中國古代的十大發明(1)
We take a lot of things for granted in the Modern world. Fiber optic cables deliver enormous amounts of information at nearly the speed of light. You can hop into your car and shout your destination at your GPS navigation system, and a digitized and disembodied voice issues easy-to-follow directions. We have it pretty sweet here in the 21st century.
是否有了像GPS導航這樣的發明，我們就忘記了古代文明的價值？要知道，正是這些文明，爲我們今天的一切奠定了基石。我們對當今世界的很多技術都已經習以爲常。光纖電纜以近乎光速的速度傳輸着海量信息；你進入駕駛室，對着GPS導航儀說出你的目的地，就會有數字化模擬人聲簡單明瞭地給你指明路線...21世紀的生活真是讓我們嚐遍了甜頭。As time marches on, it becomes easier to overlook the contributions of those who came before us. Even in the 19th century, Charles Duell, patent commissioner of the United States, reportedly remarked that everything that can be invented already has been invented.
隨着時間流逝，我們越來越容易忽略前人所做的貢獻。據報道，早在19世紀，美國專利局的專員查爾斯·迪尤爾（Charles Duell）就聲稱"所有能發明的東西，都已經發明出來了。"Clearly, if Duell said such a thing, he was way off. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen enormous booms in ingenuity. However, his alleged words also reveal an understanding that seems to have been lost. He understood that humans have experienced flashes of brilliance and made discoveries throughout history. He also understood that these advances have so greatly accelerated human progress that everything following them seems to be built on the foundation provided by these early inventions.
如果迪尤爾當時確實說過這話，那他顯然錯的很離譜，因爲在20世紀和21世紀，人類創造力空前繁榮，發明出了許許多多精妙的東西。然而，迪尤爾的這句話卻反映了一種似乎已被人們忘卻的認識：他深知縱觀歷史長河，人類已經歷了一段輝煌時期並創造出許多偉大的發明；他更明白正是這些發明極大程度地推動了人類的進步，併爲之後的一切科技發展奠定了堅實的基礎。但是人們似乎已經把這些前人的貢獻拋諸腦後了。
Perhaps no other ancient culture has contributed more to this advancement of human progress than the Chinese. Here are ten of the greatest inventions of the ancient nation, in no particular order.
說到爲人類進步所做的貢獻，大概沒有哪種古老的文明能與古代中國相比。下面就是這個古老國度的十項偉大發明，排名不分先後。owder
10.火藥
We'll begin with arguably the most famous ancient Chinese invention. Legend has it that gunpowder was accidentally discovered by alchemists looking for a concoction that would create immortality in humans. Ironically, what these ancient chemists stumbled upon was an invention that could easily take human y gunpowder was made of a mixture of potassium nitrate (saltpeter), charcoal and sulfur, and it was first described in 1044 in the Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques, compiled by Zeng Goliang. It's assumed the discovery of gunpowder occurred sometime earlier, since Zeng describes three different gunpowder mixtures and the Chinese used it for signal flares and fireworks before appropriating it for military use in rudimentary time, we realized that metals added to the mixture created brilliant colors in gunpowder explosions and -- kaboom! -- modern fireworks displays were born. It also makes a handy explosive for projectiles like bullets.
首先說到的火藥，應該是中國古代發明中最傑出的一項了。傳說火藥是煉金術士在煉製長生不老丹藥的過程中偶然發明的。然而很諷刺的是，這一發明不僅不能讓人長生不老，卻能輕易地取人性命。早期的火藥是由硝酸鉀（硝石）、木炭和硫磺混合而成的，最早記載於1044年曾公亮主編的《武經總要》一書中。此書中記錄了三種火藥，早在將火藥用於軍事用途、製作簡易手榴彈之前，中國人已經用其來製作信號彈和鞭炮，由此可推斷火藥的發明時間應該還要更早。隨後，人們發現在火藥中加入一些金屬元素可以使其爆炸時呈現出繽紛的色彩，於是，嘭！嘭！嘭！現代煙花表演誕生了。除此之外，火藥的發明還催生了子彈之類的便攜式彈藥。Compass
9.指南針
Where would we be without the compass? We'd be lost, that's where. Those of us who hike in the woods or fly various aircraft have the Chinese to thank for guiding us home inally, the Chinese created their compasses to point to true south. This was because they considered south, not north, their cardinal direction. The earliest compasses were created in the fourth century B.C. and were made of mere existence of lodestone is the result of a bit of luck. Lodestone is a type of magnetite (a magnetic iron ore) that becomes highly magnetized when struck by lightning. The result is a mineral that's magnetized toward both the north and south poles. We're not certain precisely who came up with the clever idea of discerning direction using lodestone, but archaeological evidence shows the Chinese fashioned ladles that balanced on a divining board; the ladles would point the direction to inner harmony for ancient Chinese soothsayers.
如果沒有指南針，我們會在哪裏呢？應該已經迷路，不知身在何處了吧！在森林中遠足的揹包客，還有穿梭在各航班之間的空中飛人，真要好好感謝古代的中國人，他們發明的指南針，指引着大家平安回家。中國人發明指南針的初衷在於讓它指向正南，因爲他們認爲主位是正南，而不是正北。最早的指南針出現在公元前4世紀，由天然磁石磨製而成。天然磁石的存在委實是上天的眷顧。天然磁石是一種被雷電擊中之後高度磁化的磁鐵礦石（帶有磁性的鐵礦石），可以自然指向南北兩極。是誰這麼聰明，想出用天然磁石來辨別方向的主意，我們已不得而知，但據考古學資料顯示，是古代中國人發明了杓，並使其能在占卜盤上平穩轉動；而杓也爲中國古代的占卜者們指明瞭方向，助其走向內心的和諧與安寧。r
8.紙
It's not entirely clear who first came up with the notion to convert thoughts into a written language. There was a horse race between the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, the Harappa in present day Pakistan and the Kemites in Egypt to be the first to formulate a written language. We do know that the first languages appear to have emerged around 5,000 years ago. One can even make the case that it dates back earlier -- that is, if one included artistic expressions like cave paintings as a form of written language. Once language began to develop, though, humans wrote on anything that would lay still long enough. Clay tablets, bamboo, papyrus and stone were only a few of the earliest writing gs changed once the Chinese -- specifically, a man named Cai Lun -- invented the prototype for modern paper. Before Cai's breakthrough, the Chinese wrote on thin strips of bamboo and lengths of silk, but in A.D. 105, he created a mixture of wood fibers and water and pressed it onto a woven cloth. The weave in the cloth allowed the moisture in the pulpy mixture to seep out, resulting in a rough paper. Exactly what Cai wrote on his first piece of paper is unknown.
是誰首先想到用文字表達想法的主意，到現在我們還沒完全搞清。“世界上最早的文字創造者”這一殊榮到底花落誰家，由美索不達米亞平原（Mesopotamia）的蘇美爾人（Sumerians）、位於今巴基斯坦（Pakistan）境內的哈拉帕人（Harappa）以及古埃及的科密特人（Kemites）進行激烈的角逐。我們知道語言文字的首次出現大約是在5000年前，但如果你把類似於洞窟壁畫這樣的藝術表現形式也納入文字範疇的話，“文字”的出現就可以追溯到更早的時期。然而一旦文字開始發展，人們便開始在任何東西上書寫，只要它們鋪起來足夠長。泥板，竹簡，紙莎草和石頭僅僅是早期文字載體中的幾種。自從中國人——特別是一個叫蔡倫的男子——發明了現代紙張的雛形，一切都開始改變了。在蔡倫的開創性發明之前，中國人在薄薄的竹簡和長長的絲帛上寫字。但是到了公元105年，蔡倫發明了一種木纖維和水的混合物，並將其按壓在織布上，稀漿混合物中的水汽會透過織布滲出，然後一張粗糙的紙就製作完成了。但蔡倫到底在他發明的第一張紙上寫了什麼，這依舊懸而未知。審校:落月 編輯:listen 來源：前十網
