a fair few eccentrics.
他們是一群紳士和貴族 They are a collection of gentlemen and nobility
而且他們的興趣涵蓋廣泛 and what they are interested in covers the spectrum,
從荒誕不經到崇論宏議的都有 from the ludicrous to the high-powered.
他們會對觀察他們自己的精液感到興趣， They are interested in looking at their own sperm,
他們對發現的東西完全著迷 which they found completely fascinating
我可以確定，他們回到家一定會自己試試看 and I'm sure they went away and tried at home.
你可以看到愛德蒙·哈雷在寫有關大麻的論文 You have Edmund Halley writing a paper on cannabis.
怎麼讓蘋果長得更好， You have How to Develop a Better Apple,
如何乾洗衣物 How to Wash Your Laundry
和如何處置痛風 and How to Deal With the Gout.
當時是在一個充滿神奇奧秘... You're in a world of magical mystery...
...無關痛癢和純科學，全都混在一起 ..nonsense and science, all mixed up together.
對於早期的皇家學會，沒有什麼東西是被限制的 There is nothing that is off-limits for the early Royal Society.
牛頓那具精巧的望遠鏡紅極一時 Newton's compact telescope was a hit.
那個只活在自己世界的人，受到皇家學會的熱烈歡迎 The man who lived in his head was hailed by the Royal Society
尤其是他親手做出來的作品 for what he had made with his hands.
牛頓也很開心 Newton was delighted.
我很訝異看到我的一項發明 I was surprised to see so much care taken
會引起那麼多人的關注 about securing an invention of mine
相對於我迄今的貢獻是那麼微不足道 for which I had hitherto had so little value.
1672年的元月，皇家學會馬上接受 Newton was accepted into the Royal Society
牛頓成為會員 in January, 1672,
他終於發表他在三稜鏡實驗中的發現 and he finally published his findings from the prism experiments
作為他的光與色彩的理論 as his Theory of Light and Colours.
牛頓無疑就是他的作品中重要的角色 Newton was in no doubt about the importance of his work.
如果不是在大自然之中的運作下， My theory of light and colour is the oddest,
進行了考慮最周全的檢測 if not the most considerable detection which has been made
我的光和色彩的理論是最古怪的 in the operations of nature.
牛頓的論文現在必須經過 Newton's paper would now have to be reviewed
皇家學會的實驗評議員羅伯特·虎克 by the curator of experiments at the Royal Society,
的復審才行 Robert Hooke.
虎克是倍受敬重的自然哲學家和發明者， Hooke was a highly respected natural philosopher and inventor,
他是藉由他親手做的顯微鏡觀察而畫的 famous for his drawings of insects, lice and house flies
昆蟲、虱子和蒼蠅聞名的 as seen through his homemade microscope.
虎克左右了牛頓的 Hooke would rule on the credibility
光與色彩理論的可信性 of Newton's Theory of Light and Colour.
我仔細讀完牛頓先生關於顏色和折射的論文， I have perused Mr Newton's discourse about colours and refractions,
我一點都不會對 and I was not a little pleased
他的觀察所得有任何好感或好奇 with the niceness and curiosity of his observations.
關於他因此而解決顏色現象的假設 Yet as to his hypothesis of solving the phenomena of colours thereby,
我認為，我也沒有看到 I confess, I cannot see yet
任何堅若磐石的論證 any undeniable argument
來讓我相信是準確無誤的 to convince me of the certainty thereof.
羅伯特·虎克復審論文 Robert Hooke peer-reviewed it
並且認用一點用處都沒有 and said it was worthless.
我想牛頓從來沒有因為這件事而原諒他 I don't think Newton ever forgave him for that.
我被復審論文 I've been peer-reviewed.
你不可能原諒把你的論文退回來的那個傢伙 You do never forgive the person who rejected your paper!
我有義務來讓你滿意嗎？ Am I bound to satisfy YOU?
你似乎會這麼想，這並不足以構成抗議的條件 It seems you thought it not enough to make objections
除非你也對我的侮辱，是因為我解答問題的能力 unless you could also insult me for my ability to answer them.
他非常，非常迅速保衛自己的智慧財產， He's very, very quick to defend his intellectual property,
他在對付像羅伯特·虎克這種人 and he does it in a kneejerk way, I think,
是沒有深思熟慮 with people like Robert Hooke.
我想這裏頭一定有來自於他自己的自我信念 There's certainly an element of paranoia that derives, I think,
偏執的成份在作祟 from his own self-belief.
牛頓對於答應將論文付印而深感懊悔 Newton regretted having ever permitted his paper to be published.
我發現我把它印出來對我根本就沒有用 I find from what little use I have made of the press
因為我不能享有從前那種平靜自由的生活，直到我可以忍受它 that I shall not enjoy my former serene liberty till I have done with it.
我打算淡然處之！ I intend to be solicitous no further!
每次只要有人批評他，任何時候任何人膽敢不同意他， Every time anybody criticised him, any time anybody dared disagree with him,
他就會想逃避 he went into retreat.
我告訴皇家學會，我會忙於其他的研究主題， I told the Royal Society that I was busy in some other subject,
某些我自己的事業 some business of my own.
他最深沉的本能就是從世界的舞台上龜縮回自己的天地， His deepest instincts were profound shrinking from the world,
一種無力處理的恐慌是把他的想法、信仰和發現 a paralysing fear that his thoughts, his beliefs, his discoveries
直接攤開在陽光下，以待公眾的評論 would be exposed to the criticism of the world.
牛頓會撤退回自己的內心世界 Newton withdrew back inside his mind.
把自己鎖在劍橋的房間裏， Locked in his Cambridge rooms,
在接下來的十二年裏，他成了真正的隱士 he became a virtual hermit for the next 12 years.
他所作出來的作品被認為危險到 The work he produced there was considered so dangerous
必須把它鎖在箱子裏兩個世紀之久 that it would be locked away for two centuries.
這就是他最深沉的迷障 This was his deepest obsession.
它就一直躺在黑暗之中等著 It lay waiting in the dark
直到，像一條神秘的巨龍， until, like some mythical dragon,
艾薩克·牛頓的秘密 Isaac Newton's secret
會被公諸於世的 could be released back into the world.
一大群貧窮的英國貴族 A bunch of impoverished English nobility
需要籌些錢， needed to raise some money,
就開始變賣已經躺在 and started selling papers
貯藏室幾百年的文件 that had been sitting in storage for centuries.
1963年，經濟學家約翰·梅納德·凱因斯 In 1936, the economist John Maynard Keynes
在拍賣會上買到了一些牛頓的秘密文件－ bought some of Newton's secret papers at auction -
一位偉大的數學家崇拜另一位 one great mathematician admiring another.
蘇富比正在拍賣一些東西 Sotheby's was auctioning the stuff off
凱因斯真的是被嚇到了 and Keynes was righteously horrified.
我的意思是，這是，抱歉，但是這本來就是英國的國寶， I mean, this is, excuse me, but it's England's birthright,
而且這些是非常重要的思想遺產，揭露這些文件 and the idea that these very important and revealing papers
讓它淪落到私人的手裏 were going to go into private hands
讓他覺得很不舒服 kind of disgusted him.
他發現... What he found...
...這裏頭的牛頓是完全不一樣的牛頓， ..revealed an utterly different Newton,
不是那位我們所想所知的那位理性的科學家 not the rational scientist we thought we knew.
牛頓所進行的研究是非常、非常龐大的計劃 What Newton does in a very, very large project
開始於1670年代晚期， beginning in the late 1670s,
他竭盡所能找到許多經典的文獻來源 he goes back to as many classical sources as he can find -
希臘、羅馬、埃及、巴比倫、迦勒底－ Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Babylonian, Chaldean -
而且他全部都仔細研讀過 and he reads into them
這些人物的想法後來被稱為牛頓學說 the idea that these people knew about Newtonianism.
牛頓斷言這些古代的文化 Newton alleged that these ancient cultures
早就知道地球和彗星是繞著太陽轉 had always known that the earth and comets travel round the sun.
他們瞭解上帝的力量， They understood God's power,
塑造宇宙那股看不見的力量 the invisible force that shaped the universe.
現在他也瞭解了！ And now he would, too.
他是最後的魔法師 He was the last of the magicians,
最後的巴比倫人、最後的蘇美人 the last of the Babylonians and Sumerians,
和最後最偉大的心靈，用相同的眼睛仔細觀看著這個大千世界 the last great mind that looked out on the visible world with the same eyes
就和那些在一萬年前就開始開創智慧遺產 as those who began to build our intellectual inheritance
那些人一樣 10,000 years ago.
牛頓相信他得脚踏實地 Newton believed he'd been put on earth
確實無誤將這些偉大的真理傳給全人類 to reveal these great truths to humanity.
我想這裏頭應該包含著相當的自負和野心 I think there's something extremely arrogant and ambitious
這就是牛頓對自己的期許 about how Newton sees himself,
而且他也把自己看作是從諾亞到摩西到耶穌 and he sees himself in a lineage
最後傳承到他自己 that goes from Noah to Moses to Christ
一脈相承而來的子孫 and ends in himself.
牛頓相信這些古代文明 Newton believed that these ancient civilisations
全都源自於科學化的宗教 all shared one scientific religion.
比起其他宗教，這是第一種最理性的宗教， That first religion was the most rational of all others,
直到國家把它給篡改了 till the nations corrupted it.
牛頓確信他得把篡改前的源頭給找出來 Newton was convinced he'd found the source of the corruption.
他相信某些存在於基督徒， He believed something that most Christians,
無論是清教徒或天主教徒之中的東西 whether they're Protestant or Catholic,
是該被強烈指責、令人厭惡的 would find deeply reprehensible, disgusting,
可能還比無神論者還要糟糕 probably even worse than atheism.
牛頓不相信 Newton denied
神是三位一體的 that God was a Trinity.
只有一個真神 There is one God,
永生永存、全能全知的天父， the Father ever-living, omnipresent, omniscient, almighty,
天堂和地球的創造者， the maker of Heaven and Earth,
而且上帝和人之間只有一個中介者 and one mediator between God and Man,
也是個人，耶穌基督 the Man, Christ Jesus.
這是比最激進的清教徒還要激進 This went beyond even the most radical Protestantism.
這是異端邪說 This was heresy.
但牛頓更徹底研讀聖經 But Newton had studied the Bible more thoroughly
比研究任何科學問題還徹底 than any scientific question.
他斷言在四世紀的時候，聖經被添寫了錯誤的文本 He concluded that false texts had been inserted into the Bible in the 4th century
來張顯耶穌的神性 to assert Christ's divinity.
反對三位一體在當時是違法的 Anti-Trinitarianism was illegal.
這是違法的，原則上，你有可能因為這樣而喪命 It was outlawed. In principle, you could be put to death for it.
這是令人不安的秘密 This was a dreadful secret
使得牛頓一生都在隱藏此事而處於極端痛苦之中 that Newton was at desperate pains to conceal all his life.
牛頓藏得比異端邪說還深沉 Newton concealed more than heresy.
他也追隨著神秘的探索 He was also following a mystical quest
可以回溯到希臘和埃及時代－ that went back to the Greeks and Egyptians -
研究... the study...
煉金術， of alchemy,
尋找神奇的配方 the search for the divine ingredient
不只能讓鉛變成黃金 that could not only turn lead into gold
也可以給予生命的力量 but give the power of life itself.
牛頓在找賢者之石 Newton was searching for The Philosopher's Stone.
這是維繫生命重要的物質，如果摻一點到化學藥劑裏， This was the vital substance that, if introduced into a chemical potion,
就能讓一塊金屬 could turn that from just a lump of metal
變成活生生的東西 into something alive.
有一種精力的介質， There is a vital agent,
在泥土裏滲透到萬物之中 diffuse through everything in the earth,
一種汞狀的精氣， a mercurial spirit,
極端細微和非常易變 extremely subtle and supremely volatile,
傳播到每個地方 which is dispersed through every place.
這種想法讓你可以擁有上帝的力量， The idea that you could have God's power,
生與死的力量 the power of life and death
淨化成一種物質， distilled into a substance,
使它變得似乎危險到 made it seem so dangerous
它本身就是罪過 that it had to be illegal.
焚膏繼晷－ The fire scarcely went out night or day -
有個晚上，他和我熬夜 he sitting up one night and I another,
直到完成他的化學實驗 till he had finished his chemical experiments.
牛頓總是要求精確 Newton was always precise.
一絲不苟記錄下他收集到的結果， He meticulously recorded his results,
甚至在追尋煉金術的神祕目標也是如此 even when pursuing the magical goals of alchemy.
今天，我們稱之為科學方法 Today, we call it the Scientific Method.
他是最精確、最嚴謹和最正確的 He was most accurate, strict and exact.
他的目的是什麼，我沒能力參透， What his aim might be, I was not able to penetrate into,
但他的痛苦、他的勤奮 but his pain, his diligence,
讓我覺得他是向著某個方向前進的 made me think he was aiming for something
是在人類藝術和工業之外的目的 beyond the reach of human art and industry.
他不只是對煉金術士有瘋狂般的執著 He was not just a crazy obsessive alchemist.
他還是全歐洲無與倫比的煉金師 He was the peerless alchemist of Europe.
再也沒有比他更優秀的煉金師 There was no better alchemist.
牛頓的煉金術研究 Newton's alchemical studies
甚至啟發他超越了科學能力 inspired him beyond even his scientific abilities.
他的直覺讓他描述出近乎神奇的轉變 His intuition led him to describe a seemingly magical transformation
這是只有在二百年之後才被瞭解的現象 that would only be understood 200 years later.
物體變成光的變化，而且光也會變成物體， The changing of bodies into light, and light into bodies,
這是非常契合自然的現象， is very conformable to nature,
自然界似乎以變化為樂 which seems delighted with transmutation.
這種變化 This transmutation
在1905年的物理界被愛因斯坦石破天驚的理論所預測到 anticipated Einstein's great breakthrough in physics in 1905.
質量和能量是可以互換的， Mass and energy are interchangeable,
或愛因斯坦把它表示為， or as Einstein puts it,
E = MC2 E = MC2.
事實上，這聽起來非常類似愛因斯坦的說法 Actually, it does sound very like Einstein.
他明白地表示出來物體和光是可以互相轉換的 He is exactly saying that body and light are interchangeable
用相同的方式質量和能量 in the same way that mass and energy
是可以互相轉換的或是互相改變的 are interconvertible or interchangeable.
所以牛頓才說，你知道嗎？這世上所有的東西 So Newton is saying, you know, all the things in the world
都可以被轉變成其他的萬事萬物 can be transformed into everything else.
牛頓追求的轉變 Newton's quest for transformations
就是現代物理和化學的核心 is now at the heart of modern physics and chemistry.
煉金術就是今天把魔法確實呈現出來的根源 Alchemy is at the root of today's practical magic.
藉由打開古老的智慧， By being open to ancient wisdom,
牛頓能夠超越他自己那個時代 Newton was able to go beyond the thinking of his own time
進到未來 and into the future.
箱子裏的文件 The documents in the trunk
最後終於接合了牛頓兩端的天才 finally reunited the two sides of Newton's genius.
幾百年前... It was... centuries
在有科學之前 before history of science
可以容忍同時進行煉金術和天文的牛頓這樣的人 could tolerate a Newton who did both alchemy and astronomy.
這就是為什麼牛頓看起來是那麼衝突的形象集於一身 That's why it looks as if he's a fractured figure.
這也是基於實際的考慮... It is actually that...
...煉金術的作品要埋藏起來，實際上是從視野中隱去 ..the alchemical works were buried, literally hidden from view.
我們可以想像一條清楚的界線畫在 We imagine that there's a clear line to draw
科學家和理性主義者的牛頓和 between Newton the scientist and rationalist,
神秘神學家的牛頓之間 and Newton the mystical theologian,
但從頭到尾他只是孤軍奮戰 but he was only one man.
1684年， In 1684,
牛頓只是個沒沒無聞的學者， Newton was just an obscure academic,
隱藏在芸芸眾生之中 hiding from the world.
牛頓最離群索居的年代， Newton's wilderness years,
在他研究了煉金術十二年後， his 12 years of studying alchemy,
突然嘎然而止 come to a sudden stop
因為從倫敦來的天文學家 with a chance visit from Edmund Halley,
愛德蒙·哈雷的偶然造訪 the astronomer from London.
1684年，我來劍橋看他 In 1684, I came to visit him in Cambridge
我請教他行星運行的軌道 and I asked him what he thought the curve would be -
會是什麼曲線 described by the planets -
假設力量是指向太陽的吸引力 supposing the force of attraction toward the sun
和它的距離平方成反比 to be reciprocal to the square of the distance from it.
艾薩克爵士毫不考慮就回答，「是橢圓。」 Sir Isaac replied immediately, "It would be an ellipse."
我被喜悅和驚奇嚇得不能自己 I was struck with joy and amazement!
我請教他怎麼知道的，「喔！為什麼...」他說，「...我計算過呀！」 I asked him how he knew. "Oh why..." said he, "..I've calculated it."
我毫不猶豫要求看他的計算過程 I asked him for his calculations without any further delay
他承諾可以重作一份再送給我！ and he promised to re-do it and send it to me!
是呀！哈雷對此非常激動 Well, Halley was agog by this.
他實際的說法是如果你可以瞭解行星運行的原因， He had actually said that if you could understand why the planets moved,
你就是個優秀的天文學家 you would have perfected astronomy.
就是這樣，主題結束，全部完成，回家 That would be it. Subject finished, full stop, go home.
那個時代裏的所有偉大心靈 All the great minds of the day
都是在設法解釋行星運動的軌跡， were trying to explain the movements of the planets,
從克里斯多佛·雷恩到牛頓的天敵 from Christopher Wren to Newton's old adversary
羅伯特·虎克 Robert Hooke.
牛頓對這件事非常有興趣 He was particularly intrigued to do this
因為他知道羅伯特·虎克做不出來 because Robert Hooke couldn't.
所以現在有個現成的機會來證明誰才是 So here was an opportunity to prove once and for all
有始以來最好的數學家 who was the best mathematician.
他，嗯，有時候去花園裏繞個兩圈， He, er, sometimes would take a turn or two around his garden,
突然會站定不動， suddenly stood still,
轉身回去，爬上樓梯時就像阿基米德大喊「我想到了！」 turned about and back up the stairs like Archimedes with a "Eureka!"
站在桌邊就開始寫下他想到的內容， and began writing at his desk while standing,
連椅子都沒有拉出來坐下！ without drawing a chair to sit down!
現在我正要完成這個主題， Now I was upon this subject,
我會很高興在我付印之前可以看到全部的原貌 I would gladly know the bottom of it before I publish my papers.
牛頓勤勞不懈努力了兩年， Newton worked relentlessly for over two years,
親手寫下他所發現的點點滴滴 drawing on everything he had ever discovered.
他不再滿足於 He's not so much content
想出一個可能的解釋說明， with coming up with possible explanations,
他要的是完整的解釋 he wants THE explanation.
我讓問題不斷呈現在我面前， I kept the subject constantly before me,
直到第一條線索慢慢展開， until the first dawnings opened slowly,
一點一滴，匯聚成完滿而清晰的靈光 little by little, into the full and clear light.
成果是利用數學形式來預測力怎麼影響移動－ The result was a mathematical way to predict how forces affect movement -
稱為牛頓三大運動定律 Newton's Three Laws of Motion.
物體會維持原來的靜止狀態， Every body continues in its state of rest,
或在直線上維持原來的運動狀態， or in uniform motion in its right line,
除非它被外力所影響 unless it is affected by an external force.
運動的變化量是和外力大小成正比， This change in motion is in proportion to the external force,
而且就在外力作用的相同方向上 and is made in the direction of the straight line in which that force is impressed.
作用力一定產生大小相同的反向反作用力， To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction,
分別作用在兩物體上，此兩力一定大小相等， the mutual action of two bodies upon each other are always equal,
方向相反作用在不同物體上 and directed to contrary parts.
這三條定律用來解釋力學怎麼作用在 These three laws managed to explain the mechanics
物體的實際移動上 of how virtually everything moves.
但牛頓發覺還有另一種看不見的因素牽涉到 But Newton realised there was another invisible element involved
讓行星保持在繞著太陽運行軌道上 that kept the planets orbiting the sun.
從他的煉金術裏， From his alchemy,
他對於彌漫於整個空間的精氣， he was quite comfortable with the idea
這種想法是相當自在的 of spirits pervading space,
不需要接觸就可以產生影響 influencing things without contact.
他把那些想法轉化為力的其中一種 And he transmuted those ideas into one of forces.
牛頓推論這些力可以隔了一段距離還能作用 Newton deduced that these forces acted at a distance,
跨越空間，在萬事萬物之間 across space, between all things.
太陽吸引木星和其他的行星 The sun attracts Jupiter and the other planets.
木星吸引它的衛星 Jupiter attracts its satellites
都是相同的原因1， and, for the same reason,
所有行星互相作用，彼此相互影響 all planets act mutually, one upon the other.
牛頓的傑作 Newton's masterstroke
就是發現行星彼此相互吸引的力是相同的 was realising that the same force that attracted the planets to one another
這種力也存在於地球上 also existed on earth.
這種力現在證明 It is now established
就是重力 that this force is gravity.
牛頓尋找的精力的介質 Newton's search for a vital agent,
就是一種存在於整個宇宙的超距力 a single magical force that runs through the universe,
最後終於被實現了 had finally been fulfilled.
牛頓把玄學和數學結合起來 Newton had combined mysticism and mathematics
證明了一種獨特的力 to prove that a single power
在宇宙之中影響著所有的物體 affects every object in the universe.
雨滴會掉落地面 It pulls a raindrop to earth
河流會流向大海， and a river to the sea,
流動時雕琢著大地 carving the earth as it flows.
重力讓大海保持在地上， Gravity holds the sea to the earth,
而且月球和太陽 and the moon and the sun
影響著地球上的潮汐 pulls the earth into tides.
重力讓月球繞著地球運轉 Gravity makes the moon go round the earth
也讓地球繞著太陽運轉 and the earth go around the sun.
太陽只是銀河系裏數以千億計的恆星之一 Just one of the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy,
銀河... the Milky Way...
...只是眾多星系中的一個繞著 ..just one more galaxy going round
百萬兆恆星的處女座超星系運行， with the 200 trillion stars of the Virgo Supercluster,
全都因為重力 all of it held together
而在一起 by gravity.
為什麼我要稱他是位魔法師？ Why do I call him a magician?
因為他把宇宙和在其中的所有事物都看作是 Because he looked on the universe and all that is in it
一個謎題 as a riddle,
可以被解讀的秘密 as a secret which could be read
針對上帝呈現在世上的神秘線索， by applying pure thought to mystic clues
運用純粹理性的思考 which God had laid about the world
就像是一種追求哲學家的珍寶的過程 like a sort of philosopher's treasure hunt.
有兩種天才 There are two kinds of geniuses.
一種是普通的天才，另一種是魔法師 There are ordinary geniuses and there are magicians.
普通的天才是那種一旦你瞭解他們怎麼做 An ordinary genius is someone who, once you understand what they've done,
你就會說，「喔，好吧！只要我再聰明一點點」 you say, "Oh, OK! If I were just a lot smarter,
「我也能做得到」 "I could've done that."
但魔法師是那種即使你看過他們怎麼做的， But a magician is someone who, even after you see what they've done,
甚至你都瞭解了之後，你還是會覺得完全是個謎 even after you understand it, you think it's a complete mystery.
而牛頓就是魔法師 And Newton was a magician.
他就是那種不知道會從那裏得到靈感的人 He was somebody who seemed to pull ideas out of nowhere.
艾薩克．牛頓最後在1687年出版他那本大部頭的書 Isaac Newton finally published his magnum opus in 1687,
五百頁滿滿的文字、圖表和計算－ 500 pages of densely-packed words, diagrams and calculations -
自然哲學的數學原理， The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy,
原理 the Principia.
少部分能瞭解牛頓數學的人陷入狂喜之中 The few people who could understand Newton's maths were in raptures.
天上掉下來的論文， A divine treatise,
將人類的理智推上另一個高峰 exalting human reason to such a pitch
藉由這...這個心靈的竭盡心力！ by this... this utmost effort of the mind!
牛頓的精確計算 Newton's precise calculations
提供這個世界一種方法來預測... gave the world a way to predict the motion of virtually...
...所有物體的運動 ..everything.
彗星和日食不再是末日的預兆 Comets and eclipses were no longer omens of doom.
可以精確預測出來 They could be accurately forecast.
可以解釋潮汐現象 Tides could be explained.
建築物的靜力平衡可以計算出來 The forces holding up buildings could be worked out
而且重量的分布也能計算出來 and weight distribution computed.
最後，飛機可以被設計出來 Eventually, aeroplanes could be designed
火箭得以升空... and rockets launched...
...全都因為有能力對力和運動進行運算 ..all due to the ability to calculate forces and motion.
牛頓學說的時代已經到來 The Newtonian Age had arrived.
但是發行版本也帶來了爭議， But publication also brought controversy,
再一次又是羅伯特·虎克引起的， once again from Robert Hooke,
他聲稱他是 who claimed he was the originator
萬有引力的原創者 of the Theory of Universal Gravitation.
我認為我才是發現天體運動的原因， I conceived that discovery of the cause of celestial motions,
所以牛頓先生，或是其他人，都沒有權力宣告所有權 to which Mr Newton, nor any other, has any right to claim.
我現在認為自然史上最偉大的發現 I now conceive it to be one of the greatest discoveries yet made
還沒有出現 in natural history.
虎克正在為相同的事情努力著是不爭的事實， It's true that Hooke was working on the same thing,
哈雷也深感興趣，而且所有的... and Halley was interested, and all of these...
...所有其他人在這個領域裏努力所累積的知識，也是成就他之所以能發現 ..the knowledge that all these other people were working on it was a part of what made it possible
他所發現的部分原因 for him to discover what he discovered.
牛頓準備要承認他的成就是建立在別人的功勞之上的， Newton was prepared to admit that he built on other people's work,
但不是像虎克那種人的功勞 but not the work of people like Hooke.
假如我可以看得更遠， If I have seen further,
那是因為我是站在巨人的肩膀上 it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
據信這是故意諷刺虎克身材短小的形象 Some believe this was really a cutting reference to Hooke's short stature.
牛頓無意分享他發現的功勞 Newton was not interested in sharing credit for his discovery.
他拒絕虎克的聲明 He rejected Hooke's claim
而且說虎克是個差勁的數學家 and said that Hooke was too poor a mathematician
連理解微積分的能力都沒有 to even understand the calculations involved.
他只會假裝掌握了所有的東西 He does nothing but pretend and grasp at all things.
他相當會為自己的無能找藉口 He should rather excuse himself by reason of his inability.
發現重力的所有者， Those properties of gravity,
是我自己首先發現的 which I myself first discovered
而且在多年以前就已經對公眾發表過了， and showed to this society many years since,
牛頓先生把它當作是自己的發明 Mr Newton has done me the favour
而付印發行，真是幫了我個大忙 to print and publish as his own inventions.
公眾的興趣是沒有良知的 Interest has no conscience.
虎克的聲譽再也沒有恢復過 Hooke's reputation never recovered.
他一下子就被牛頓如日中天的名聲所淹沒 He was soon eclipsed by Newton's fame.
牛頓的時代已經來臨 Newton's time had come.
啟蒙時代正籠罩在它的光輝之中 The Age of Enlightenment was in its glory
他名揚四海 and he was famous.
甚至在新王奧蘭治的威廉的統治下 Even his extreme Protestantism was more acceptable
最激進的清教徒也非常能接受牛頓 under the new King William of Orange.
牛頓在1692年成為國會的劍橋會員 Newton became a Member of Parliament for Cambridge in 1692.
但牛頓從來不公開他的鍊金術 But Newton revealed nothing about his alchemy.
反而，他開始普及他的想法， Instead, he began to popularise his ideas,
從重力開始 starting with gravity.
蘋果...來自果園的靈感， The apple... Musing in the garden,
從心裏冒出來的想法是， it came to mind that the power of gravity,
重力把蘋果從樹上拉到地面， which brought an apple from the tree to the ground,
重力可以超越離地距離的限制 was not limited to a certain distance from the earth.
這種力量可以擴展的範圍一定比想像中的還要深遠 This power must extend much further than was usually thought.
「為什麼不能作用到月球那麼高呢？」我告訴我自己， "Why not as high as the moon?" I said to myself,
「如果真的是這樣，一定會影響到月亮的移動」 "And if so, that must influence her motion."
這個故事緊扣人心 The story caught on
馬上要比科學所啟發的內容還要廣為人知 and soon became better known than the science that inspired it.
這真的發生過嗎？我們只聽牛頓談過這件事 Did it actually happen? We only have Newton's word for it.
在他過世之前，只有簡短談過四次， He told the story four times shortly before he died,
所以在他大半輩子裏，從未提過隻字半語 so for the majority of his life he never mentioned it.
最後，掉在牛頓頭上的蘋果成為 Eventually, the apple was shown falling on Newton's head
受到天啟頓悟時刻的代表 like a moment of divine inspiration.
變成了科學上的神話 It's become a scientific myth.
變成一種框架，左右著我們怎麼看待科學 It frames, it governs how we think about science.
我們真的這樣想，偉天的天才 We really like to think that there's great geniuses
突然受到上帝的感召的樣子 who suddenly are inspired by God.
但是正當全世界要開始認識他的天份時， But just as the world began to recognise his genius,
牛頓又再一次隱退而去 Newton retreated once again.
在他五十歲生日的某處， Somewhere about his 50th birthday,
他正遭受一種我們現在所知道的嚴重神經系統的崩潰 he suffered what one we now term a severe nervous breakdown.
失眠、憂鬱， Sleeplessness, melancholia,
迫害妄想... fear of persecution...
造成他的心智崩潰的原因 The cause of his mental collapse
一直是他一生中最巨大的謎團 remains the greatest mystery of his life.
產量豐沛的理論 Theories abound.
特殊的崩潰 The particular breakdown
或衰退，或叫什麼都可以，發生在1693年， or collapse, or whatever it was, of 1693,
恰好發生在一個時期 it does coincide with a period
他正和羅伯特·波以耳通信 when he's corresponding with Robert Boyle
談論一些非常特殊的煉金術實驗， about some very specific alchemical experiments,
而且確實涉及近距離使用大量的水銀 and it does involve close-up use of a lot of mercury.
有可能這是造成他崩潰的部分原因 It may be that part of the reason for his breakdown
因此他警覺到他不可能在 was that he realises that he cannot urge
煉金術上獲得渴望的成果， the alchemical work to fruition,
可能因此在這個領域裏毫無動靜的原因 that perhaps there's nothing in this after all.
也有可能牛頓並不是一般所相信的 It may also be that Newton had not been as solitary
那麼離群所居 as is commonly believed.
這當然絕對不是巧合 It is absolutely no coincidence that
在他被稱作是崩潰之前的短暫時間， shortly before he had the so-called breakdown,
和一位來自瑞士的年輕數學家叫法西奧·德丟列突然絕交， his friendship with a young man called Fatio de Duillier, a Swiss mathematician, broke off,
而且德丟列回到瑞士 and de Duillier went back to Switzerland
而且從此牛頓很難再見他一面， and Newton hardly ever saw him again,
在那件事之前，大約隔了一、兩年之前， whereas before that, for the space of a year or two,
他們互相通信，為了延長相處的時間，他們投宿在彼此的屋子裏 they'd been writing to each other and staying in each other's houses for protracted periods of time.
所以對我來說是很明白的一件事 So it seems quite clear to me
在他們之間一定有很強烈的情緒連結 that there was a very strong emotional bond between them.
牛頓一生未婚， Newton never married,
而且和他所認識的女人都沒有建立任何關係 nor is he known to have had any relations with women.
他開始妄想他的朋友正在嘲弄他 He began to imagine that his friends were mocking him.
他寫給約翰·洛克的信中... He writes to John Locke letters...
...讓洛克覺得牛頓的心態很危險 ..that lead Locke to think that Newton's mind is deranged.
閣下，對於你努力企圖把我和女人糾纏在一起的想法， Sir, being of the opinion that you endeavoured to embroil me with women,
而且運用其他手段， and by other means,
我對此深感困擾， I was so much affected with it,
因此當有人跟我說你噁心到不該活在這世上， that when someone told me you were sickly and would not live,
我的回答是你最好是死了算了！ I answered it were better if you were dead.
用他自己話來說，他喪失了之前心靈的協調性 He lost, in his own words, the former consistency of his mind.
他不再專心在追求舊時代的智慧， He never again concentrated after the old-fashioned,
也沒有做出什麼新鮮的玩意 or did any fresh work.
三年之後，他打包好自己的文件，離開了劍橋 Three years later, he packed up his papers and left Cambridge.
牛頓即將展現他最詭異的變化 Newton was about to perform his strangest transformation.
從一個沒沒無聞的學者 The hermit and academic
變成權傾一時的男人 became a man of power.
因為他在國際上的名氣和聲望如日中天 In recognition of his international fame,
處在啟蒙時代核心人物，倍受推崇的地位上 he was awarded a position at the heart of the Establishment
他成了倫敦塔錢幣鑄造廠的廠長 as Warden of the Mint at the Tower of London.
牛頓也擠身到 Newton also took his place
科學精英最頂尖的地位 at the top of the scientific elite.
他在1703年尾成了皇家學會的會長， He becomes President of the Royal Society at the end of 1703,
而且在科學界和歐洲享有極大的盛名， and then within the scientific world and pretty much within Europe, as well,
他成了統領知識領域的標竿人物， he becomes the dominant intellectual figure,
支配著科學界的政客 the dominant scientific politico.
他所擁有的權力 This power that he has
把他帶進了他自己人格當中較黑暗的一面 brings out the nastier side of his personality.
羅伯特·虎克在那年年初過世 Robert Hooke had died earlier that year.
牛頓似乎下定決心要把他的對手，很歷史當中消除乾淨 Newton seemed determined to obliterate his rival's place in history
斬草除根、不留痕跡 and ensure his own.
在他成為皇家學會的會長時， One of the first things he did
他首先要做的事情之一就是 when he became President of the Royal Society
獻上自己的畫像， was to donate his own portrait,
而且也在相同的時期 and this was also the time
羅伯特·胡克的畫像神秘失蹤了！ when Robert Hooke's picture went mysteriously missing.
沒人能找到羅伯特·胡克一張肖像畫，一張都不留 Nobody has ever been able to find a portrait of Robert Hooke. No portrait exists.
我們沒有證據，但非常可疑 There's no proof, but it's a bit suspicious.
牛頓拔擢親信 Newton promoted his supporters
排除異己 and crushed the doubters.
他要求絕對服從 He also demanded deference.
他命令皇家天文學家約翰·佛蘭斯蒂德， He ordered the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed,
提供數據給他 to supply him with data.
不變恆星的完整目錄 A complete catalogue of the fixed stars
應該由格林威治天文台觀測整合再製作出來， should be composed by observations to be made at Greenwich,
你的職責就應該提供這樣的觀測數據 and the duty of your place is to furnish such observations.
你儘快完成自己的工作 Your speedy compliance is expected.
他粗鄙對待佛蘭斯蒂德和要求數據的手段 He treated Flamsteed shabbily and he wanted the data.
佛蘭斯蒂德想：「我是皇家天文學家 Flamsteed thought, "I'm the Royal Astronomer.
「不要使喚我，要和我合作」 "Don't just use me, collaborate with me."
你可以看得出來這是多傷佛蘭斯蒂德的感情 You know, you can see how Flamsteed's feelings would've been hurt.
他竭盡所能把話說得很難聽！ He called me all the ill names he could think of!
我把真心對待他的熱情 I put him in mind of his passion
並且要求他能控制一下自己的感情和脾氣 and asked him to govern it and keep his temper.
這讓他更加生氣！ This made him rage worse!
我馬上就發現他只是想要強迫我去遵從他的意願 I soon perceived that he planned only to force me to comply with his will
去奉承和讚美他，就像哈雷博士一樣 and flatter him and praise him as Dr Halley did.
佛蘭斯蒂德企圖把牛頓精神不正常的一面引出來 Flamsteed makes Newton out to be a psychopath
那種只想要別人崇拜他的意圖， who was intent only on getting idolaters,
而且也有人說 and one has to say
佛蘭斯蒂德已經掌握住牛頓人格上的某種缺陷 that Flamsteed has captured something of Newton's personality.
瘋子和天才， Psychopath and genius,
妄想者和厭世者， visionary and misanthrope,
受人敬重的科學家 revered scientist
和孤獨的老人... and lonely old man...
...艾薩克·牛頓生命終了的最後幾年 ..Isaac Newton lived out his final years
變成了一個專橫的公務員， as an autocratic civil servant,
鑄造廠廠長和皇家學會會長 Master of the Mint and President of the Royal Society.
他修定了部分早期的作品，但很少有新作品出現 He revised some of his earlier work but produced little new.
他那如風暴的天才 The storm of his genius
已經平息下來 had blown itself out.
1727年，三月18日星期六 On Saturday March 18th, 1727,
牛頓從人生的舞台中退場了 Newton made his final retreat into himself.
他漸漸進入昏迷狀態，那年他84歲 Aged 84, he slipped into a coma.
那天晚上，他愈來愈虛弱 That evening, he grew weaker
而且整個星期天都在昏睡 and all Sunday was quite insensible
似乎相當平靜而不痛苦 and seemed to be quiet and free from pain.
20日星期一，凌晨一點鐘 On Monday 20th, at one in the morning,
他過世了！ he died.
牛頓埋骨於西敏寺 Isaac Newton was buried in Westminster Abbey
空前隆重的盛況及葬禮 with unprecedented pomp and ceremony.
他成為另一種國家英雄－ He became a new kind of national hero -
科學天才 the scientific genius.
對於這樣孤獨、自我封閉的人， For such a lonely, isolated guy,
他的確功成名就、天下無雙 he did achieve an unparalleled measure of fame
因為有可能只是個普通的知識分子 for someone who was merely an intellectual.
英國為他舉行國葬 I mean, he had a state funeral.
在他之前，對於不是貴族 No-one had had a state funeral before
或有藝術成就的人是不能舉辦國葬的， who had no noble connections or artistic achievements,
他的成就完全是建立在心靈領域而國葬的第一人 whose achievements were purely in the realm of the mind.
接下來超過兩百年的時間裏， Over the next 200 years,
牛頓的名氣隨著理性主義的濤天巨浪而水漲船高 Newton's fame as the titan of rationalism grew
有部分原因要感謝他的崇拜者的合作 thanks, in part, to the conspiracy by his admirers
維護牛頓的名聲 to safeguard that reputation.
他的全部手稿都被捆紮成束，存封在兩個巨大的箱子裏， All his manuscripts were bundled up and put into two large trunks,
歷經十八世紀到十九世紀的歲月， and from time to time during the 18th and 19th centuries,
為牛頓立傳的人都會仔細翻找這兩個箱子 people who were writing about Newton would go and rummage through these two trunks.
他們只要找到關於煉金術和宗教相關的內容 Whenever they found anything to do with alchemy or religion,
自然而然將其放回箱子裏 they shoved it back into the trunk
因為他們認為有可能會折損牛頓的名聲 because they thought that might damage Newton's reputation.
在1936年，約翰·梅納德·凱因斯重現它們時， When John Maynard Keynes uncovered them in 1936,
牛頓對煉金術的熱情被揭露出來 Newton's passion for alchemy was revealed.
魔法師牛頓是以科學家的名聲入葬的 Newton the magician had been buried under his fame as the scientist.
凱因斯發覺牛頓比歷史能容忍還要 Keynes realised that Newton was much more complex a man
更複雜得多的一個人 than history had allowed.
他位於理性時代的最崇高地位， He has become the sage and monarch of the Age of Reason,
艾薩克·牛頓爵士既是傳統的正統， THE Sir Isaac Newton of orthodox tradition,
也是研究了一輩子的異端邪說的牛頓！ Newton, whose secret heresies had been the study of a lifetime!
艾薩克·牛頓既是科學家，也是魔法師， Isaac Newton, scientist and magician,
總是問著這個大問題， always asked the big questions,
我們還回答不出來的問題 questions we still haven't answered.
我們仍然不知道自然界的生命是什麼？ We still don't know what is the nature of life.
當我們活著和死去的差別是什麼？ What is the difference between me when I'm dead and me when I'm alive?
我們的確還沒辦法回答這樣的問題 We don't really have an answer to that question.
我們還是不知道光、重力、電、磁到底是什麼 We still don't really know what light and gravity and electricity and magnetism are.
我們可以得到數學方程式來描述它們， We've got mathematical equations that can describe them,
但是自然哲學的問題－ but the natural philosophical question -
為什麼他們在那裏？他們是什麼？重力是怎麼運作的？－ Why are they there? What are they? how does gravity operate? -
我想我們沒辦法確實回答那些大哉問 I don't think we really have the answers to those big questions.
也許最後我們能記得牛頓最重要的事 Maybe the most important thing to remember about Newton in the end
不是他所完成的事業 is that he did not think he had finished anything.
不是他總是解決了一個難題，或任何難題 He did not think he had solved a problem for all time, any problem.
而是他開啟了一道門 He thought he had opened a door
大家也能跟著他繼續穿過去的一道門 and that people would continue to walk through it.
「我不知道要以何種面貌來面對世界， 'I do not know what I may appear to the world,
「但對我自己而言 'but to myself,
「我似乎只是一個在海邊遊戲的小男孩， 'I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore,
「偶爾找到光滑一點的卵石自娛 'amusing myself by now and then finding a smoother pebble
「比普通漂亮一點的貝殼， 'or prettier shell than ordinary,
「在我對面渺無人跡、浩瀚無涯的真理之洋時」 'while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.'