按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
3darwin loved an exact number。 in a later work； he announced that the number of worms to be found in anaverage acre of english country soil was 53；767。
problem at its heart remained； however。 darwin and his geological friends needed the earth tobe old； but no one could figure out a way to make it so。
unfortunately for darwin； and for progress； the question came to the attention of the greatlord kelvin （who； though indubitably great； was then still just plain william thomson； hewouldn’t be elevated to the peerage until 1892； when he was sixty…eight years old and nearingthe end of his career； but i shall follow the convention here of using the name retroactively）。
kelvin was one of the most extraordinary figures of the nineteenth century—indeed of anycentury。 the german scientist hermann von helmholtz； no intellectual slouch himself； wrotethat kelvin had by far the greatest “intelligence and lucidity； and mobility of thought” of anyman he had ever met。 “i felt quite wooden beside him sometimes；” he added； a bit dejectedly。
the sentiment is understandable； for kelvin really was a kind of victorian superman。 hewas born in 1824 in belfast； the son of a professor of mathematics at the royal academicalinstitution who soon after transferred to glasgow。 there kelvin proved himself such aprodigy that he was admitted to glasgow university at the exceedingly tender age of ten。 bythe time he had reached his early twenties； he had studied at institutions in london and paris；graduated from cambridge （where he won the university’s top prizes for rowing andmathematics； and somehow found time to launch a musical society as well）； been elected afellow of peterhouse； and written （in french and english） a dozen papers in pure and appliedmathematics of such dazzling originality that he had to publish them anonymously for fear ofembarrassing his superiors。 at the age of twenty…two he returned to glasgow university totake up a professorship in natural philosophy； a position he would hold for the next fifty…threeyears。
in the course of a long career （he lived till 1907 and the age of eighty…three）； he wrote 661papers； accumulated 69 patents （from which he grew abundantly wealthy）； and gained renownin nearly every branch of the physical sciences。 among much else； he suggested the methodthat led directly to the invention of refrigeration； devised the scale of absolute temperaturethat still bears his name； invented the boosting devices that allowed telegrams to be sentacross oceans； and made innumerable improvements to shipping and navigation； from theinvention of a popular marine pass to the creation of the first depth sounder。 and thosewere merely his practical achievements。
his theoretical work； in electromagnetism； thermodynamics； and the wave theory of light；was equally revolutionary。
4he had really only one flaw and that was an inability to calculatethe correct age of the earth。 the question occupied much of the second half of his career； buthe never came anywhere near getting it right。 his first effort； in 1862 for an article in apopular magazine called macmillan’s ； suggested that the earth was 98 million years old； butcautiously allowed that the figure could be as low as 20 million years or as high as 400million。 with remarkable prudence he acknowledged that his calculations could be wrong if4in particular he elaborated the second law of thermodynamics。 a discussion of these laws would be a book initself； but i offer here this crisp summation by the chemist p。 w atkins； just to provide a sense of them： 〃thereare four laws。 the third of them； the second law； was recognized first； the first； the zeroth law； wasformulated last； the first law was second； the third law might not even be a law in the same sense as theothers。〃 in briefest terms； the second la states that a little energy is always wasted。 you cant have a perpetualmotion device because no matter how efficient； it will always lose energy and eventually run down。 the first lawsays that you cant create energy and the third that you cant reduce temperatures to absolute zero； there willalways be some residual warmth。 as dennis overbye notes； the three principal laws are sometimes expressedjocularly as （1） you cant win； （2） you cant break even； and （3） you cant get out of the game。
“sources now unknown to us are prepared in the great storehouse of creation”—but it wasclear that he thought that unlikely。
with the passage of time kelvin would bee more forthright in his assertions and lesscorrect。 he continually revised his estimates downward； from a maximum of 400 millionyears； to 100 million years； to 50 million years； and finally； in 1897； to a mere 24 millionyears。 kelvin wasn’t being willful。 it was simply that there was nothing in physics that couldexplain how a body the size of the sun could burn continuously for more than a few tens ofmillions of years at most without exhausting its fuel。 therefore it followed that the sun and itsplanets were relatively； but inescapably； youthful。
the problem was that nearly all the fossil evidence contradicted this； and suddenly in thenineteenth century there was a lot of fossil evidence。
……
6SCIENCE RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW
～
in 1787； someone in new jersey—exactly who now seems to be forgotten—found anenormous thighbone sticking out of a stream bank at a place called woodbury creek。 thebone clearly didn’t belong to any species of creature still alive； certainly not in new jersey。
from what little is known now； it is thought to have belonged to a hadrosaur； a large duck…billed dinosaur。 at the time； dinosaurs were unknown。
the bone was sent to dr。 caspar wistar； the nation’s leading anatomist； who described it ata meeting of the american philosophical society in philadelphia that autumn。 unfortunately；wistar failed pletely to recognize the bone’s significance and merely made a few cautiousand uninspired remarks to the effect that it was indeed a whopper。 he thus missed the chance；half a century ahead of anyone else； to be the discoverer of dinosaurs。 indeed； the boneexcited so little interest that it was put in a storeroom and eventually disappeared altogether。
so the first dinosaur bone ever found was also the first to be lost。
that the bone didn’t attract greater interest is more than a little puzzling； for its appearancecame at a time when america was in a froth of excitement about the remains of large； ancientanimals。 the cause of this froth was a strange assertion by the great french naturalist thete de buffon—he of the heated spheres from the previous chapter—that living things inthe new world were inferior in nearly every way to those of the old world。 america； buffonwrote in his vast and much…esteemed histoire naturelle ； was a land where the water wasstagnant； the soil unproductive； and the animals without size or vigor； their constitutionsweakened by the “noxious vapors” that rose from its rotting swamps and sunless forests。 insuch an environment even the native indians lacked virility。 “they have no beard or bodyhair；” buffon sagely confided； “and no ardor for the female。” their reproductive organs were“small and feeble。”
buffon’s observations found surpris