電是自然界最偉大的力量之一 Electricity is one of nature's greatest forces.
到二十世紀中葉 And by the middle of the 20th century,
我們已經開始利用它進行照明和供能了 we'd harnessed it to light and power our modern world.
經過幾個世紀的科學探索和發明創造 Hundreds of years of scientific discoveries
人類即將步入現代社會 and inventions brought us here.
而正是因為一位不可多得的怪才 But it would take the eccentric genius of one man
電的真正潛力才開始顯露出來 to unlock the full potential of electrical power.
1943年冬天 In the winter of 1943,
尼古拉·特斯拉眺望遠方 Nikola Tesla looked out
最後一次凝望著曼哈頓的天際 across the Manhattan skyline for the very last time.
特斯拉出生於一個由蒸汽驅動 靠煤氣照明的年代 Tesla had been born into a world powered by steam and lit by gas.
但此刻 他看到的是一個全新的世界 But before his eyes, he saw a new world.
一個改頭換面的世界 A world transformed,
一個以電為動力的世界 a world powered by electricity.
一個屬於他的世界 His world.
身體虛弱 孤獨寂寞 Frail, lonely
對他的愛鴿之死仍念念不忘 and still mourning the death of one of his beloved pigeons,
這位卓越非凡卻又古里古怪的天才 this extraordinary and eccentric genius
知道自己的使命已經完成 knew that his life's work was done
便躺在床上 等待大限來臨 and he laid back on his bed to die.
三天之後 才有人發現他的遺體 It would be three days before anyone found his body.
兩個世紀前 早期的電學家發現 Just over 200 years ago, early scientists
電不僅包括簡單的靜電 discovered electricity could be much more than simply a static charge.
它還能以持續電流的形式存在 It could be made to flow in a continuous current.
但是 他們還將發掘出一個更為重要的事實 But they were about to discover something profound.
電與磁其實是緊密相連的 That electricity is connected to magnetism.
駕馭好電和磁的關係 Harnessing the link between magnetism and electricity
將會徹底地改變世界 would completely transform the world
讓我們產生幾乎無窮無盡的電能 and allow us to generate seemingly limitless amounts of electrical power.
在本集中 我們將講述科學家和工程師 This is the story of how scientists and engineers
是如何探尋電的本質 unlocked the nature of electricity
並利用電 開拓出一個屬於發明創造的新紀元的 and then used it in an extraordinary century of innovation and invention.
以及與此有關的一場 But not before one of the most shocking
極富盛名的工程競爭 engineering rivalries in history was finally laid to rest.
翻譯：胡大田 女俠阿呆 夏天的小蝦米 阿茲 校對：statm 女俠阿呆
第二集 百花齊放
我們的故事始於倫敦 Our story begins in London,
19世紀初 at the beginning of the 19th century,
一位年輕人把我們對電的理解 with a young man who would further our understanding of electricity
提高到了前所未有的程度 as much as any other.
1812年2月19日 On 29th of February, 1812,
年僅20歲 自學成才的裝訂商邁克爾·法拉第 a 20-year-old self-educated bookbinder called Michael Faraday
來到了英國皇家學院 came here to the Royal institution of Great Britain.
他的四周皆是學術界的大師巨匠 He was surrounded by the great and the good of the academic world.
而他即將聽到的演講 And he was about to listen
來自當時最偉大的科學家之一 to one of the greatest scientific minds of the age.
法拉第是一位鐵匠的兒子 他在十二歲時 Faraday, the son of a blacksmith, had finished his formal education
就告別了校園生活 when he was just 12 years old.
他從沒上過大學 He would never get to university.
但他並沒有放棄學習 But he wasn't finished with learning,
因為他深深地著迷於科學 as he was fascinated by science.
白天 法拉第兢兢業業地工作 裝訂書本 Faraday worked long and hard during the day, binding books.
到了晚上 他會閱讀所有他能弄到手的 But in the evenings, he'd read whatever scientific literature
科學文獻 he could lay his hands on.
他熱衷於學習新事物 He loved learning new things about the world
而且他有著一種持久的渴望和熱情 and he had this constant desire, this passion,
去瞭解萬事萬物的規律 to understand why things were they way they were.
雖然法拉第博覽群書 Reading scientific papers was one thing.
但求知若渴的他 But to really satisfy his craving for knowledge,
很希望能親自觀看科學實驗 Faraday was desperate to see the experiments themselves.
法拉第終於得到了這樣的機會 And he eventually got his chance
他獲得了英國著名化學家 Humphry Davy爵士 when he was given a ticket to attend one of the last lectures
最後幾場講演的入場券 of England's greatest chemist of the time, Sir Humphry Davy.
青年法拉第的命運就此改變 It was to change young Faraday's life forever.
在觀看了Davy的演講之後 After watching Davy,
心懷崇拜 思緒萬千的法拉第 awe inspired and full of ideas,
敲定了自己的終身事業 Faraday knew what he wanted to do with his life.
他下定決心要致力於推動科學的發展 He was determined to dedicate himself to furthering science.
而他也確實做到了 And that's just what he did.
不到一年 Davy便任命他為 Within a year, Davy had appointed him
皇家學院的助手 as an assistant at the Royal institution.
有了Davy做他的主管 With Davy as his patron and, well, his boss,
法拉第學習了有關化學的方方面面 Faraday studied all manner of chemistry.
但真正激發他做出驚天創舉的 But what would inspire his greatest breakthroughs...
還是電和磁這兩種看不見 摸不著的力量 were the invisible forces of electricity and magnetism.
1820年 一位丹麥科學家便研究過它們 In 1820, both were being studied by a Danish scientist,
漢斯·克裏斯蒂安·奧斯特 Hans Christian Oersted,
他做出了一個驚人的發現 who'd made an extraordinary discovery.
他讓電流經過一根銅棒 He passed an electric current through a copper rod
在銅棒靠近磁針時 and brought it close to a magnetic compass needle
磁針就會旋轉 and saw that it made the needle rotate.
對奧斯特來說 這是一個了不起的發現 To Oersted, it was remarkable.
他有史以來第一次展示出 He'd shown, for the first time,
電流可以產生磁力 an electric current can create a magnetic force.
他把電和磁聯繫到了一起 He'd bound electricity and magnetism together.
而今天 我們把它稱作「電磁力」 Today we call it electro-magnetism.
它是自然界的基本力之一 And it's one of the fundamental forces of nature.
奧斯特的發現 Oersted's discovery sparks off a whole new
為電學研究和發明 aspect of inventive activity
打開了一個全新的領域 around and about the fields of electricity.
於是 電學實驗家們馬上行動起來 You can almost see electrical experimenters vying,
他們爭先恐後地 competing with each other,
探索電與其他各種力之間的聯繫 to find new links between electricity and the other powers of nature.
在皇家學院 At the Royal institution,
法拉第正著手重做奧斯特的實驗 Faraday set about recreating Oersted's work,
而這正是他功成名就的第一步 which would mark his first steps to fame and fortune.
經過嚴謹的觀察 And through his rigorous research,
他得出結論 在電線與磁針之間 he concluded that there must be a flow of forces
必定有一股力在流動 acting between the wire and the compass needle.
他為此所設計的演示裝置 The device he designed to demonstrate it
改變了歷史的進程 would change the course of history.
法拉第用一塊電池 幾根導線 以及一個水銀槽 Faraday created a circuit using a battery like this,
製作了一個電流回路 a pair of wires and a mercury bath.
電流會從這個銅架 Now, the circuit carries on through these copper posts,
流到這根自由懸掛在水銀中的導線 and this wire hangs freely, it dangles into the mercury.
由於水銀是良導體 Now, because mercury is such a good conductor,
所以回路是完整的 it completes the circuit.
當電流在回路中穿行時 When the current runs through the circuit...
它在導線周圍產生一個圓形的磁場 ..it generates a circular magnetic force-field around the wire.
而法拉第在水銀槽中間也放了一塊磁鐵 Now, this interacts with the magnetism from a permanent magnet
兩個磁場相互作用 that Faraday had placed in the middle of the mercury.
它們一同使得導線運動 Together they forced the wire to move.
法拉第證明了這種無形的力確實存在 Faraday had proved that this invisible force really does exist
我們能直接觀察到它的效果 導線的圓周運動 and he could see its effect - circular motion.
這個奇妙的裝置 首次把電流轉化成了持續的運動 This beautiful device was the first to convert electric current into continuous motion.
可以說 這是最早的電動機 Basically, it's the earliest ever electric motor.
法拉第決定還要更進一步 But Faraday was about to take this experiment further.
1821年 法拉第發現了電磁轉體現象 One of the lasting effects of Faraday's discovery
這帶來了很長遠的影響 of electromagnetic rotations in 1821,
它說明 在電 磁和運動之間 was that it showed that there was a relationship of some sort
存在著某種聯繫 between electricity and magnetism and motion.
法拉第開始深入地研究它們的關係 Faraday explored this relationship in detail
他定下了一個更大的目標 and set himself an even more difficult challenge.
要通過磁和運動來產生電流 To use magnetism and motion to make electricity.
最終 他的專注 勤懇和毅力得到了回報 Eventually, his obsession, hard work and determination paid off.
1831年10月17日 研究有了突破 The breakthrough came on the 17th of October 1831,
當法拉第在一個線圈中 when Faraday took a magnet like this and moved it
把一塊磁鐵抽進抽出時 in and out of a coil of wire.
他探測到一股在線圈中流動的微弱電流 He was able to detect a tiny electric current in the coil,
從一個方向 moving one way...
變成另一個方向 ..and then the other.
法拉第知道這股電流至關重要 Faraday knew he was onto something.
幾天後 A few days later,
他做了另一個等價的實驗 instead of moving the magnet through the conducting wire coil,
這次 他沒有把磁鐵穿過線圈 he set up the equivalent experiment
而是讓一個銅盤在磁場中旋轉 by moving a conducting copper plate through the magnetic field.
他當時並不知道 He didn't know it at the time,
當銅盤轉動 切割磁場時 but as his spinning disk cut through this magnetic field,
大量帶負電的電子 billions of negatively charged electrons
偏離了它們原本的圓周軌道 were deflected from their original circular course,
開始滑向銅盤邊緣 and began to drift towards the edge.
這樣 銅盤的外側會積累負電荷 A negative charge built up at the outer edge of the disk,
而銅盤中心帶正電 leaving a positive charge at the centre,
把銅盤中心和邊緣用導線連接 and once the disk was connected to wires,
電子就會在導線裏流動 形成電流 the electrons flowed in a steady stream.
就這樣 法拉第製造出了恆定的電流 Faraday had generated a continuous flow of electric current.
與電池不同 Unlike a battery,
只要銅盤在轉 他的電流就是源源不斷的 his current flowed for as long as his copper disk was spun.
他把機械能直接轉換成了電能 He'd created electrical power directly from mechanical power.
法拉第的這個發現意義非凡 Although Faraday's discovery of conduction was extraordinarily important in its own right,
它深刻地改變了人們對電的認識 and had profound effects for the understanding of electricity
影響了後來19世紀的科技發展 and technology for the rest of the 19th century,
對於法拉第來說 這個發現 for Faraday what it did
意味著一項長達十年的偉大研究的開端 was open up a decade of powerful research,
因為它為法拉第指明了研究的方向 because it gave him a clue about how he should pursue his research.
在法拉第繼續工作 While Faraday continued his work,
嘗試去瞭解電的真正本質時 trying to understand the very nature of electricity,
歐洲的發明家們 卻對科學研究不感興趣 inventors across Europe were less interested in the science
他們更熱衷於利用電來發財 and more interested in how electricity could make them money.
尤其值得我們這些後人注意的是 在當時 What's actually quite remarkable,certainly from a contemporary perspective, is that,
基本上沒有人真正關心電到底是什麼 by and large, nobody really seems to care very much what electricity is.
人們不會用物理理論去研究 You don't have great theoretical debates
電到底是力 還是流體 還是基本元素 或是能量 as to whether it's a force, or a fluid, or a principal, or a power.
他們真正感興趣的是 電可以做什麼 What they're really interested in is what electricity can do.
生活在蒸汽時代的法拉第 Faraday, living in a world of steam power,
即將向當時的科學界 was informing the scientific community
揭露電的本質 about the nature of electricity,
而與此同時 一種具有實用價值的電子設備 but at the same time another breakthrough
也走進了人們的視野 in how we could actually use it had been made.
這台電子設備 This would be the first device
首次讓電走出了實驗室 that really brought electricity out of the laboratory
走進了平常百姓的生活中 and into the hands of ordinary people.
它就是電報機 The telegraph.
要搞清電報機的原理 The key to understanding the telegraph
我們需要認識一種特別的磁鐵 電磁鐵 is understanding a special kind of magnet, an electromagnet.
簡單地說 它是一種由電流控制的磁鐵 Basically, a magnet created by an electric current.
第一塊電磁鐵 The first electromagnets were developed independently
分別由英國的William Sturgeon by William Sturgeon in Britain
和美國的Joseph Henry獨立發明 and Joseph Henry in America.
法拉第首先發現 通過在線圈上纏繞更多導線 And just as Faraday had discovered that by coiling his wire,
在移動磁鐵時 可以增加線圈中的電流 he could increase the current in it produced by the moving magnet,
而Henry和Sturgeon發現 so Henry and Sturgeon discovered
如果把通電的導線纏繞成線圈 that by adding more coils in their current carrying wires,
就可以製造出更集中的磁場 they could make a more concentrated magnetic field.
纏繞的圈數越多 磁場就越強 Basically, the more coils, the more turns, the stronger the magnet.
所以如果我給這塊電磁鐵通上電 So if I pass a current through this electromagnet,
我們可以清楚地看到磁場的作用 you can actually see the effects of the magnetic field.
這是一個典型的課堂實驗 This is the standard school experiment
把鐵屑撒在磁鐵上面 of sprinkling iron filings on top of the magnet.
如果我輕輕一敲 If I give it a tap,
瞧 鐵屑會順著磁力線的方向排列 see the iron filings follow the contours of the field.
這樣 我們就能直接觀察到磁場的效果了 This allows us to visualise the effects of magnetism.
為了增強電磁鐵的磁力 To make an electromagnet even stronger,
Henry和Sturgeon發現 Henry and Sturgeon discovered that they could place
他們可以把金屬放在線圈內部 作為磁芯 certain kinds of metal inside the electromagnetic coil.
鐵製磁芯的效果最好 它有種神奇的特性 The reason iron is so effective is fascinating
我們可以把這塊鐵芯想像成無數個小磁針 because you can think of it as being made up of lots of tiny magnets,
它們都指向任意的方向 all pointing in random directions.
現在 這還不是一塊磁鐵 At the moment, this is not a magnet.
它內部的小磁針 就像這些指南針一樣排列 The tiny magnets inside are aligned similarly to these compass needles.
看 它們現在各自指向不同的方向 If you see, they're all pointing in different directions.
可是 如果施加一個磁場 But when you apply a magnetic field,
它們就會指向同一個方向 they all align together,
這些小磁鐵的磁力合起來 they all combine, these magnets,
能讓電磁鐵的磁力變得更強 and cumulatively they add to the strength of the electromagnet.
於是 Henry和Sturgeon So what Henry and Sturgeon did,
把兩個電磁線圈套在了馬蹄鐵的的兩端 was place two electromagnetic coils on each arm of their horseshoe,
這樣 馬蹄鐵的磁力就增強了許多倍 to create something that was many, many times more powerful.
這塊馬蹄型電磁鐵的威力顯而易見 And we can see the power of this horseshoe electromagnet.
把電源打開後 在上面放一些比鐵屑稍微大點的東西 If I turn it on and use something slightly bigger than iron filings,
比如這些小鐵塊 these small pieces of iron,
你就能看到 它們立刻被強大的磁場所吸引 凝成一團 look at the strength of the magnetic field, holding them in place.
當然 我們必須記住的是 What's important to remember, of course,
這塊電磁鐵 is that this electromagnet only works
只有在通電時才有效 all the time there's a current passing through it.
我把電源關掉之後 As soon as I turn off the current...
磁力馬上就消失了 the magnetism disappears.
早期的科學家們用電磁鐵舉起重物 來展示它的威力 Early experimenters showed off this power by lifting metal weights.
Henry甚至造出了一塊能舉起一噸半金屬的電磁鐵 Henry even made one big enough to lift a tonne-and-a-half of metal.
很精彩 但是並沒有質的飛躍 Impressive but not world-changing.
然而 假如我們把電磁鐵放在遠處 But place that magnet much further away, at the end of a wire,
這樣 我們就可以隨時改變它的狀態 and suddenly you can make something happen at your command in an instant.
這種遠程操控電磁鐵的能力 This ability to control a magnet at a distance,
是科學史上最有用的發現之一 is one of the most useful things we've ever discovered.
如果電的效果 If electricity can be made visible
能夠不受它和電源距離的制約 a long way away from the original source of power,
即時通訊便成為了可能 then you've got a source of instantaneous communication.
19世紀40年代中期 By the middle of the 1840s,
薩繆爾·摩爾斯發明了一種通訊系統 Samuel Morse had developed a messaging system,
它靠電路的開合來發出信息 based on how long an electrical circuit was switched on or off.
一個長電波代表一劃 短脈衝則代表一點 A long pulse of current for a dash, a short burst for a dot.
這個系統用簡單的編碼方式實現了信息的傳送 This allowed messages to be sent and received by using a simple code.
維多利亞早期的評論家曾說 Contemporary early Victorian commentators
電和電報的出現 讓世界變小了 reflect on the fact that electricity and the telegraph is literally making their world a smaller place.
19世紀的社會流傳著一種說法 You very often get a sort of rhetoric throughout the 19th century,
人們提到電報的時候 when people are talking about the telegraph,
都會覺得 有了這樣便捷的溝通方式 人們會彼此理解 about how more communication, more understanding,
不再戰爭 will render war obsolete,
因為我們會消除所有誤會 because we'll all understand each other better.
現在看來 這些烏托邦式的想法真是太幼稚可笑了 I mean, retrospectively, it seems...hopelessly utopian.
到了19世紀中葉 By the 1850s,
歐洲與美國的陸地上 都佈滿了密密麻麻 Europe and America were criss-crossed
縱橫交錯的電報線 with land-based telegraph wires,
可是 即時的全球通信 but the dream of instant global communication
依然是一個遙不可及的夢想 was frustratingly out of reach.
原因在於 當時沒有任何電纜 This was because there was still no cable
能夠跨過大海 傳送信息 capable of carrying messages
連接起兩大強國 between two of the greatest powers on earth -
英國和美國 Britain and America.
許多專家認為 Many experts were convinced
跨越大西洋的電纜工程是不可能實現的 that a working Atlantic cable was impossible.
有些人則不同意 他們明白 一旦解決了這個問題 But those who disagreed knew that if they could solve this problem,
自己便可日進斗金 it could make them serious money.
19世紀50年代 And in the 1850s,
由美國商人投資 英國工程師參與的團隊 American businessmen and British engineers
開始實現這個構想 joined forces to prove this could be done.
起初 他們毫無進展 每一次的嘗試都失敗了 Attempt after attempt ended in disaster.
在海浪和暴雨的侵蝕下 沉重的電纜一次次地斷裂 The heavy cables kept snapping in heavy seas and storms.
最後 1858年7月29日 Finally, on 29th July 1858,
電纜的兩部分終於在大西洋中部會合了 two parts of a cable were spliced together in mid-Atlantic.
因為一艘船根本無法承載整根電纜的重量 You see, a single cable was simply too big to be carried by one ship.
電纜的一端在紐芬蘭 Then one end was taken to Newfoundland,
另一端在愛爾蘭西南部 and the other end to south-west Ireland.
六天之後 史上第一條 Six days later, the first direct link
連接兩大強國的通訊線路竣工了 between the two most powerful nations in the world was in place.
線路的鋪設工程非常成功 The project was hailed a huge success
伊麗莎白女王給布坎南總統 and a formal message of congratulations
發了一封官方賀電 was sent from Queen Victoria to President Buchanan.
然而 人們還沒來得及高興 But before the celebrations were over,
就發現了一個巨大的問題 things started to go very wrong.
這是工程總監Bright的筆記本 This is Chief Engineer Bright's original notebook.
這是伊麗莎白女王當時發的電報原文 You can see here Queen Victoria's original message.
它只有98個詞 發送它卻花了16個小時 Now, it's only 98 words long, but it took 16 hours to transmit.
另一端的電報接收員 The telegraph operators on the other side found it very hard
無法順利將信息解碼 to decipher the message.
因為他們收到的信號 The electrical signals they were receiving
非常模糊不清 were blurred and distorted
他們不得不讓對方不斷地將信息重新發送 and they kept asking for words to be repeated over and over again.
這裏寫道 So you can see here,
「重複發送 等待接受 無信號」 "Repeat after sending. Waiting to receive, no signals."
很明顯 跨洋通信 Clearly, transmitting across the Atlantic
比人們預想的要複雜得多 wasn't going to be as straightforward as people had hoped.
隨後的幾天裏 人們又發送了幾百條電報 Over the next few days, several hundred messages were exchanged,
而紐芬蘭的接收員們 but those arriving in Newfoundland
幾乎完全無法識別出這些信息 became almost impossible to decipher,
他們收到的只是亂七八糟的點和劃 just a jumbled mess of dots and dashes.
電纜的問題很嚴重 而且情況變得越來越糟糕 There was a serious problem with the cable and it was getting worse.
事實上 1858年的這條線路一直沒有被徹底修復 Well, the 1858 cable was never fully repaired,
最後 英國工程師Wildman Whitehouse結束了這一切 and the end finally came when British engineer Wildman Whitehouse
他誤認為 只要增加信號的電壓 mistakenly believed that by increasing the signal voltage
就可以強行將信號送至紐芬蘭 he could force the messages through to Newfoundland.
在這次錯誤的嘗試之後 電纜就徹底壞掉了 The cable simply stopped working altogether.
在當時 用更強的電池 At the time, increasing the voltage
去增加電壓是說得通的 by using more powerful batteries made sense.
很多專家認為 電流通過電纜 Most experts believed electric current
跟水流過水管是一樣的 flowed through a cable, like a fluid in a pipe.
增加電纜中的電壓 Increasing the voltage was the equivalent
就好比增加水管裏的水壓 of increasing the pressure in the system -
這樣一來 電流就可以被送至另一頭了 forcing the current through to the other end.
但是 電報所用的電流帶有脈衝 But the telegraph was actually carrying pulses,
也就是說 在通過電纜的時候 它上下起伏 or ripples of currents along the cable,
並不是持續不變的 not a continuous stream.
電纜的長度過長時 And over long distances,
這些脈衝的變形就變得非常嚴重 these pulses were becoming distorted,
導致人們無法辨認出 發出的信號 making it difficult to tell what was a short dot
到底是一點還是一劃 and which was a longer dash.
在研究了海底電纜的失敗之後 By studying the effectiveness of underwater cabling,
科學家們開始明白 scientists were beginning to understand
電流跟水流的道理不盡相同 that electric current didn't always flow like water,
電流中還會帶有電磁波 but was also creating invisible electromagnetic waves, or ripples.
這個突破性的認知 And it's this breakthrough that would lead to a new branch
讓人們開始了對電磁學的探索 of research into the electromagnetic spectrum,
並解決了跨洋電報的問題 and solve the problems of the Atlantic telegraph.
可以說 跨洋電纜工程 In effect, the Transatlantic Cable
是一個規模空前 雄心勃勃 並耗資巨大的實驗 was a giant, ambitious, hugely expensive experiment.
它的失敗說明 The failure of science
對科學原理的透徹理解 是發展技術的絕對前提 to keep pace with technology had been exposed.
自此 一條全新 理論性更強 And a new, more theoretical
而且對我來說 更加激動人心的電學發展之路開始了 and, for me, much more exciting approach to understanding electricity began to unfold.
有了這種對電流運動的新認知 Armed with this new understanding of how electric pulses
人們開始重建跨洋電路 actually moved along the cable, improvements were made
在電纜的質量 設計 以及鋪設方法上都作出了改良 to its composition, design, and how it was laid.
八年之後 科學家和工程師們 It would take another eight years of scientists and engineers
同心協力 製造並鋪設了一條新電纜 working together before a working cable was finally put in place.
1866年7月27日 And on Friday 27th July 1866,
一條信息從愛爾蘭發往紐芬蘭 a message was sent from Ireland to Newfoundland.
信號非常清晰 Clear and crisp.
「奧地利與普魯士簽署了和平條約」 "A treaty of peace has been signed between Austria and Prussia."
終於 跨洋通信的夢想 At last, the dream of instant transatlantic communication
成為了現實 had become a reality.
1866年 電路工程的成功再次縮小了這個世界 The success of the 1866 cable makes the world a smaller place. Yet again.
在此之前 跨洋通信需要幾天 幾周 The change from a world where it took days or weeks or months
甚至幾個月 for information to travel,
而有了它之後 信息的傳送只需要幾秒或者幾分鐘 to a world in which information took seconds or minutes to travel -
這件事情的歷史意義 it is far more profound
比我這一生中發生的任何事情都更加重大 than almost anything that's taken place during my lifetime.
電報的發明改變了尋常人們的生活 The invention of the telegraph changed ordinary people's lives.
然而 對於利用持續電流的探索和突破 But it would be the breakthroughs in how we used continuously flowing electric current
影響更為深遠 that would have an even greater impact.
發明家們開始研究一種使用電的新方法 Because inventors were developing a new way of using electricity.
繼而發明了一種滿足世界上所有人需求的東西 To make something every person in the world would want -
電燈 electric light.
在19世紀之前 Until the 19th century,
我們只會通過一種方法來照明 那就是燃燒東西 we only knew of one way to make our own light - burn things.
到了19世紀中期 And by the middle of the 19th century,
我們已經有了一種非常有效的照明方法 we'd perfected a very effective way of lighting our homes -
燃燒天然氣 using gas.
這就是19世紀60年代時 英國家庭的照明設備 A typical British home in the 1860s would have been lit like this -
易燃的天然氣 highly-flammable gas
通過縱橫交錯的管道網 would have been pumped directly into people's houses
直接被輸送進住宅裏 through a network of pipes.
可是 這樣的光在室外卻顯得太暗 But these gas lamps were too dull for large outdoor areas.
於是 為了照明火車站和街道 So railway stations and streets began to be lit
人們開始使用更明亮的弧光燈 from a more powerful source - electric arc lights.
最初的弧光燈 早在1808年 The first arc lights were demonstrated
就由法拉第的老師 Humphry Davy by Michael Faraday's mentor, Sir Humphry Davy,
在皇家學會展示給了大家 at the Royal institution as early as 1808,
它的工作原理是 電流通過兩根碳棒的時候 and they worked by passing a continuous spark of electricity
會產生持久的火花 across two carbon rods.
但是 用弧光燈做室內照明實在是太亮了 But their intense white glow was just too bright for people's homes.
要把它調整到接近天然氣燈的亮度 For an electric light to compete with gas,
就得把它分成許多個更小 it would need to be subdivided into many smaller,
更弱 更柔和的燈 less powerful and more gentle lamps.
而那個用電燈點亮千家萬戶的人 Whoever succeeded in bringing electric light
絕對會富甲天下 被永載史冊 to every home in the land was guaranteed fame and fortune.
19世紀80年代前期 世界上最著名 And by the early 1880s, the most famous, most prodigious,
最優秀 最具有實力的發明家 most fiercely competitive inventor in the world
接受了這個挑戰 had taken on the challenge.
他就是美國人 托馬斯·阿爾瓦·愛迪生 The American, Thomas Alva Edison.
愛迪生酷愛發明 For Edison, invention was a passion,
這是他的興趣所在 他非常喜歡做實驗 it's what he loved doing. He loved being in the laboratory.
因為他總能在實驗之中找到巨大的樂趣 The first thing that drove that passion is that it was a lot of fun for Edison.
他喜歡發明 That was the thing that he found most exciting,
而且也擅長發明 is that this was something he did well,
他的靈感和創造力 通過發明得以彰顯 and it allowed all of his creativity to come to the fore.
愛迪生是電器發明之父 Edison is Mr Electrical Invention.
每個人都無條件信任他 He's the man they trust.
都認為他是無所不能的 He's the man that they think can do anything.
不僅如此 他還與商業界有著良好的關係 He's also the man who has his carefully cultivated connections with entrepreneurs,
商人們心甘情願 with people that are willing to put their cash
在他身上投資 跟他合作 where Edison's mouth is, so to speak,
支持他的發明 and back him in this sort of venture.
不過 愛迪生看重的並不是為自己謀利 For Edison, the money was probably the least important reason.
他賺錢只有一個目的 For Edison, the money was important for one reason -
那就是為下一個項目籌資 to allow him to do the next project.
愛迪生召集了一批年輕有為的工程師 Edison had assembled a group of young and talented engineers
在新澤西成立了一個尖端實驗室 at a cutting-edge laboratory in New Jersey,
地處曼哈頓外26英里 26 miles from Manhattan.
門洛帕克 Menlo Park would become
成為了世界上第一個研究開發中心 the world's first research and development facility,
愛迪生的團隊在這裏進行著大規模的發明 allowing Edison's team to invent on an industrial scale.
他們夜以繼日地工作著 They worked incredible hours, you know,
一位工程師曾說 他很少有時間去陪他的孩子們 one of them talked about how he hardly ever saw his children
因為他總是在實驗室裏忙碌 cos he was in the lab all the time.
但是他們知道 自己所做的工作有著至關重要的意義 But they knew they were in the midst of something really important.
愛迪生一旦成功 That if Edison succeeded,
他們也會前途無量 if they succeeded with Edison, their futures were secure.
愛迪生的夢想 就是用電燈給每一個家庭帶來光明 Edison's dream was to bring electric light to every home in the land,
他和他的團隊一起 and with his team of engineers behind him,
懷著對電力未來的憧憬 展開了研究工作 and the vision of an electric future ahead, he launched his campaign.
電燈的發明大賽即將拉開帷幕 The race to bring electric light to the world was to play out
賽場就是當時的國際大都市 紐約 巴黎 倫敦 in the great cities of the time - New York, Paris, London.
愛迪生的門洛帕克團隊開始開發 Edison's Menlo Park team set about developing
一種全然不同的電燈 a totally different form of electric lamp -
白熾燈 the incandescent light bulb.
實際上 愛迪生的燈泡設計 In fact, Edison's light bulb design
既不是首創的 也不是獨一無二的 wasn't all that new. Or unique
法國 俄國 比利時和英國的發明家們 French, Russian, Belgian and British inventors
四十多年來 一直在改進類似的電燈泡 had been perfecting similar bulbs for over 40 years.
其中的一位英國人 約瑟夫·斯旺 And one of them, an Englishman, Joseph Swan,
一直都致力於發明他自己的白熾燈 had been developing his own version of an incandescent lamp.
斯旺和愛迪生的電燈泡 Both Swan and Edison's light bulbs
都是利用電流通過燈絲來發光的 worked by passing an electric current through a filament.
燈絲是一種供電流通過的材料 Now, a filament is a material in which the electric current
而電流經過燈絲 flows through with more difficulty than it does
比經過導線更加困難 through the copper wire in the rest of the circuit.
燈絲發光的關鍵在於電阻 And it relies on the idea of resistance.
這個瓶子裏有一根燈絲 它是用普通的鉛筆芯做成的 Inside this jar, I have a filament made out of ordinary pencil lead,
現在我給它通電 看看會發生什麼 and we can see what happens as I pass a current through it.
從原子角度看 Down at the atomic scale,
燈絲中的原子會阻礙電流流動 the atoms in the filament impede the flow of electricity.
要迫使電流通過 就得花費更多能量 So it takes more energy to force it through,
這些能量以熱的形式儲存在燈絲中 and this energy is deposited in the filament as heat.
而隨著燈絲變熱 它的電阻會變得更大 Now, as it heats up, its resistance goes up,
溫度也繼續升高 直到進入白熱狀態 which again raises its temperature, until it glows white-hot.
愛迪生嘗試過不同的燈絲材料 Now, one of the first materials
其中之一是金屬鉑 Edison used for his filaments was platinum.
鉑的熔點比較高 With its relatively high melting point,
所以 它可以一直發熱 platinum could be heated
直到白熱狀態也不會熔化 to a white-hot temperature without melting.
它也可以被製成很細的鉑絲 鉑絲越細 It could also be stretched into thin strands, and the thinner the strand,
它對電流的阻礙就越強 the more resistance it offered to the current passing through it.
但是鉑非常昂貴 並且不能提供足夠大的電阻 But platinum was expensive and didn't offer enough resistance.
尋找替代品的競爭就此展開 The race was on to find a better alternative
解決方案也隨即出現 and the solution came
門洛帕克團隊選擇了和斯旺相同的研究方向 when the Menlo Park team switched to a method Swan was also developing,
用真空阻止便宜的碳絲 using a vacuum to stop cheaper carbon filaments
過快地燒掉 from burning up too quickly.
為找到更好的燈絲 愛迪生和斯旺 Edison and Swan tested all kinds of different materials
測試了無數種材料 for their filaments -
生絲 羊皮紙 軟木 他們嘗試了能想到的一切 everything from raw silk and parchment to cork.
愛迪生甚至還試過他手下工程師的鬍鬚 Edison even tested his engineers' beard hair.
最終 他將目標鎖定在竹纖維上 Eventually, he settled on bamboo fibre,
而斯旺使用的 是一種經過處理的棉線 while Swan used a treated cotton thread.
愛迪生和斯旺的電燈泡設計非常相似 Edison and Swan's light bulb designs were very similar.
最終 他們開始合作 Eventually they came to an agreement and went into partnership
一起在英國出售電燈泡 to sell light bulbs in the UK.
今天 有很多人認為 電燈泡是愛迪生獨自發明的 Today, many people still believe that Edison alone invented the light bulb
而斯旺的名字 卻成為了歷史的一個腳注 whilst Swan has become a footnote in history.
然而 電燈泡只是愛迪生宏偉計劃中的一部分 But his incandescent bulb was only part of Edison's strategy.
他還發明了一套完整的電力系統 包括插座 He'd also invented an entire electrical system of sockets,
電纜 以及附帶的測量儀表等 cables, and meters to go with it.
同時 作為一個精明的商人 And, being a brilliant businessman,
他還開創了一種分配電力的方法 he'd developed a ground-breaking new way of distributing electricity.
愛迪生知道 這個系統的商機 Edison knew that the key to making money from his system
在於從一個中樞站點發電 was to generate the electricity in a central station,
然後將它賣給盡可能多的客戶 and then sell it to as many customers as possible.
也許在我們看來 這並不算新鮮 It seems obvious to us now, but until then,
但在此之前 所有想要用電的人 anyone who wanted to use electricity
都必須用吵鬧的發電機來自己發電 had to have their own noisy generator to make it.
愛迪生雄心勃勃 Edison's ambition was huge -
他想照亮世界上發展速度最快 he wanted to light the fastest-growing
最繁華忙碌的城市—— and most exciting city in the world.
紐約 New York.
1882年夏天 愛迪生登上了 In the summer of 1882, Edison stood in a unique position,
19世紀科學發明的巔峰 at the centre of 19th century science and invention.
他為最先進的白熾燈泡申請了專利 He'd patented a cutting-edge incandescent light bulb,
在電力工程領域積累了開拓性的經驗 he'd amassed an unprecedented knowledge of electrical engineering.
而更重要的是 And above all,
他在美國大眾的心目中 he'd cultivated a reputation among the American public
樹立了一個天才發明家的形象 of being such a genius inventor,
記者們熱切地傾聽他的言論 that journalists hung on his every word,
華爾街的金融力量 and the financial muscle of Wall Street
對他的新項目毫不猶豫地擲下千金 was quick to throw itself behind his new ideas.
愛迪生構想的「電氣化曼哈頓」 His vision, to electrify Manhattan,
以及世界電氣化 and then, of course, the rest of the world,
似乎已經近在咫尺 was seemingly within his grasp.
這是因為 愛迪生和他的團隊 Because Edison and his team
即將啟動一個投資最多 風險最大的項目 were about to launch their most expensive and risky project yet -
他們要建造美國第一家發電站 America's first power station,
供應連續不斷的直流電 generating continuous direct current.
1882年9月4日的下午三點左右 Just before 3pm on the 4th September 1882,
在一群銀行家 達官貴人和記者們的簇擁下 Thomas Edison, surrounded by a gaggle of bankers, dignitaries and reporters,
愛迪生走進了我身後的這座J·P·摩根大樓 entered JP Morgan's building, right behind me,
按下了他所發明的開關 flicked one of the Edison-patented switches,
然後 100盞白熾燈亮了起來 and 100 of his incandescent bulbs began to glow.
他轉向身邊一位記者 說道 Turning to a nearby journalist, he said,
「我已經兌現了我所有的承諾」 "I have accomplished all that I've promised."
愛迪生的新發電站 坐落在半英里外的珍珠街上 Half a mile away on Pearl Street, Edison's new power station,
這座耗資50萬美元 歷經四年建設的發電站 costing half a million dollars and four years of hard work,
終於開始運轉了 had sprung into life.
電流在地下電纜中奔騰涌動 The current surged through buried cables,
流向四面八方 stretching out in each direction.
對於現在的我們來說 這不足為奇 Of course it might seem obvious to us now,
但在19世紀80年代的紐約 but in New York back in the early 1880s,
人們認為 將電纜埋在地下 the idea of burying electric cables underground
簡直是一筆多餘的開銷 seemed like an unnecessary expense.
在街道上空 本就已經有了 This street would have been criss-crossed
成百上千條電纜 它們用於電報 with hundreds of cables, used for telegraphs,
電話 以及弧光路燈 telephones and arc street lighting.
天上到處是錯綜複雜的黑色電線 Looking up, you'd have seen a tangled mass of black spaghetti
整個城市不見天日 blocking out the light.
愛迪生知道 這種危險的狀況必須改變 Edison knew this dangerous situation had to change,
如果他想靠電力發財 and for him to make as much money as he could,
就要改變人們對電的理解 讓大家相信電是安全的 electricity needed rebranding. It had to be considered safe.
所以 愛迪生一直在宣傳他的直流低壓電系統 So Edison is arguing both for the greater safety of his DC low voltage system,
也贊成鋪設地下電纜 and for underground lines.
他堅信 他的電力系統 He can argue that he has a much safer system
與街道上的弧光燈 than electric arc light for streets,
或是室內的煤氣燈相比 要安全得多 or gas lighting for indoor lighting.
人們不必擔心火災或者觸電 He doesn't have to worry about fires, or electrocution,
一切都會更加安全 that all of this is much safer
他的這套地下輸電系統可以保證這一點 because of the system he's created with this underground system.
鋪設地下電纜不僅非常昂貴 Burying every cable was not only very expensive
同時在規劃上也很棘手 but was a logistical nightmare,
因為這是世界上最繁忙的地帶之一 because this was one of the busiest square miles in the world.
愛迪生選擇這個地方是有原因的 Edison chose this area for a reason.
華爾街 Wall Street.
象徵著財富 地位 權力 Rich, important, influential.
為了盈利 Because for Edison's system to make money,
這些富有的客戶 all these wealthy customers
都必須在他的發電站方圓一英里之內 had to be within a mile of his power station.
根據愛迪生的計算 And this was because Edison calculated
他所能負擔的最粗的電纜 the thickest cable he could afford
只能將足夠的直流電 would only carry an adequate amount of his continuous direct current
輸送一英里 to customers within this range.
這是個巨大的飛躍 This was a huge leap forward
因為 這是人類首次 because, for the first time,
用一個發電站為大量客戶供應電力 dozens of customers could be supplied by just one power station.
但這個系統有一個嚴重的問題 But there was a big problem.
愛迪生的電網在用於郊區照明時 Edison's network could never be economical in lighting
將會非常昂貴 America's new suburbs.
如果缺少了足夠的用戶 They just didn't have the concentration of customers needed
這些昂貴的發電站就會虧本 to make building these expensive power stations worthwhile.
如果我們到現在 Had we stuck with Edison's way
還在使用愛迪生的電網 of generating and distributing electricity,
這個世界將會非常不一樣 the world would be a very different place.
我們得修建星羅棋布的發電站 We'd have to have power stations scattered around
即使在城鎮中心 no more than a mile apart,
兩座發電站的距離也不能超過一英里 even in the centres of our towns and cities.
用這種方式為小社區供電 And it would be extraordinarily expensive to even provide power
價格會奇高無比 for smaller communities.
不過 一個能解決這些問題的人 But someone who held the answers to these problems
即將登上歷史舞台 was about to enter the story.
他將成為現代社會的奠基人 Someone who would help create the modern world
並在科學史上一次偉大的成就中 and who'd play an integral part in one of the biggest fall-outs
扮演不可或缺的角色 in scientific history.
他就是尼古拉·特斯拉 His name was Nikola Tesla
其實 他就在愛迪生的身邊 and he was right under Edison's nose.
尼古拉·特斯拉是一位塞爾維亞發明家 Nikola Tesla was a Serbian inventor
他出生在克羅地亞 who was born in Croatia
二十八歲時 他來到了紐約 and who worked for Edison briefly
之後 曾短暫地為愛迪生效力 after arriving in New York at the age of 28.
這位內斂 深刻的歐洲思想家 European, introverted, a deep thinker,
和愛迪生截然不同 he was everything Edison wasn't.
愛迪生和特斯拉兩人 Edison and Tesla could not be more different
在待人接物 個人形象 行為舉止 in the way they handled their self, appearance, and their manners,
以及公眾形象方面 都完全不同 and the way that they constructed a public image for themselves.
愛迪生對自己的穿著毫不在意 Edison couldn't care less about the clothes he had on
就算把化學藥品灑在了上好的禮服上 and if he spilt chemicals on his good Sunday suit,
他也絲毫不會放在心上 then he spilt chemicals on his good Sunday suit.
可以說 他要多邋遢有多邋遢 He was, you know, basically, a very kind of slovenly guy.
特斯拉恰恰相反 Tesla, on the other hand,
哪怕是在一般人最浮誇的青年時代 even as a young man in his mid 20s,
他都非常注意自己的外表 is thinking about his appearance,
以及和別人交往時的舉止 how he comes across to people.
他在乎他的穿著 他的儀態 So he cares about his clothes, his manner.
連在照相和畫像時 Indeed, he even cares about how his photograph,
他都十分講究 his portraits are taken,
他總是要擺出優雅的 四分之三側的姿勢 and he always wants to make sure he has a nice, three-quarter profile
這樣 人們便看不出他略嫌太尖的下巴 so you don't see the fact that he has a bit of a pointy chin.
尼古拉·特斯拉的一生 The life and death of Nikola Tesla
是一齣引人入勝的悲劇 is one of the most fascinating yet tragic stories
作為一位出類拔萃的科學家 of scientific brilliance,
他經歷過事業上的刀光劍影 cut-throat business,
也曾引起輿論界的巨大轟動 and shocking public relations stunts.
當美國大眾 The American public may have been wowed
對愛迪生的直流發電站贊嘆不已時 by Edison's new direct current power stations,
特斯拉顯得並不起眼 but Tesla was less impressed.
他的夢想 是將電力傳輸到每個城市 He had a dream electricity could be transmitted across entire cities.
甚至所有國家 Or even nations.
而他知道 實現它的方法 And he believed he knew how it could be done -
就是使用另一種電流 by using a different type of electric current.
電學專家明白 電纜中的電流越小 Electrical experts knew that the smaller the current
電阻所導致的能量流失也就越小 sent down a cable, the smaller the losses in it through resistance.
這樣 電纜就可以做得更長 And so the longer the cable could be.
特斯拉提出了一種傳輸電力的方式 Tesla proposed using a method of transmitting electricity
它可以減小電流的大小 where the currents could be lowered without a fall
而不降低另一端的電功率 in the amount of electrical power at the other end.
這種方式就是交流電 It was called alternating current.
它完全可以做到這一點 Alternating current is exactly that.
交流電是一種不斷變換方向的電流 It's an electric current that alternates
電流先向一個方向運動 between moving in one direction,
然後迅速地切換到相反的方向 then the opposite direction, very quickly.
這跟只朝一個方向運動的直流電是截然不同的 As opposed to a direct current, which moves only in one direction.
特斯拉之所以對交流電感興趣 Tesla was interested in alternating current because,
是因為在19世紀80年代後期 like other electrical engineers in the late 1880s,
電力工程師發現 he realised that as you raise the voltage of any current
當提高兩點之間的輸電電壓時 that you transmit from point A to point B,
電壓越高 傳輸效率就越高 it's going to be more efficient to have a higher voltage.
因為輸電線路的功率 And since the amount of electric power in a cable
等於電壓乘以電流 is its voltage multiplied by its current,
提高電壓 就意味著所需電流可以減小 increasing the voltage, meant the current in the cables could be reduced,
這樣 電阻帶來的損耗就會減少 and so losses due to resistance would be less.
不過 我們肯定不希望 However, you don't want very high voltages
兩萬伏的高壓電直接通到家中 on the order of, say, 20,000 volts coming into your home.
因此 我們需要降低 So you need to step down the current
輸電線路上的電壓 that is being transmitted over distance into your home.
也就是說 我們需要用到變壓器 And to do that, you need a converter or transformer.
變壓器可以把交流電 Alternating current allows you to use a transformer
從較高的輸送電壓 to make that switch from the high transmission voltage
轉化為較低的使用電壓 to the lower voltage you're going to use at consumption.
如果這種將電力從數百英里外的發電廠 Perfecting the technology to transmit electricity
傳送至千家萬戶的技術能夠得以完善 hundreds of miles from where it was generated
我們將向現代社會邁進一大步 would mark a huge step towards the modern world.
一位富有的工業家 And a wealthy industrial entrepreneur
已經在著手改進這一技術 was already developing the solution.
他就是George Westinghouse His name was George Westinghouse.
Westinghouse認為 交流電才是未來之星 Westinghouse believed alternating currents was the future,
不過它有一個嚴重的缺陷 but it had a big drawback.
雖然它能用於照明 While it was fine for electric light,
但和直流電不同的是 unlike direct current,
在當時 能使用交流電的馬達尚未問世 there was no practical motor that could run on it.
也沒有人相信交流電馬達可以被製造出來 And no-one believed there ever would be.
除了尼古拉·特斯拉 Apart from Nikola Tesla.
特斯拉是位發明家 他總是說 Tesla, as an inventor, liked to say
發明創造的關鍵不在於動手 that the first thing you need to do is not to build something,
而是要先想像 要在腦海中描繪它 規劃它 but to imagine it, to think it through, to plan it.
他擁有當代心理學家稱為「照相記憶」的能力 And he had what modern-day psychologists would call an eidetic memory.
他能夠記住所有看過的東西 He could basically remember everything that he saw
然後在腦海中將它們三維重現 and then visualise it in three dimensions.
人們常說 擁有照相記憶能力的人 And they often say people that have this skill
能夠把看過的東西 see it about an arm's length away,
瞬間立體化 out here, and they see it in three dimensions in that space.
所有的跡象都表明 特斯拉就是擁有這種能力的人 And all the indications are that Tesla had that ability.
這是一個特斯拉的「哥倫布蛋」 This is a Tesla egg.
特斯拉曾用這種「哥倫布蛋」 It's a replica of the one Tesla used
來演示他最偉大的技術突破 to demonstrate his greatest breakthrough
這是歷史上最重要的發明之一 and one of the most important inventions of all time.
它展示了交流電 It showed how rotary movement
是如何直接讓馬達轉動的 can be produced directly from an alternating current.
尤其重要的是 它能讓數千英里之外的馬達轉動 Crucially, one that could be generated thousands of miles away.
這是一個開天闢地的突破 This was something that had never been done before.
特斯拉在努力鑽研交流馬達時 When Tesla was working on the alternating current motor,
早已心有鴻鵠 he was thinking big.
他並不是想隨便搗鼓搗鼓馬達的某個零件 He was not just tinkering with one component of the motor and saying,
做出直流馬達的升級版就滿足了 "Gee, if I can make that a little bit better, it will work out."
他構想的是一個完整的新系統 He's actually thinking about an entire system
包括發電機 電路 馬達 that involves the generator, the wires to the motor and the motor itself.
他是個特立獨行的人 He's a complete maverick,
腦子裏充滿了各種奇思妙想 thinking outside the box,
他的工作方式與他的同行完全不同 doing things very differently to his fellow inventors.
特拉斯的設計充滿創意 Tesla's solution was ingenious.
他給馬達通上了多路交流電 He fed more than one alternating current into his motor
並設定了通電時間 使他們能輪流通電 and timed them so that they followed in sequence with each other.
第一路交流電 The first alternating current
為馬達內的一個線圈提供電力 energised a coil of wire inside the motor,
產生一個電磁場 creating an electromagnetic field
將馬達中間的轉子吸向它 which attracted the motor's central moving part to it
它隨後便斷電 and then faded.
接著 第二根線路接通 電流通過下一個線圈 The second overlapping current fed the next coil,
繼續吸引轉子 然後斷電 dragging the moving part around further, before it faded.
接下來是第三 第四個線圈 And the same for the third coil and the fourth.
這樣就形成了一個旋轉磁場 The result was a revolving magnetic field,
產生的磁力足以使馬達 strong enough to make the motor,
或者這個哥倫布蛋旋轉起來 or in this case his egg, spin.
以此為基礎 特斯拉設計了一整套電氣系統 Tesla designed an entire electrical system around this
稱為多相傳輸 called polyphase transmission.
這意味著 我們將可以把嘈雜不堪 This meant a noisy and smelly power station,
烏煙瘴氣的交流電發電站 generating lots of useful alternating current,
建在遠離居民區的地方了 could now be situated away from populated areas.
從此以後 我們能將大型發電站 And for the first time you can build large power stations
修建在任何地方 比如城郊 wherever you want. On the edge of town,
或是尼亞加拉瀑布邊 or a waterfall like Niagara,
然後進行長距離電力傳輸 and distribute the power over long distances,
為各大城市 千家萬戶送去光明 and serve all the people in a major city or metropolitan centre.
特斯拉的突破 解決了難題的最後一步 Tesla's breakthrough was the last piece of the jigsaw,
但是他仍需要讓大眾相信 but he still had to convince the world
他的方案 that his solution was better
比愛迪生的直流電方案更勝一籌 than the direct current method championed by Edison.
愛迪生繼續推行著他的直流電系統 Edison continued to roll out his direct current system,
在整個紐約州到處修建發電站 building power stations across New York state.
後來 特斯拉遇到了George Westinghouse But then Tesla met George Westinghouse -
這個讓他夢想成真的人 the man who could make his dreams into a reality.
1888年7月 Westinghouse買下了特斯拉的專利 In July 1888, Westinghouse made an offer for Tesla's patents,
這一事件 為尼古拉·特斯拉的故事 which has become part of the mystery and folklore
增添了神秘與坊間戲說的色彩 surrounding the whole Nikola Tesla story,
它讓整件事情看上去亦真亦假 where it's difficult to separate fact from fiction.
特斯拉收到了75000美元的專利費 Tesla was paid 75,000 for his alternating current patents
並對交流馬達產生的每一馬力 and offered 2.50
收取2.5美元的費用 for every horse power his motors would generate.
這一次的成功原本能讓他腰纏萬貫 This should have guaranteed him vast wealth
餘生都衣食無憂 然而這並不是故事的真相 for the rest of his life but that isn't what happened.
今天的我們當然十分清楚 It's clear to us now that at the time,
在傳輸電力時 交流電系統 the AC system was a much better method
明顯優於直流電 of transmitting electric power.
你也一定會認為 有了特斯拉的發明 And you'd think that with Tesla's breakthroughs,
交流電必能所向披靡 大勝直流電 nothing could stand in the way of the success of AC over DC.
不過 有一個人依然堅信 But one man still believed totally
他的直流電系統是最好的 in his direct current inventions,
從燈絲到開關 From the filaments of the bulbs to the switches,
從插座到發電機 sockets and generators,
他傾注了數百萬美元才建起了這個電氣系統 and he wasn't about to waste millions of dollars
絕不能就這樣功虧一簣 on changing them.
他就是愛迪生 Edison.
一場戰爭就此拉開了序幕 The battle lines were drawn.
為了奪取利潤可觀的紐約市照明合同 Westinghouse and Tesla
Westinghouse和特斯拉 與愛迪生 went toe-to-toe with Edison
互不相讓 針尖對麥芒 for New York's lucrative lighting contracts.
兩套完全不同的系統 Two completely different systems
為一份終極獎賞一決雌雄 battling it out for one ultimate prize -
這份獎賞 就是照亮美國 乃至全世界的機會 the chance to light up America and then the world.
這場競爭 被後人稱為「電流之戰」 It would become known as the War of the Currents.
兩大陣營都大打成本戰 Both camps tried to undercut each other on cost,
但是 愛迪生堅信 他的直流電 but Edison believed his beloved direct current
比交流電好 因為它更安全 was better than alternating current because it was safer.
直流電的電壓低 碰到直流輸電線時 Touching an Edison cable, with its low voltage,
最多疼一下 但總體是無害的 was painful but relatively harmless.
而交流輸電線的電壓則要高得多 Whereas alternating current cables carried a much higher voltage
觸碰到它可能是致命的 and touching them could be deadly.
因此 愛迪生的戰術便是反覆強調直流電的安全性 So, what Edison was trying to do was to again define his DC system as the safe system.
它比電弧路燈好 It's better than electric street arc lights,
它比煤氣燈好 it's better than gas,
它同樣也比使用高電壓的交流電白熾燈好 and it's now better than high voltage AC incandescent lighting.
難道不是嗎？它才是安全的系統 Right? It's the system that's safe.
如果你採用了愛迪生的直流電系統 便可以高枕無憂 You adopt the Edison system, you can be sure it's safe.
愛迪生聲稱 交流電比直流電更危險 Edison claimed that AC was a more dangerous type of current than DC
他在Westinghouse的工人遇到的事故上大做文章 and he highlighted every accident to Westinghouse's workmen
並著重強調因短路而引起的每一場火災 and every fire caused by short circuits.
這個戰術很管用 因為在19世紀80年代 It was a potent message because in the 1880s,
依然有許多人對電心存恐懼 many people were still terrified by electricity.
因為它會使人休克 甚至瞬間喪命 It could shock and even kill in an instant
但其中原因 當時尚不明確 and the reasons why still weren't fully understood.
對於許多人來說 將這個無形而神秘的殺手 For many, the idea of piping this invisible killer
接到自己家中 簡直是天方夜譚 into their homes was utterly ludicrous.
因此在這場電流之戰中 So the weapon used
愛迪生的武器便是利用公眾的恐懼 in the War of the Currents was fear.
而一位無甚名氣的電氣工程師 And a little-known electrical engineer,
哈羅德·布朗 Harold P. Brown,
把交直流電的對抗 提升到了一個新的高度 was about to take the fight against AC to a whole new level.
它是有史以來最極端 最負面的公開商戰之一 It was to prove one of the most extreme and negative publicity campaigns in history.
布朗想出了一個獨特而富有戲劇性的方法 Brown had devised a unique and theatrical way
來展示交流電的致命性 of demonstrating the deadly power of AC...
他迫不及待地做出了公開的展示 ..and he was eager to share it with the world.
於是 在1888年7月 一個暖和的夏夜 So, on a warm summer's evening, in July 1888,
他召集了美國最頂尖的75名電氣工程師和記者 he gathered together 75 of the country's top electrical engineers and reporters
來共同見證一場讓他們永生難忘的實驗 to witness a spectacle they would never forget.
布朗的計劃令人毛骨悚然 Brown's plan was extremely macabre.
他出錢找了一群街上的小孩 He'd paid a team of street urchins
搜集曼哈頓的流浪狗 to collect together stray dogs roaming Manhattan.
他站在台上 向觀眾說道 Out on stage, he addressed his audience.
「先生們 我請你們來 "I have asked you here, gentlemen,"
「見證電對這些畜生有何作用」 "to witness the experimental application of electricity to a number of brutes."
他的實驗是分別使用交流電和直流電 His demonstration involved electrocuting the dogs...
對這些狗實施電刑 with DC and AC power,
以此來說明 交流電會讓動物更快喪生 in an attempt to show that AC current killed them more quickly.
這樣的試驗不僅使用狗 And it wasn't just dogs.
布朗還公開演示了對一頭小牛 甚至一匹馬的電刑 Brown went on to make public spectacles of killing a calf and even a horse.
他將實驗對像從狗換成更大的動物 是有原因的 And he moved from dogs to larger animals for a reason.
他想要證明 交流電非常危險 He wanted to show that the AC form of electricity was so dangerous
它能殺死任何大型哺乳動物 包括人類 it could kill any large mammal, including humans.
布朗的動物實驗 讓美國的政客們相信 Brown's animal experiments had persuaded American politicians
由Westinghouse發電機產生的交流電 the most humane method of executing condemned criminals
是處決死刑犯最人道的方法 should be with alternating current, generated by Westinghouse machines.
愛迪生的律師甚至提出一個新術語 Edison's lawyers even suggested a new term
「被Westinghouse了」 用來描述被電刑處決 to describe being electrocuted in this way...to be Westinghoused.
1890年8月6日早晨6時32分 And at precisely 6:32, on the morning of 6th August 1890,
45歲的William Kemmler a 45-year-old man, William Kemmler,
被綁在一張木椅上 was strapped to a wooden chair
兩個濕漉漉的電極 and two soaking wet electrodes
被小心地接到了他身上 were carefully attached to him.
在隔壁房間裏26位官員與醫生的見證下 And as 26 officials and doctors looked on from an adjoining room,
Kemmler向監獄牧師道了別 然後靜靜地等待 Kemmler said goodbye to the prison chaplain and waited.
對William Kemmler的電刑處決 The execution of William Kemmler
是這場電流之戰中最黑暗的一幕 marked the lowest point in the War of the Currents,
但它並沒有結束這場戰爭 but it wouldn't quite mark the end.
因為尼古拉·特斯拉正準備做一件史無前例的事情 Because Nikola Tesla was about to do something that had never been seen before.
它精彩絕倫 Something so wondrous and daring
讓目睹之人永生難忘 that it would live on for ever in the memories of those who saw it.
特斯拉已經掌握了 Tesla had been developing a method
製造高頻交流電的方法 of generating very high frequency alternating currents
1891年5月21日 and on May 21st 1891,
在一個頂尖電氣工程師的會議上 at a meeting of top electrical engineers,
他將此公諸於眾 he demonstrated it.
他上演了一場驚天動地的表演 In an almost magical display of awesome power and wonder,
在沒有穿戴任何鎖甲與面具的情況下 and without wearing any safety chain mail or mask,
他讓一個特斯拉線圈產生的數萬伏電壓 tens of thousands of volts, produced by a Tesla coil,
通過他的身體 流向了他手持的燈 passed across his body and through the end of a lamp he was holding.
特斯拉的交流電有著極高的頻率 Tesla's alternating current was at such a high frequency,
因此在穿過他的身體時 that it passed through his body
並沒有給他造成任何傷害或痛楚 without causing serious harm or even pain.
他的演示告訴大家 只要使用方法正確 His demonstrations showed that if handled correctly,
即使是極高電壓的交流電 也是安全的 alternating current at extremely high voltages could be safe.
這場電流之戰 The War of the Currents had been won,
以Westinghouse和特斯拉的勝利而告終 by Westinghouse and Tesla.
1896年 使用Westinghouse交流發電機組的水電站 In 1896, the new power station was completed at Niagara Falls,
在尼亞加拉瀑布竣工了 using Westinghouse AC generators
它將源源不斷地產生多相交流電 to produce Tesla's polyphase current.
大量電力從尼亞加拉瀑布 Finally, huge amounts of power could be transmitted
輸送到附近的布法羅市 from the Falls, to nearby Buffalo
幾年以後 and then, a few years later,
尼亞加拉電廠開始為紐約市供電 the Niagara plant was providing power to New York City itself.
今天 世界上幾乎所有的電力 And today, almost all of the electricity
都是由特斯拉系統產生的 generated in the world is done so using Tesla's system.
不過 特斯拉並沒有因此獲得地位和財富 But Tesla's story doesn't end in fame and fortune.
儘管後來 他在其他許多科學和發明領域 Although he went on to make significant contributions
都做出了傑出貢獻 to many other areas of science and invention,
為了讓陷入股市困境的Westinghouse免於破產 to save George Westinghouse from ruin, after a stock market crash,
他放棄了多相交流電的專利權 he gave up his claim to the royalties from his polyphase inventions.
尼古拉·特斯拉才華橫溢而善良無私 Nikola Tesla was a uniquely talented man
我們應該感激他 and we owe him so much.
但同時 他也是個異常複雜的人 But he was also hugely complicated,
很不幸的是 晚年的他變得越來越焦躁不安 and sadly, later in life, he became more and more troubled.
他對數字3有著極強的偏執 He was fixated with the number three,
連走在路上都不停地數著3 counting it out loud while he walked,
他對細菌和佩戴珍珠飾品的女人 也有著奇怪的恐懼 and he developed strange phobias with germs and with women wearing pearl jewellery.
可以說 他的天才頭腦已經徹底失控了 In many ways, his brilliant mind simply spun out of control.
慢慢地 As Tesla's life unravelled,
特斯拉開始疏遠周圍的人 he withdrew from people
從其他地方尋求心靈的慰籍 and found emotional comfort elsewhere.
他開始著迷於鴿子 He became obsessed with pigeons
經常在曼哈頓中心的布萊恩特公園裏喂鴿子 and was regularly seen feeding them here in Bryant Park, in the centre of Manhattan.
他甚至愛上了一隻特別的白鴿 He even fell in love with one particularly unusual white bird
在那只鴿子死後 and when it died,
他也隨之心碎 he was left heart broken.
垂暮之年的特斯拉 窮困孤苦 As an old man, Tesla was left almost bankrupt and alone,
在這家酒店裏過著半隱居的生活 living as a semi-recluse in this hotel.
他人生的最後幾年 His last years were spent here
就在紐約酒店的3327房間裏 in room 3327 of the New York Hotel,
凄涼混沌地度過 sad, confused, destitute.
而愛迪生 則成為了舉國稱頌的英雄 Edison went on to become an American hero
他的公司後來成為了通用電氣的一部分 and his company would form part of General Electric,
直到今日 通用電氣都還是全球最大的跨國企業之一 even today one of the world's biggest multinational corporations.
1943年1月 尼古拉·特斯拉的人生走到了盡頭 In January 1943, the story of Nikola Tesla was coming to an end.
當他最後一次眺望曼哈頓時 But looking out across the Manhattan skyline for the very last time,
他看到 閃爍的燈光照亮了天空 he saw a sky lit up with twinkling lights,
無數人的生活因他而改變 and a million lives transformed by his genius.
電的產生與輸送 The ability to generate and transmit electricity,
各種電器的發明 and the invention of machines to use it,
以超乎想像的方式改變了我們的世界 have changed our world in ways we couldn't possibly have imagined.
如今 我們每時每刻都能產出數十億瓦的電 We can now generate billions of watts of electricity every second, every hour, every day.
無論是利用煤 天然氣還是核裂變發電 And whether we do it using coal, gas, or nuclear fission,
發電站的工作原理 power stations all rely
依然離不開邁克爾·法拉第 on the principles discovered and developed by Michael Faraday,
尼古拉·特斯拉 Nikola Tesla,
以及所有其他早期電氣工程師們 and all the other early electrical engineers
在那個發明的黃金時代所樹立的理論 from an amazing age of invention.
如今的人們 對電已習以為常 We now take electricity for granted
我們早已忘記 它曾經是多麼神秘而富有魔力的東西 and have forgotten how magical and mysterious a force it once was.
不過有一點我們不能忘記 But there's something we should never forget.
如果沒有電 現代社會將不復存在 Today, without it, the modern world would collapse around us
我們的生活也將會是另一個模樣 and our lives would be very, very different.
在下一集裏 我們將講述新的電學發現 In the next episode, we tell of the electrical revelations
它將顛覆我們對這一神奇力量的認識 that led to a revolution in our understanding of this amazing force.
想要瞭解更多電的故事 To find out more about the story of electricity,
或者測試自己的能量學知識 and to put your power knowledge to the test,
歡迎參與公開大學的互動能量學小遊戲 try the Open University's interactive energy game.
請訪問bbc.co.uk/electricity Go to bbc.co.uk/electricity
然後根據網頁指示 去公開大學的主頁 And follow links to the Open University.