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Narrator:Listen to part of a lecture in a history of science class.
獨白:聽下面一段科學史的課堂講解。
Ok, we have been talking about how throughout history, it was often difficult for people to give up ideas which have long been taken for granted as scientific truth, even if those ideas were false.
好了，我們一直在討論一個貫穿歷史性的問題，那就是當人們堅信某個科學理論的時候，就很難再去放棄這種堅持，即便錯誤的。
In Astronomy, for example, the distinction between the solar system and the universe wasn't clear until modern times.
比如在天文學上來講，人們對太陽系與宇宙的區別的認知直到現代才逐漸清晰起來。
The ancient Greeks believed that what we called the solar system was in fact the entire universe, and that the universe was geocentric.
古希臘人認為我們所謂的太陽系就是整個宇宙，且相信地心說。
Geocentric means Earth-centered, so the geocentric view holds that the Sun, the planets, and the stars, all revolve around the Earth, which is stationary.
顧名思義，地心說就是指宇宙以地球為中心，地球是靜止不動的，太陽、行星及恒星都圍繞地球來轉。
Of course, we now know that the planets, including Earth, revolve around the Sun, and that the solar system is only a tiny part of the universe.
當然了，我們現在都知道所有的行星，包括地球，都是圍繞太陽來轉的，而且太陽系也僅僅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
So, why did the ancient Greeks believe that the Earth was the center of the universe? Well, it made sense to them.
那么，古希臘人又為什么認為地球是宇宙的中心呢？其實他們這種想法也不無道理。
Observations of the sky make it appear as if the Sun, the moon, and the stars all revolve around the Earth everyday, while the Earth itself stayed in one place.
當我們仰望天空的時候，給我們的視覺效果的確是太陽、月亮及星星都每天圍繞地球來轉的，而且地球是原地不動的。
And this view is also supported by their philosophical and religious beliefs about the origin and structure of the universe.
而且他們的哲學和宗教信仰和支撐著這種對宇宙的起源和構架的認知。
It was presented in the works of well-known Greek philosophers as early as the fourth century B.C.E., and the geocentric theory continue to prevail in Western thought for almost 2,000 years, until the 17th century.
這在公元前四世紀的希臘著名哲學家們的作品中都有體現，而地心說在西方國家也盛行到了 17 世紀，歷經近 2000 年。
Now, what's especially interesting is that when astronomical observations were made that seemed to be inconsistent with the geocentric view, the ancient Greeks did not really consider alternative theories.
極其有趣的是當天文觀察的發現與地心說有所出入的時候，古希臘人卻沒有真正的去考慮過其他的理論。
It was so intuitive, so sensible that the Earth was the center of the universe that astronomers found ways to explain those seemingly inconsistent phenomena within the geocentric view.
天文學家們認為地球是宇宙的中心這種想法是那么的根深蒂固，以至于當他們發現與地心論不符的現象時，也會想辦法找理由去解釋。
For example, Greek astronomers made excellent, very accurate observations of the movements of the planets, but the observations revealed a bit of a problem.
比如說，希臘天學者對行星的移動能做出非常精準的觀察，但是觀察中卻顯示出了一個小問題。
The geocentric theory said that the planets would move around the Earth in one direction.
地心說的理論是所有的行星都圍繞地球朝著一個方向轉動。
However, astronomers noticed that at times, several planets seem to stop moving in one direction and start moving backward in their orbits around the Earth, and they came up with a theory that these planets themselves moved in smaller circles called epicycles as they travelled around the Earth. Here's a picture of what they imagined.
然而，天文學家們卻發現一些行星有時看上去是停止朝著一個方向轉動了，而且是繞著地球沿著軌道朝相反的方向轉動，這時他們就得出一個理論，就是這些行星在繞地球轉動的同時也在沿著更小的圈即本輪來轉動。
You see how this epicycle theory could account for the seemingly backward motion of the planet.
這幅圖就是他們想象中的畫面。你可以看到這個本輪理論表面上來講就解釋了行星倒行的這種現象了。
Of course, today we know that this appearance of backward motion is caused by the fact that Earth, as well as other planets, all move in their own orbits around the Sun, and the relative movements of the planets with respect to each other can get quite complex.
當然了，現在我們知道這種倒行的現象其實是地球及其他行星在圍繞太陽在自己軌道上公轉時顯現出來的，而行星間相對的運動也是非常復雜的。
However, there were a few astronomers in Greece and other places who didn't agree with the geocentric view, for example, a Greek astronomer who lived in the third century B.C.E. He proposed the theory that our planetary system might be heliocentric, his name was Aristarchus.
然而，希臘及其他地區也有幾位天文學家不相信地心說的，比如說公元前三世紀的一位希臘天文學家就提出了我們的行星系統的日心說，他就是阿利斯塔克斯。
Heliocentric means Sun-centered, that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
日心說就是指太陽是中心，地球圍繞太陽轉。
Aristarchus recognized from his calculations that the Sun was much larger than the Earth and other planets.
通過計算，阿利斯塔克斯認識到太陽比地球及其他行星都大很多。
It was probably this discovery that led him to conclude that the universe is heliocentric.
可能正是這項發現讓他得出日心說的結論。
I mean, isn't it more sensible to think that a smaller heavenly body would orbit a larger one, rather than the opposite?
也就是說，小型的天體圍繞大型的天體轉動不是更說得通嗎？反之，則不然。
However, his proposition was rejected largely based on other scientific beliefs held at the time, which all made sense in a way even if they were incorrect.
然而，他的提議卻在當時得到了極大的打擊，即便當時的科學信仰在并不正確，但是在某種意義上來講也都說得通。
Let me mention two objections Greeks made to Aristarchus's theory.
讓我來提一下當時對阿里斯塔克斯理論的兩個反駁。
First, they believe that everything that moves creates its own wind; so to speak, everyone has this experience when you are running, right?
首先，他們認為一切運動的物體都會產生風，這么說，每個人在跑的時候都有所體會吧。
So, they thought that if the Earth itself was moving, there would have to be a constant wind blowing, sweeping them off their feet, and of course there wasn't.
因為，他們認為如果地球在運動的話，那么就會不停的刮風，將他們刮倒，當然了，并沒有風。
And second, the idea of an Earth that moved didn't fit in with the ancient Greeks' understanding of gravity.
其次，地球運動的理論不符合古希臘人所理解的地球引力一說。
They thought that gravity was basically a natural tendency of all things to move towards the center of the universe, which was the Earth, or the center of the Earth,
他們認為地心力就是所有物體被宇宙的中心所吸引，也就是地球，或者說地球的中心，
so that explains why apples and other falling objects were falling straight down.
這也就解釋了蘋果或者其他掉落物體徑直下落的原因。
If the Sun was at the center of the universe, things would fall toward the Sun and away from the Earth, which of course they didn't.
如果太陽是宇宙中心的話，那么一切物體都會朝著太陽方向的去，而事實并非如此，
So these were some of the reasons they rejected the heliocentric theory.
所以這些就是他們反對日心說的原因。
