記錄人類文明的那些美文（簡體書）

目錄

01． Civilization & History
02． Clone Wars
03． The Living Seas
04． The Problems of Oil， of Debt and Disarray
05． Geological Science： Earth’s Crust—Aluminum
06． Animal Physiology and Psychology： The Adrenaline of Animals
07． Geology： Ice Age
08． Sociobiology
09． El Nino
10． Meteorology
11． Magnetic Tempests
12． Geothermal Resources
13． Electrical Properties of Crystals
14． Analysis of Prehistoric Air
15． Hypothesis on Biological Clocks of Migrants
16． Reductions in Noxious Pollutants of Motor Vehicles
17． Spiral Galaxy
18． Lead Isotope in Bronze Ware
19． Heat Pumps
20． Infestations of Gypsy Moth Caterpillars
21． Sunspots
22． Collision Hypothesis of the Moon
23． Molecular Biology
24． Vacuum State Study by Particle Physics
25． Ocean Acoustic Tomography
26． Climatology： Analysis of Data from the Vostok Core
27． Low-Density Lipoproteins
28． Synthesize of the Chemical Constituents of Life under “Primitive Earth Conditions”
29． Stratospheric Ozone Layer
30． Hot Spots and Plates Movement
31． Vigilance of Animals
32． Anaerobic Glycolysis
33． Physiological Controls under Body Fever
34． Evolution of Asymmetry of the Claws of American Lobster
35． “Self-sterilizing”of the Skin against Pathogens
36． Evolution of Pinnipeds
37． Organ Transplantation
38． Adrenal Gland
39． Nervous System
40． Hydrogeology and Geohydrology
41． Space Singularity
42． Analyzing the Physics of Dance
43． Three Levels on the Quantum Ladder
44． Interstellar Material
45． Population Density
46． Brain Science and Psychology
47． Earth’s Atmosphere and Climatic Conditions
48． Ecology
49． Living Organisms and Environment
50． Rhythmic Patterns of Organism’s Behavior
51． Visual Recognition
52． Study on Meteorites by S． A． Phinney
53． Nonenzymatic Glycosylation
54． Modern Animal Husbandry
55． Genetic Engineering Applied to Nitrogen Genes
56． Toxic Properties of Fluoride
57． Biomaterials
58． Glassy Metals
59． Quantum Mechanics
60． The Evolution of Sex Ratio

Civilization & History
文明與歷史
C. E. M. Joad
喬德

導讀
本篇作者喬德（C. E. M. Joad, 1891—1953），英國哲學家、作家和廣播界名人。作為20 世紀40 年代英國最飽受爭議的知識份子，喬德既是一個和平主義者，又是一位不可知論者。喬德在1936 年西班牙內戰時，作為反法西斯聯盟“人民陣線”的支持者，積極幫助戰亂中無家可歸的婦女和兒童。1941 年喬德加入BBC 廣播公司，成為《專家小組》欄目的成員。他以幽默機智的話語一夜成名，其名言“這要看你怎麼說”成為英國人的流行用語。1953 年喬德病逝於倫敦。在本文中，喬德提出了一個發人深省的問題：“為何世界文明史上最顯赫的人物往往是征服者和殺戮者？”細數一下西方文明史，無數的戰爭和征服，美其名曰是要傳播文明，啟蒙世界未開化的角落，但其破壞力卻是驚人的。唐代大詩人杜甫曾經寫道：“殺人亦有限，列國自有疆。苟能制侵陵，豈在多殺傷。”（《前出塞》），但是國際政治的法則始終是“強權即公理”，至少歷史上皆是如此。人類的發展之路還很漫長，如何避免過去的歷史重演，也成了我們現代人要反思的一個問題。

Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors and generals and soldiers, whereas the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year, or manured a field; but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think a great deal of them, so much so that on all the highest pillars in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors. It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized. Animals fight; so do savages; hence to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently— this, after all, is what conquerors and generals have done—is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized peoples ought to be able to find some way of settling their disputes other than by seeing which side can kill off the greater number of the other side, and then saying that the side which has killed most has won. And not only has won, but, because it has won, has been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that might is right.

在歷史書上出現得最為經常和最為顯耀的人，大多是一些偉大的征服者、將軍和軍人，而真正推動文明前進的人，卻往往名不見經傳。我們不知道是誰最早接上折斷的腿骨，是誰最先造出適於航海的船隻，是誰最早計算出一年的長度，又是誰最先給田地施肥；但是我們對那些殺人者和破壞者卻知之甚詳。人們對他們敬重有加，在世界上一些大城市裡所有最高的柱石上，你都會發現一位元征服者，或一位將軍，或一位軍人的雕像。我想，大多數人都會認為，最偉大的國家是那些在戰鬥中打敗其他國家最多、並作為征服者統治這些國家的國家。他們很可能是偉大的，然而他們並不是最文明的。動物搏鬥，野蠻人也搏鬥，因而善於搏鬥僅是動物或野蠻人擇優的標準，而絕非文明的表現。即使善於驅使別人為自己打仗，並且告訴他們怎樣打才最有效——這畢竟是征服者和將軍們幹過的事——也稱不上是文明的作為。人們為解決爭執而打仗。打仗意味著殘殺，文明的民族應當能夠找到某種解決爭端的辦法，而不是看哪一方能消滅另一方更多的人，而後說殺人最多的一方獲勝。戰勝者不僅勝了，而且還因為勝利帶來了“公義”。這就是戰爭的法則，它意味著強權就是公理。