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CHAPTER 12 CONCLUSION
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We find ourselves in a bewildering world. We want to makesense of what we see around us and to ask: What is thenature of the universe? What is our place in it and where didit and we come from? Why is it the way it is?
To try to answer these questions we adopt some “worldpicture.” Just as an infinite tower of tortoises supporting the fiatearth is such a picture, so is the theory of superstrings. Bothare theories of the universe, though the latter is much moremathematical and precise than the former. Both theories lackobservational evidence: no one has ever seen a giant tortoisewith the earth on its back, but then, no one has seen asuperstring either. However, the tortoise theory fails to be agood scientific theory because it predicts that people should beable to fall off the edge of the world. This has not been foundto agree with experience, unless that turns out to be theexplanation for the people who are supposed to havedisappeared in the Bermuda Triangle!
The earliest theoretical attempts to describe and explain theuniverse involved the idea that events and natural phenomenawere controlled by spirits with human emotions who acted in avery humanlike and unpredictable manner. These spiritsinhabited natural objects, like rivers and mountains, includingcelestial bodies, like the sun and moon. They had to beplacated and their favor sought in order to ensure the fertilityof the soil and the rotation2 of the seasons. Gradually, however,it must have been noticed that there were certain regularities3:
the sun always rose in the east and set in the west, whetheror not a sacrifice had been made to the sun god. Further, thesun, the moon, and the planets followed precise paths acrossthe sky that could be predicted in advance with considerableaccuracy. The sun and the moon might still be gods, but theywere gods who obeyed strict laws, apparently4 without anyexceptions, if one discounts stories like that of the sun stoppingfor Joshua.
At first, these regularities and laws were obvious only inastronomy and a few other situations. However, as civilizationdeveloped, and particularly in the last 300 years, more andmore regularities and laws were discovered. The success ofthese laws led Laplace at the beginning of the nineteenthcentury to postulate5 scientific determinism; that is, he suggestedthat there would be a set of laws that would determine theevolution of the universe
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1
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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rotation
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| n.旋转;循环,轮流 | |
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regularities
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| 规则性( regularity的名词复数 ); 正规; 有规律的事物; 端正 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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postulate
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| n.假定,基本条件;vt.要求,假定 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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configuration
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| n.结构,布局,形态,(计算机)配置 | |
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specify
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| vt.指定,详细说明 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度,速率 | |
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velocities
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| n.速度( velocity的名词复数 );高速,快速 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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prominence
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| n.突出;显著;杰出;重要 | |
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incompatible
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| adj.不相容的,不协调的,不相配的 | |
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density
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| n.密集,密度,浓度 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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crunch
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| n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声 | |
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galaxies
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| 星系( galaxy的名词复数 ); 银河系; 一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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unified
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| (unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解,和谐,一致 | |
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awareness
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| n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智 | |
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inciting
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| 刺激的,煽动的 | |
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phlegmatic
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| adj.冷静的,冷淡的,冷漠的,无活力的 | |
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confiscated
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| 没收,充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 );宣布放弃;宣布与…决裂;宣布摒弃 | |
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renounce
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| v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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presidency
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| n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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naive
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| adj.幼稚的,轻信的;天真的 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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acquiesced
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| v.默认,默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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revoked
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| adj.[法]取消的v.撤销,取消,废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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omnipotence
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| n.全能,万能,无限威力 | |
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censors
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| 删剪(书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容)( censor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的,哲学上的,达观的 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的,有权势的 | |
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astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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calculus
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| n.微积分;结石 | |
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plagiarism
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| n.剽窃,抄袭 | |
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anonymous
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| adj.无名的;匿名的;无特色的 | |
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lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的,可获利的 | |
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warden
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| n.监察员,监狱长,看守人,监护人 | |
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deviousness
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counterfeiting
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| n.伪造v.仿制,造假( counterfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架,绞台 | |
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acceleration
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| n.加速,加速度 | |
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nucleus
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| n.核,核心,原子核 | |
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neutrons
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| n.中子( neutron的名词复数 ) | |
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neutron
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| n.中子 | |
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coordinates
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| n.相配之衣物;坐标( coordinate的名词复数 );(颜色协调的)配套服装;[复数]女套服;同等重要的人(或物)v.使协调,使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 );协调;协同;成为同等 | |
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specified
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| adj.特定的 | |
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exclusion
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| n.拒绝,排除,排斥,远足,远途旅行 | |
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wavelength
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| n.波长 | |
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unifies
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| 使联合( unify的第三人称单数 ); 使相同; 使一致; 统一 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体,圆锥形东西,球果 | |
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inertia
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| adj.惰性,惯性,懒惰,迟钝 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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fusion
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| n.溶化;熔解;熔化状态,熔和;熔接 | |
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nuclei
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| n.核 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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primordial
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| adj.原始的;最初的 | |
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inversely
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| adj.相反的 | |
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radar
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| n.雷达,无线电探测器 | |
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breakdown
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| n.垮,衰竭;损坏,故障,倒塌 | |
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spatial
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| adj.空间的,占据空间的 | |
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spectrum
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| n.谱,光谱,频谱;范围,幅度,系列 | |
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component
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| n.组成部分,成分,元件;adj.组成的,合成的 | |
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stationary
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| adj.固定的,静止不动的 | |
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formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 );规划;确切地阐述;用公式表示 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地,精确地 | |
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crests
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| v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的第三人称单数 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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dwarf
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| n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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gentry
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| n.绅士阶级,上层阶级 | |
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