特别广播英语第 291 课：The Making of Isaac Newton 牛顿＋苹果＝万有引力-3

Newton's experiments in optics led to improvements in the effectiveness of telescopes. 牛顿在光学领域的实验，导致了后来对望远镜效能的改善。

He sent his results to the Royal Society, England's most prestigious scientific organization. 他将实验结果送到英国最具威望的科学组织──“皇家学会”，

The Society's positive reaction encouraged him to send in a paper outlining his experiments on light. 而该学会对此所作的积极反应，激励他送去了一篇光学实验报告的大纲。

Some of the Society's more conservative members objected to Newton's revolutionary conclusions. 然而学会中一些更保守的会员反对牛顿革命性的结论。

Always sensitive to criticism, he became discouraged and almost quit scientific work altogether. 对批评总是很敏感的牛顿，听到这些意见后大为沮丧，而且几乎要放弃科学研究。

The great astronomer Edmund Halley eventually persuaded Newton to put together the results of his work on the laws of motion. 著名的天文学家埃德蒙·哈雷，最后说服了牛顿让他总结在运动定律方面的研究结果。

The outcome was the famous "Principia Mathematica", first published in 1687, in which Newton presented solutions to most of the problems of motion that had concerned earlier scientists. 牛顿的研究成果在1687年首次出版的《自然哲学的数学原理》一书中发表。在这本书里牛顿对以前科学家所关心的大部分力学难题做出了解答。

This was the high point of his professional life, though he continuously revised and improved the work until his death in 1727. 虽然他在1727年去世前仍持续地修正、改进他在这方面的研究著作，可这段时期仍是他事业的巅峰时期。

The papers Newton left behind testify to the incredible powers of concentration of the genius who opened the door to the age of technology. 牛顿留下的研究论述证明了这位开启科技时代大门的天才拥有惊人的专注力。