Hari Seldon remained uncomfortably silent for a while after Hummins quiet statement. He shrank within himself in sudden recognition of his own deficiencies.
He had invented a new science: psychohistory. He had extended the laws of probability in a very subtle manner to take into account new complexities¹ and uncertainties² and had ended up with elegant equations in innumerable unknowns.
Possibly an infinite number; he couldnt tell.
But it was a mathematical game and nothing more. He had psychohistory--or at least the basis of psychohistory but only as a mathematical curiosity. Where was the historical knowledge that could perhaps give some meaning to the empty equations?
He had none. He had never been interested in history. He knew the outline of Heliconian history. Courses in that small fragment of the human story had, of course, been compulsory³ in the Heliconian schools. But what was there beyond that? Surely what else he had picked up was merely the bare skeletons that everyone gathered--half legend, the other half surely distorted. Still, how could one say that the Galactic Empire was dying? It had existed for ten thousand years as an accepted Empire and even before that, Trantor, as the capital of the dominating kingdom, had held what was a virtual empire for two thousand years. The Empire had survived the early centuries when whole sections of the Galaxy⁴ would now and then refuse to accept the end of their local independence. It had survived the vicissitudes⁵ that went with the occasional rebellions, the dynastic wars, some serious periods of breakdown⁶. Most worlds had scarcely been troubled by such things and Trantor itself had grown steadily⁷ until it was the worldwide human habitation that now called itself the Eternal World.
To be sure, in the last four centuries, turmoil8

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1 complexities
复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物
参考例句：
The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。 The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

2 uncertainties
无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物
参考例句：
One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。 Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

3 compulsory
n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的
参考例句：
Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？ Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

4 galaxy
n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)
参考例句：
The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。 The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

5 vicissitudes
n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废
参考例句：
He experienced several great social vicissitudes in his life. 他一生中经历了几次大的社会变迁。 来自《简明英汉词典》 A man used to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. 饱经沧桑，不易沮丧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 breakdown
n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌
参考例句：
She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。 The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

7 steadily
adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地
参考例句：
The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。 Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

8 turmoil
n.骚乱，混乱，动乱
参考例句：
His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。 The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

9 assassinations
n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Most anarchist assassinations were bungled because of haste or spontaneity, in his view. 在他看来，无政府主义者搞的许多刺杀都没成功就是因为匆忙和自发行动。 来自辞典例句 Assassinations by Israelis of alleged terrorists habitually kill nearby women and children. 在以色列，自称恐怖分子的炸弹自杀者杀害靠近自己的以色列妇女和儿童。 来自互联网

10 tyrant
n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人
参考例句：
The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。 The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

11 inveigh
v.痛骂
参考例句：
A lot of his writings inveigh against luxury and riches.他的很多文章都痛批奢华与财富。 The detective had,indeed,good reasons to inveigh against the bad luck which pursued him.说实在话，一点也不能怪费克斯咒骂他一再碰上的坏运气。

12 halfway
adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途
参考例句：
We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。 In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

13 citation
n.引用，引证，引用文；传票
参考例句：
He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。 The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

14 sufficiently
adv.足够地，充分地
参考例句：
It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。 The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

15 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 recess
n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）
参考例句：
The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。 Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

17 swerved
v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She swerved sharply to avoid a cyclist. 她猛地急转弯，以躲开一个骑自行车的人。 The driver has swerved on a sudden to avoid a file of geese. 为了躲避一队鹅，司机突然来个急转弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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