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Unit Five

　

　

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Seen through the eyes of a young friend Einstein
was a simple, modest and ordinary man

　


THE PROFESSOR AND THE YO-YO


Thomas Lee Bucky with Joseph P.Blank

My father was a close friend of Albert Einstein. As a shy young visi-
tor to Einstein's home, I was made to feel at ease when Einstein said, "I
have something to show you. " He went to his desk and returned with a
Yo-Yo. He tried to show me how it worked but he couldn't make it roll
back up the string. When my turn came, I displayed my few tricks and
pointed out to him that the incorrectly looped string had thrown the toy
off balance. Einstein nodded, properly impressed by my skill and knowledge.
Later, I bought a new Yo-Yo and mailed it to the Professor as a Christmas
present, and received a poem of thanks.

As a boy and then as an adult, I never lost my wonder at the personali-
ty that was Einstein. He was the only person I knew who had come to terms
with himself and the world around him. He knew what he wanted and he
wanted only this : to understand within his limits as a human being the
nature of the universe and the logic and simplicity in its functioning. He
knew there were answers beyond his intellectual reach. But this did not
frustrate him. He was content to go as far as he could.

In the 23 years of our friendship, I never saw him show jealousy, van-
ity, bitterness, anger, resentment, or personal ambition. He seemed im-
mune to these emotions. He was beyond any pretension. Although he cor-
responded with many of the world's most important people, his stationery
carried only a watermark--W--for Woolworth's.

To do his work he needed only a pencil and a pad of paper. Material
things meant nothing to him. I never knew him to carry money because he
never had any use for it. He believed in simplicity, so much so that he
used only a safety razor and water to shave. When I suggested that he try
shaving cream, he said, "The razor and water do the job. "
"But Professor, why don't you try the cream just once?" I argued. "It
makes shaving smoother and less painful. "

He shrugged. Finally, I presented him with a tube of shaving cream.
The next morning when he came down to breakfast, he was beaming with
the pleasure of a new, great discovery. "You know, that cream really works,"
he announced. " It doesn't pull the beard. It feels wonderful." Thereafter,
he used the shaving cream every morning until the tube was empty. Then he
reverted to using plain water.

Einstein was purely and exclusively a theorist. He didn't have the
slightest interest in the practical application of his ideas and theories. His
E=mc2 is probably the most famous equation in history-- yet Einstein
wouldn't walk down the street to see a reactor create atomic energy. He
won the Nobel Prize for his Photoelectric Theory, a series of equations that
he considered relatively minor in importance, but he didn't have any curios-
ity in observing how his theory made TV possible.

My brother once gave the Professor a toy, a bird that balanced on the
edge of a bowl of water and repeatedly dunked its head in the water: Ein-
stein watched, it in delight, trying to deduce the operating principle. But he
couldn't.

The next morning he announced, " I had thought about that bird for a
long time before I went to bed and it must work this way … " He began a
long explanation. Then he stopped, realizing a flaw in his reasoning. "No, I
guess that's not it," he said. He pursued various theories for several days
until I suggested we take the toy apart to see how it did work. His quick
expression of disapproval told me he did not agree with this practical ap-
proach. He never did work out the solution.

Another puzzle that Einstein could never understand was his own
fame.He had developed theories that were profound and capable of exciting
relatively few scientists. Yet his name was a household word across the
civilized world. "I've had good ideas, and so have other men, " he once
said. "But it's been my good fortune that my ideas have been accepted. "He
was bewildered by his fame: people wanted to meet him; strangers stared at
him on the street; scientists, statesmen, students, and housewives wrote
him letters. He never could understand why he received this attention, why
he was singled out as something special.
　


　

Click the button to listen to the pronunciations of new words

　

　

New Words

　

modest a.
having or expressing a not too high opinion of

　
one's merits, abilities, etc. 谦虚的

yo-yo n.
游游(一种用线扯动使忽上忽下的轮形玩具)

ease n.
freedom from work, discomfort, trouble, diffi-

　
culty, worry, etc. 悠闲; 舒适 ; 自在; 安心

display vt.
show 展

loop vt.
把(绳等)打成环

n.
圈，环

string n.
细绳，线，弦

balance n.
condition of being steady 平衡

v.
keep in a state of balance

properly ad.
really; completely 非常; 完全地

impress vt
have a strong effect on the mind or feelings of 给

　
...深刻的印象

mail vt.
send by post

poem n.
piece of writing in verse 诗

personality n.
character 个性

logic n.
the science or method of reasoning 逻辑(学);

　
推理(法)

simplicity n.
the state of being simple ; an absence of

　
pretense 简单;简朴;单纯

function vi.
work

intellectual n.
智力的

frustrate vt.
cause to have feelings of annoyed disappoint-

　
ment; defeat 使沮丧;挫败

frustration n.
jealousy n.

jealousy n.
envy 妒忌

jealous a.

vanity n.
state of being too proud of oneself or one's

　
looks, abilities, etc. 虚荣心

bitterness n.
the quality or state of being bitter 苦;痛苦

resentment n.
feeling that one has when insulted, ignored, in-

　
jured, etc. 怨恨,

ambition n.
strong desire for success, power, riches, etc.

　
野心；抱负

ambitious a.

immune a.
有免疫力的;不受影响的

immunity n.

emotion n.
strong feeling

pretension n.
矫饰,作走,虚荣

correspond vi.
exchange letters regularly 通信

stationery n.
paper for writing letters, usu. with matching

　
envelopes; writing materials 信笺;文具

watermark n.
mark made on paper by the maker, seen when it

　
is held against light 水印

pad n.
a number of sheets of writing paper fixed

　
along one edge 便笺簿

razor n.
sharp instrument for taking hair off the body

　
剃刀

shave vt.
cut off (hair or beard) with a razor

cream n.
any thick, soft liquid 膏状物

argue vt.
give reasons for or against (sth. ) 争辩

painful a.
causing pain

shrug v.
lift (the shoulders) slightly (to show indiffer-

　
ence, doubt, etc. ) 耸肩

finally ad.
at last; lastly 最终;最后

present vt.
give; offer 赠送 ; 提供

tube n.
管 ; 软管

beam vi.
look or smile happily and cheerfully 面露喜色;

　
高兴地微笑

beard n.
hair of the lower part of the face (excluding

　
the moustache) 胡须

thereafter ad.
after that; afterwards

revert vi.
return ( to a former state,condition, etc. )回

　
复，回返

exclusively ad.
only; completely

exclusive a.

theorist n.
person who forms theories 理论家

equation n.
方程式

slight a.
small in degree, not considerable or serious

　
微小的，轻微的

application n.
using 应用

theory n.
(explanation of the) general principles of an

　
art or science 理论

theoretical a.


reactor n.
反应堆

atomic a.
of or concerning an atom or atoms 原子的

atom n.


photoelectric a.
光电的

series n.
group of things of the same kind that come one

　
after another 系列 ; 套 , 组

relatively ad.
comparatively 相对地 ; 比较地

relative a.

relativity n.

curiosity n.
the desire to know or learn 好奇心

observe v.
see and notice; watch carefully

repeatedly ad.
again and again

dunk vt.
put under water for a limited time 把…浸一浸

deduce vt.
reach a conclusion by reasoning 演绎, 推断

deduction n.

principle n.
原理；原则

flaw n.
fault 缺点, 瑕疵

reasoning n.
process of reaching conclusions by using one's

　
reason 推理

pursue vt.
work at, be busy with, go on with 从事 ; 忙于;

　
继续

apart ad.
separate(ly) 分离, 分开

approach n.
method of doing sth. 方式, 方法

solution n.
the method of solving a problem

puzzle n.
sth. that one cannot understand or explain 谜

fame n.
(condition of) being famous

profound a.
needing much thought or study to understand;

　
deep 深奥的;深刻

capable a.
able

capability n.

household n.
all the people living in a house

a.
familiar and common

household word n.
word or name known and spoken of by almost

　
everyone 家喻户晓的词或名字

civilized a.
文明的

civilize vt.
civilization n.

fortune n.
luck

bewilder vt.
confuse; puzzle 把…弄糊涂;使迷惑

statesman n.
political or government leader, esp.one who is

　
wise and fair-minded 政治家

housewife n.
married woman who manages a household


　

　

Phrases & Expressions

　

at ease
free from worry or nervousness; comfortable

off balance
not in balance; unsteady 失去平衡的

come to terms with
accept (sth. one does not want to accept) and deal

　
with it in the best way one can 与…达成协议；

　
与…妥协

as far as
to the degree that 到…程度

mean nothing to
be of no importance to

believe in
have confidence in the value of

so much so that
to such an extent that

a series of
a number of (things or events) of the same kind

　
that follow each other 一系列 , 一连串

take apart
separate (a small machine,clock,ete,) into pieces

　
拆开

work out
solve, find the answer to 解决 ; 算出 ; 想出

capable of
having the ability; power or inclination (to do)

single out
choose from a group for special treatment 选出,挑出


　

　

Proper Names

　

Thomas Lee Bucky
托马斯•李•巴基

Joseph Blank
约瑟夫•布兰克

Albert Einstein
阿伯特•爱因斯坦

Woolworth
伍尔沃思(姓氏)

Nobel Prize
诺贝尔奖金


　

　

　

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