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The great challenge in navigating the seas is knowing where you are,
在海上航行最大的挑战就是 如何定位
so you don't crash into stuff and die.
以防你撞到东西沉没
And ships were doing that all the time.
而船只触礁沉没却是再寻常不过的了
These guys are sailing into a horror movie.
这些人如同驶入一部恐怖片
They have no idea what's happening,and they're moving into mystery.
他们不知道发生了什么 他们驶入了未知领域
It's got to have been terrifying.
这真的很吓人
Sailors navigate by measuring the angles
水手通过测量月亮和星星间的角度
Between the moon and the stars And comparing them with star charts.
来驾驶船舶 然后与星图相比较
But these charts are basic and inaccurate.
但这些星图简略粗糙 也不准确
In those days, celestial navigation and being accurate
那个时候 天文导航和其精确性
meant the difference between life and death.
是生死攸关的事情
There was a real element of:"We're gonna fuddle along and roll the dice"
有一种说法是: 我们要四处乱闯 孤注一掷
"And hope we end up more or less where we're going."And that's dangerous.
希望我们基本上能到达目的地" 那是很危险的
Now, one man will transform navigation:
现在 有一个人要改变航海现状
Astronomer to the English king, John Flamsteed,
他就是英国皇家天文学家 约翰·弗兰斯蒂德
He'll unlock the keys to global trade and exploration...
他以天穹壁画
by building his mural arc.
开启了世界贸易和探索的关键
Flamsteed's arc changed our understanding of the night sky
弗兰斯蒂德的天穹壁画 就像哈勃望远镜
in a way that the Hubble telescope
给我们揭示宇宙奥秘那样
has revealed so much more of the universe to us.
改变了我们对于夜空的理解
Superstition is giving way to science.
科学取代了迷信
The universe is not a place of arbitrariness,there are laws,
宇宙万物并非随机杂乱 而是有其自身规律的
and the universe itself is a kind of mechanism.
宇宙本身就是一种机制
