Mothers of Four Fields 四大領域之母

選編/Maggie+譯/張曉敏

Isadora Duncan： the Mother of Modern Dance

伊莎多拉·鄧肯：現代舞之母

（1877～1927， American）

Isadora Duncan， one of the great innovators in the history of dance， is considered the Mother of Modern Dance. Her dance movements were borrowed from Ancient Greece， and she danced in flowing costumes， bare feet， and loose hair—revolutionary at the time. Duncan used music and movement to convey the nature of her innermost being. Although she was criticized for it at the time， Duncan dared to use music of master composers for her dances and her superb musicality was quickly recognized. Her dance technique and choreography1）， the extraordinary events that marked her life， and her philosophy and writings on dance and life continue to fascinate dancers and historians. Duncan's work was not filmed during her lifetime. Primarily what we know of her technique and choreography today has been handed down directly from dancer to dancer.

Florence Nightingale： the Mother of Modern Nursing

弗洛倫斯·南丁格爾：現代護理學之母

（1820～1910， British）

Florence Nightingale is best known for having founded modern nursing and helped improve the care provided by hospitals. During the Crimean War （1854～1856） she sought to improve sanitary2） conditions in the medical facilities. Her proof of the effectiveness of proper hygiene for the recovery from wounds and disease led to a reform of the entire military hospital system. After the war， using money donated from her former patients and the public， she founded the Nightingale Training School and Home for Nurses at St. Thomas' Hospital. This institution continued to improve what was becoming the nursing profession. Many of the nurses trained at her schools went on to become matrons3） at the leading hospitals in Britian. Nightingale remained unmarried， and retreated increasingly into the isolation of her home because of ill health. Yet through her writing， she remained an important consultant on health issues. Her extensive use of diagrams4） helped to make her work understandable to professionals and the common person alike. She was honored with the Royal Red Cross in 1883 and was also the first woman elected to the Royal Statistical Society. In 1907， she was the first woman to be granted the British Order of Merit5）.

弗洛倫斯·南丁格爾因開創了現代護理學并幫助提高了醫院護理水平而最為知名。在克里米亞戰爭（1854～1856年）期間，她曾致力于提高醫療設施的衛生條件。她關于良好的衛生條件有利于傷病恢復的論證促成了整個軍事醫院系統的改革。戰爭結束后，她用自己以前的病人和公眾的捐款在圣托馬斯醫院建立了南丁格爾護士培訓學校兼護士之家。這所學校繼續改善后來成為護理專業的這項事業。許多在這里受過培訓的護士后來都成了英國各大一流醫院的護士長。南丁格爾一生未婚，后來由于健康欠佳逐漸與世隔絕，隱退在家。但通過她的著作，她仍是有關健康問題的重要顧問。她在書中廣泛運用圖解，讓專業人士以及普通人都能讀懂她的著作。1883年，南丁格爾被授予皇家紅十字勛章，同時也是第一位入選皇家統計學會的女性。1907年，南丁格爾成為第一位獲得英國榮譽勛章的女性。endprint

1. choreography [?k?ri??ɡr?fi] n. 舞蹈動作的編排設計；舞蹈設計藝術

2. sanitary [?s?n?tri] adj. 衛生的；清潔的

3. matron [?me?tr?n] n. 護士長

4. diagram [?da??ɡr?m] n. 示意圖；圖解

5. British Order of Merit： 英國榮譽勛章。該勛章于1902年由英王愛德華七世所創設，以嘉獎在軍事、科學、藝術、文學或推廣文化方面有顯著成就的人。

Rachel Carson： the Mother of Environmental Movement

蕾切爾·卡森：環保運動之母

（1907～1964， American）

Rachel Carson is considered the Mother of the Modern Environmental Movement through her book， Silent Spring， by pushing for environmental policies that would protect human health and the environment.

Few books have altered the course of history—Silent Spring was one of them. The tidal wave of protest that followed its publication in 1962 forced the banning of the pesticide DDT6） and resulted in revolutionary changes in public perception about our air， land， and water. It helped launch the modern environmental movement. Rachel Carson's passionate plea for restraint， common sense， and stewardship7） resulted in fundamental changes not only in North America， but also throughout the world. So profound was the impact of her book that it has been compared with Uncle Tom's Cabin， by Harriet Beecher Stowe， and On the Origin of Species， by Charles Darwin. Time magazine has chosen Rachel Carson as one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century.

蕾切爾·卡森因其著作《寂靜的春天》催生了保護人類健康和環境的環境政策而被譽為現代環保運動之母。

改變歷史進程的書少之又少，而《寂靜的春天》就是其中之一。該書于1962年出版，隨后引發的抗議浪潮使殺蟲劑DDT被強行禁用，并使公眾對空氣、土地和水的認知發生了革命性改變。它幫助發起了一場現代環保運動。蕾切爾·卡森在書中熱誠地懇求人們限制破壞環境的行為、增強環保常識、加強政府監管，這些懇求不僅在北美而且在全世界都引發了根本性變革。該書影響力如此深遠，一直被人們拿來與哈里特·比徹·斯托的《湯姆叔叔的小屋》以及查爾斯·達爾文的《物種起源》相提并論。蕾切爾·卡森還被《時代周刊》評選為“20世紀最有影響力的思想家”之一。

Emmy Noether： the Mother of Modern Algebra

埃米·諾特：現代代數學之母

（1882～1935， German）

Emmy Noether， a German mathematician， was the world leader in the 20th century development of modern "abstract" algebra. Her writing， the students she inspired， and their books wholly changed the form and content of higher algebra throughout the world.

In 1915， Noether worked as an assistant to the world-famous mathematician David Hilbert， giving a course in his name （she was not allowed to lecture at the time on her own account） and applied her knowledge of invariant8） theory to relativity theory in a paper that impressed Einstein. In 1920， she turned her attention to algebra and inspired many excellent students. With the rise of Hitler in 1933， Noether was dismissed from her modest position as non-tenured9） professor at Gottingen—she was not only Jewish but a woman and a liberal. The Rockefeller Foundation helped to fund a position for her in the United States at Bryn Mawr College， where there was a long tradition of interest in higher mathematical research. At Bryn Mawr， she helped various young women mathematicians. She advised Marie J. Weiss10） and guided the Ph.D. thesis of Ruth Stauffer （McKee）11）.

德國數學家埃米·諾特引領了20世紀世界上現代“抽象”代數學的發展。她本人的著作、受她啟發的學生以及這些學生的著作完全改變了全世界高等代數的形式和內容。

1915年，諾特作為世界知名數學家戴維·希爾伯特的助教以他的名義在大學里教課（當時她不能以自己的名義開課），她在一篇論文里將自己關于不變量理論的知識應用于相對論，給愛因斯坦留下深刻印象。1920年，她將研究重點轉向代數學，并啟發了許多優秀的學生。1933年希特勒上臺之后，諾特從格丁根大學非終身教授這低微的職位上被解雇，因為她不僅是猶太人，還是一位女性、一名自由主義者。后來洛克菲勒基金會在美國的布林莫爾學院給她資助了一份教職，這所學院有著重視高等數學研究的悠久傳統。在布林莫爾學院，她幫助過許多年輕的女數學家。她曾指導過瑪麗·J·韋斯，還是露絲·斯托弗（麥基）的博士論文導師。

6. DDT： 一種殺蟲劑，對人類的毒性低，曾被廣為使用。但人們后來發現它不易降解，積累過多會對魚類和鳥類生存繁殖不利，破壞生態平衡，因此在世界大部分地區已經被禁。

7. stewardship [?stju??d??p] n. 管理工作

8. invariant [?n?ve?ri?nt] n. 不變量

9. tenure [?tenj?（r）] vt. 授予……終身職位

10. Marie J. Weiss： 瑪麗·J·韋斯（1903～1952），美國數學領域的先驅者，曾任杜蘭大學紐科姆學院數學教授。

11. Ruth Stauffer （McKee）： 露絲·斯托弗（麥基） （1910～1993），美國數學家，是埃米·諾特唯一的美國博士生。endprint