評論
打印
On January 15, 1934, the journal Physical Review published a very concise abstract of a presentation that had been conducted by Zwicky and Baade the previous month at Stanford University.
1934年1月15日，《物理學評論》雜志刊登了一篇論文的簡短摘要。論文是由茲威基和巴德前一個月在斯坦福大學發表的。
Despite its extreme brevity—one paragraph of twenty-four lines—the abstract contained an enormous amount of new science: it provided the first reference to supernovae and to neutron stars; convincingly explained their method of formation; correctly calculated the scale of their explosiveness; and, as a kind of concluding bonus, connected supernova explosions to the production of a mysterious new phenomenon called cosmic rays, which had recently been found swarming through the universe.
盡管摘要極其短小--只有24行字--但它包含了大量新的科學知識：它首次提到超新星和中子星；它令人信服地解釋了它們的形成方法；它準確地計算出它們爆炸的等級；作為一種結論，它把超新星爆炸與所謂的宇宙射線這一神秘的新現象的產生聯系起來。宇宙射線大批穿過宇宙，是新近才被發現的。
These ideas were revolutionary to say the least. Neutron stars wouldn't be confirmed for thirty-four years. The cosmic rays notion, though considered plausible, hasn't been verified yet. Altogether, the abstract was, in the words of Caltech astrophysicist Kip S. Thorne, "one of the most prescient documents in the history of physics and astronomy."
這些理念至少可以說是革命性的。中子星的存在要再過34年才得以確認。宇宙射線的理念雖然被認為很有道理，但還沒有得到證實。總而言之，用加州理工學院天文物理學家基普·S.索恩的話來說，這篇摘要是"物理學和天文學史上最有先見之明的文獻之一"。
