The Discovery of Ignorance

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词汇用语

Just give millions more to the nanotechnology industry, they believe, and the United States could send bionic spy-flies into every Afghan cave, Yemenite redoubt and North African encampment.

N-COUNT Aredoubtis a place or situation in which someone feels safe because they know that nobody can attack them or spoil their peace. 最后堡垒; 指没有人能够对其发起攻击，宁静不会被破坏的安全地带[文学性]

例：...the last redoubt of hippy culture. ...嬉皮士文化的最后堡垒。

例：The Kurds would remain autonomous in their northern redoubt, retaining control over their peshmerga militias.

例：Kandahar was the Taliban's main redoubt even after the regime was toppled by a U.S.-led assault in 2001.

If the legions of Scipio Aemilianus – the general who levelled Carthage and defeated the Numantians in the second centuryBC –had suddenly popped up 500 years later in the age of Constantine the Great, Scipio would have had a fair chance of beating Constantine.

V-T If someone or something such as a violent stormlevelsa building or area of land, they destroy it completely or make it completely flat. 夷平

例：The storm was the most powerful to hit Hawaii this century. It levelled sugar plantations and destroyed homes. 这是本世纪袭击夏威夷最猛烈的暴风雨。它夷平了甘蔗种植园，也摧毁了家园。

V-TIf an accusation or criticismislevelledatsomeone, they are accused of doing wrong or they are criticized for something they have done. (指责或批评) 针对

例：Allegations of corruption were levelled at him and his family. 对腐败的指控是针对他和他的家人的。

The situation began to change in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but another 200 years went by before most rulers evinced any interest in ɹnancing the research and development of new weapons.

V-T If someone or somethingevincesa particular feeling or quality, they show that feeling or quality, often indirectly. 显示; 表明[正式]

例：The entire production evinces authenticity and a real respect for the subject matter. 整个作品显示了真实性和对主题的真正尊重。

例：But neither do they evince any particular hostility toward the concept of decentralized virtual currencies.

例：While we love a yellow glow, the soft-finish wireless charging shell doesn't evince that premium feel we got from the Lumia 920 just a few weeks ago.

例：Obviously, most prisoners would have been better served by applying only a fraction of the creative power they evince in prison toward avoiding prison in the first place.

An archaeologist who wishes to understand the behaviour of archaic hunter-gatherers must travel to distant lands, excavate ancient ruins and date fossilised bones and artefacts. All of this costs money.

V-T If youdatesomething, you give or discover the date when it was made or when it began. 推断…的年代

例：I think we can date the decline of Western Civilization quite precisely. 我认为我们可以非常准确的推断出西方文明衰落的年代。

Two forces in particular deserve our attention: imperialism and capitalism. The feedback loop between science, empire and capital has arguably been history’s chief engine for the past 500 years. The following chapters analyse its workings. First we’ll look at how the twin turbines of science and empire were latched to one another, and then learn how both were hitched up to the money pump of capitalism. PHRASE pull up/ hike up

例：It is a shame to hitch up your trousers before the public. 当着众人的面向上拉起裤子是丢人的行为。

例：Hitch up my carriage, let me ask him for longer time to pay back the loan. 给我把车套好，我去求他把欠款期限延长几天。(给(牲口)上挽具，把…套上车)

例：Will the Nasdaq hitch up its socks and dash to 2500 or maybe 3000?

例：Albert is mesmerized by Old Peg, and the next morning helps hitch up the harness for his horse and buggy.

例：Hitch upthe horses (or just the horses under your hood) and head to greener pastures in the heart of Alamo city.

汉英积累

入睡 fall into a slumber

车轮碾过的煤渣路 rutted dirt track

还时不时传出锤子的敲击声和锯子声 (The most common urban noises were human and animal voices,) along with the occasional hammer and saw

将数字代入公式 inserting these numbersinto Newton’s equations

虚张声势 It was no idle threat.

寄希望于来世 pin their hopes on the afterlife

死神 the Grim Reaper

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常识

Gilgamesh的故事（来自百度百科）

公元前3500年左右，最早的城邦文明在两河流域下游苏美尔产生，代表城市为乌鲁克。吉尔伽美什就是乌鲁克之王。

古代两河流域的文学创作十分丰富，其中最著名的是目前人类历史上已知的最古老的英雄史诗《吉尔伽美什史诗》（The Epic of Gilgamesh）。它是人类历史上的第一部史诗，早在四千多年前就已在苏美尔（Sumerian）中流传，经过千百年的加工提炼，终于在古巴比伦王国时期（公元前19世纪-前16世纪）用文字形式固定下来，成为一部巨著。这部史诗讲述了英雄吉尔伽美什一生的传奇故事。

相传吉尔伽美什三分之二为神，三分之一为人。他乃获得诸世一切的超越者之完成型，世上无人能与其匹敌。他本是个不顾人民疾苦的暴君，但是在与恩奇都成为朋友之后，他的行为开始有了一些变化。

被吉尔伽美什压迫的人民们向上天申诉，于是女神阿鲁鲁便做出了第一个神造之人，那便是恩奇都。恩奇都和吉尔伽美什强烈地意识到对方的存在，他们心知有一天定然会狭路相逢。虽然吉尔伽美什一开始对身为他敌人的恩奇都感到恐惧，但是没过多久两人便成为知己，两人共享王位，平等地治理国家。

吉尔伽美什和恩奇都一起讨伐了森林中的怪物——芬巴巴，经过激烈的战斗，最终战胜了芬巴巴。吉尔伽美什是如此耀眼如此强大，便连众神也会为他的风采所倾倒。而女神伊什妲尔就这样爱上了吉尔伽美什。但她在向完美的王者吉尔伽美什求婚的时候，遭到了吉尔伽美什的拒绝。伊什妲尔被吉尔伽美什的侮辱所激怒，她将父神安努的天之公牛赶到了大地上，以此来作为报复。没有人可以阻挡这头神兽，大地整整七年都为饥荒与破坏所笼罩。

吉尔伽美什捕获狮子

吉尔伽美什与恩奇都联手对付天之公牛，并漂亮地将其击退。女神又一次没了面子。伊什妲尔的怒火自然不会就此平息，她以区区人类居然敢杀死神兽为罪名向众神请求杀死吉尔伽美什与恩奇都的其中一人。伊什妲尔的愿望被众神所接受，于是两人中的一个，即神所造出的恩奇都无法违抗天命，渐渐地衰弱而死。

那便是吉尔伽美什走下坡路的开始。拥有着不逊于自己的力量，有可能还胜过自己的唯一的朋友恩奇都死去了。这个事实对吉尔伽美什造成了很大的冲击。吉尔伽美什惶恐于对“死”的不安，踏上了去往冥界的旅途追求不老不死。跨越了漫长的旅途，历经了种种的磨难，吉尔伽美什终于得到了不老不死的灵药，他想带回乌鲁克城中与民众分享灵药。但是，趁他在池塘洗澡时，一条贪婪的蛇却将灵药偷吃。失去了不老不死的他不停地悲叹着就此离开人世。

英雄吉尔伽美什在池塘边跪下来，双手捧着脸大哭起来。恩奇都的灵魂与他相见，告诉他冥界的事情，他明白了，人们告诉他的都是真相：哪怕最伟大和最勇敢的英雄也是人，因此必须要学会欢乐地生活，体会眼前的幸福，最后接受不可避免的命运。传说，蛇之所以能够蜕皮长出新的身体，就是因为偷吃了吉尔伽美什的灵药的缘故。

文章中的讲解

That is the theme of the most ancient myth to come down to us – the Gilgamesh myth of ancient Sumer. Its hero is the strongest and most capable man in the world, King Gilgamesh of Uruk, who could defeat anyone in battle. One day, Gilgamesh’s best friend, Enkidu, died. Gilgamesh sat by the body and observed it for many days, until he saw a worm dropping out of his friend’s nostril. At that moment Gilgamesh was gripped by a terrible horror, and he resolved that he himself would never die. He would somehow ɹnd a way to defeat death. Gilgamesh then undertook a journey to the end of the universe, killing lions, battling scorpion-men and finding his way into the underworld. There he shattered the stone giants of Urshanabi and the ferryman of the river of the dead, and found Utnapishtim, the last survivor of the primordial flood. Yet Gilgamesh failed in his quest. He returned home empty-handed, as mortal as ever, but with one new piece of wisdom. When the gods created man, Gilgamesh had learned, they set death as man’s inevitable destiny, and man must learn to live with it.

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摘录

Why did the billions start flowing from government and business coʃers into labs and universities? In academic circles, many are naïve enough to believe in pure science. They believe that government and business altruistically give them money to pursue whatever research projects strike their fancy. But this hardly describes the realities of science funding. Scientists themselves are not always aware of the political, economic and religious interests that control the ɻow of money; many scientists do, in fact, act out of pure intellectual curiosity. However, only rarely do scientists dictate the scientific agenda.

Even if we wanted to finance pure science unaffected by political, economic or religious interests, it would probably be impossible. Our resources are limited, after all. Ask a congressman to allocate an additional million dollars to the National Science Foundation for basic research, and he’ll justiɹably ask whether that money wouldn’t be better used to fund teacher training or to give a needed tax break to a troubled factory in his district. To channel limited resources we must answer questions such as ‘What is more important?’ and ‘What is good?’ And these are not scientiɹc questions. Science can explain what exists in the world, how things work, and what might be in the future. By definition, it has no pretensions to knowing what should be in the future. Only religions and ideologies seek to answer such questions.

Science is unable to set its own priorities. It is also incapable of determining what to do with its discoveries. For example, from a purely scientiɹc viewpoint it is unclear what we should do with our increasing understanding of genetics. Should we use this knowledge to cure cancer, to create a race of genetically engineered supermen, or to engineer dairy cows with super-sized udders? It is obvious that a liberal government, a Communist government, a Nazi government and a capitalist business corporation would use the very same scientiɹc discovery for completely diʃerent purposes, and there is noscientific reason to prefer one usage over others.

In short, scientific research can flourish only in alliance with some religion or ideology. The ideology justifies the costs of the research. In exchange, the ideology inɻuences the scientific agenda and determines what to do with the discoveries. Hence in order to comprehend how humankind has reached Alamogordo and the moon – rather than any number of alternative destinations – it is not enough to survey the achievements of physicists, biologists and sociologists. We have to take into account the ideological, political and economic forces that shaped physics, biology and sociology, pushing them in certain directions while neglecting others.