萬(wàn)物簡(jiǎn)史 第87期:敲石頭的人們(19)

Although there was no reliable way of datingperiods, there was no shortage of people willing totry. The most well known early attempt was in 1650when Archbishop James Ussher of the Church ofIreland made a careful study of the Bible and otherhistorical sources and concluded, in a hefty tomecalled Annals of the Old Testament, that the Earthhad been created at midday on October 23, 4004B.C., an assertion that has amused historiansand textbook writers ever since.

雖然沒(méi)有可靠的方法來(lái)確定年代，卻不乏愿意試一試的人。1650年，愛(ài)爾蘭教會(huì)的詹姆斯·厄舍大主教進(jìn)行了早年最著名的嘗試。他對(duì)《圣經(jīng)》和其他歷史資料進(jìn)行了仔細(xì)的研究，最后在一部名叫《舊約編年史》的巨著中下結(jié)論說(shuō)，地球創(chuàng)造于公元前4004年10月23日中午。后來(lái)，歷史學(xué)家和教科書(shū)作者一直把這個(gè)日期當(dāng)做笑料。

Although virtually all books find a space for him, there is a striking variability in the detailsassociated with Ussher. Some books say he made his pronouncement in 1650, others in 1654,still others in 1664. Many cite the date of Earth's reputed beginning as October 26. Thematter is interestingly surveyed in Stephen Jay Gould's Eight Little Piggies.

盡管幾乎所有的書(shū)都對(duì)厄舍有記述，但是關(guān)于他的一些詳細(xì)事跡的記載尚有明顯差異。有部分書(shū)稱(chēng)他上文的結(jié)論宣布于1650年，有的說(shuō)是1654年，還有的是1664年。很多人認(rèn)為普遍公認(rèn)的地球初試日是10月26日。 這個(gè)說(shuō)法來(lái)源于史蒂芬·杰伊·古爾德的《八頭小豬》一書(shū)中的一個(gè)有趣的調(diào)查。

There is a persistent myth, incidentally—and one propounded in many serious books—thatUssher's views dominated scientific beliefs well into the nineteenth century, and that it was Lyellwho put everyone straight. Stephen Jay Gould, in Time's Arrow, cites as a typical example thissentence from a popular book of the 1980s: "Until Lyell published his book, most thinkingpeople accepted the idea that the earth was young." In fact, no. As Martin J. S. Rudwick puts it, "No geologist of any nationality whose work was taken seriously by other geologists advocated atimescale confined within the limits of a literalistic exegesis of Genesis."

順便提一句，有個(gè)很久不滅的神話——它在許多嚴(yán)肅的書(shū)里都提到過(guò)——厄舍的觀點(diǎn)主宰了科學(xué)界，直到19世紀(jì)的很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間里。是萊爾把這一切糾正了過(guò)來(lái)。作為一個(gè)典型例子，斯蒂芬·杰伊·古爾德在《時(shí)代之箭》中引用了20世紀(jì)80年代一本很熱門(mén)的書(shū)里的一句話："在萊爾出版他的書(shū)以前，大多數(shù)思想家都接受了這種看法，即地球還很年輕。"實(shí)際并非如此。正如馬丁·J.S.魯?shù)峡苏f(shuō)的，“哪個(gè)國(guó)家的地質(zhì)學(xué)家也不會(huì)主張把時(shí)標(biāo)限死在《創(chuàng)世記》拘泥于字面意義的詮注的范圍之內(nèi)，要是他的作品被別的地質(zhì)學(xué)家認(rèn)真對(duì)待的話”。

Even the Reverend Buckland, as pious a soul as the nineteenth century produced, noted thatnowhere did the Bible suggest that God made Heaven and Earth on the first day, but merely"in the beginning." That beginning, he reasoned, may have lasted "millions upon millions ofyears." Everyone agreed that the Earth was ancient. The question was simply how ancient.

連巴克蘭牧師這樣一位19世紀(jì)很虔誠(chéng)的人也認(rèn)為，《圣經(jīng)》里哪個(gè)地方也沒(méi)有提到上帝是在第一天創(chuàng)造天地的，只是提到“起初”。他認(rèn)為，那個(gè)開(kāi)始也許持續(xù)了“幾百幾千萬(wàn)年”。大家都認(rèn)為地球已經(jīng)很古老。問(wèn)題只在于：古老到什么程度?