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By the late nineteenth century it looked like
19世紀(jì)后期
some of the great mysteries of the universe would be all wrapped up
宇宙的一些重大奧秘似乎都已一一解開
thanks to the groundbreaking discoveries of Newton and Maxwell.
都因牛頓和麥克斯韋的重大發(fā)現(xiàn)而解開
But then two American physicists stumbled into a completely unexpected discovery.
但后來有兩名美國(guó)物理學(xué)家 又在無意間有了意外發(fā)現(xiàn)
Albert Michelson and Edward Morley were investigating
艾伯特·邁克爾遜和愛德華·莫利研究
the implications of Maxwell's revelation that light is a form of wave
麥克斯韋的發(fā)現(xiàn)所代表的含義 也就是光以波的形式行進(jìn)
traveling at 186,000 miles per second.
速度為每秒30萬公里
They figured that just as water waves,a wave of energy traveling in water
他們推想就像水波 是能量在水中行進(jìn)所產(chǎn)生的波
and sound waves,a wave of energy traveling through air
而聲波是能量在空氣中行進(jìn)所產(chǎn)生的波
so light waves must also travel through... Something.
因此光波一定也透過某個(gè)東西行進(jìn)
They called this "something": the luminiferous ether.
他們把這東西稱為"光以太"
Michelson and Morley proposed that space
邁克爾遜和莫利提出宇宙
including the space between the sun and the earth.
包含太陽(yáng)和地球間的宇宙
Was filled with this mysterious ether.
全都充滿這種神奇的以太
They believed that sunlight must travel through the ether to reach earth.
他們相信陽(yáng)光一定是經(jīng)由以太來 到地球的
Since the earth also move around the sun.
而由于地球同樣繞著太陽(yáng)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)
They must be traveling through this ether,too.
因此地球也一定在以太中運(yùn)行
If so,this movement would cause what they called an 'ether wind'.
若真如此,這種移動(dòng)就會(huì)造成所謂的"以太風(fēng)"
to blow over the surface of our planet.
以太風(fēng)吹過地球的表面
