我两次通读了张纯如的《蚕丝》,一次读的是原著,另一次读译著。原著的书名就是《蚕丝》,我获悉有此书后,就托在美国的一位忘年交觅购,承他慷慨馈赠,书很快就寄达我的手中,我迫不及待地浏览了一遍,不禁为之拍案叫好:张纯如为我们还原了一个真实可信的钱学森! 第一遍读后,我掩卷沉思:张纯如为什么起了这么个书名?是源于当年美国政府迫害钱学森的纠结?还是源于钱学森领导下研制成功的我国导弹型号“春蚕”?按我的理解,是作者用她的生花妙笔为读者描绘了钱学森对祖国的如蚕丝般的柔情。 记得去年我接受两位新华社记者采访时曾说,写人物传记要做到三条:真实可信,客观全面,不为尊者讳。也就是说,要在真实的大环境下写出传主的本来面目,既不人为拔高,也不恶意贬损,传主的长处、短处都要写,让读者读后认同:传主就是这样一个人。记者还说,这是我的“人物史观”。我认为,张纯如基本上做到了上述三点。 张纯如是 ABC ( America-born Chinese ),曾获新闻学学士学位和写作硕士学位, 27 岁时出版处女作《蚕丝》,广受好评; 1997 年,她 29 岁时出版第二本书《南京浩劫:被遗忘的大屠杀》,时值南京大屠杀 60 周年,此书一问世在全球产生轰动效应,连续 10 周列入《纽约时报》畅销书排行榜,印数已逾百万册; 35 岁时她出版了第三本书《美国华裔史录》。可惜的是, 2004 年她英年早逝。 张纯如非常敬业,她为了写作《蚕丝》,浏览了当时能找到的所有相关重要资料,包括美国 FBI 和军方已解密的资料,走访了钱学森的上百位老师同事、亲朋好友(包括传主的儿子钱永刚),乃至退休官员,而且得到了中科院著名的科学史学者姚蜀平的鼎力相助。原著正文 263 页,注释(包括资料来源、背景介绍等)长达 52 页,另有索引 31 页。正因为如此,赢得了读者的信任。全书内容翔实,评述客观,尽管她并非专业人士,有关专业问题的描写基本上正确。当然,她身在美国,对钱学森的后半生的资料的掌握有局限性,对有些问题有她个人的看法,人们未必全部认同,但对于书中披露的材料的可靠性则存疑较少。 全书 24 章,其中 22 章写的是钱学森先生的在 1955 年前的经历,客观地描述了他国内求学、国外留学和展开创造性科研的历程。凸显了钱学森人生中的辉煌篇章和磨难曲折,也描述了他的与众不同的个性。我认为,贯穿其中的是钱学森如蚕丝般的爱国情操和对学问的孜孜不倦的追求。 读完此书,我们可以了解到钱学森成为科学伟人的真实原因:执着坚毅的个性,埋头苦干的敬业精神,求真务实的科学态度,良好的初等教育,名校名师的悉心栽培,特立独行的学术风格和创新精神,而科学救国的强烈愿望更是不可或缺的关键。但是,钱学森不是完人,他生于乱世,对于自己的前程,有过种种彷徨苦闷;他持才傲物,遭受挫折前为人处事相当傲慢,对待学生过于苛求,等等。因此,作者还原的是一个真实的、有血有肉的钱学森。 1947 年,钱学森在美国已经功成名就,那时他回国探亲,实际上在寻求学成归国之路。书中写道:“钱学森想要落叶归根的心情不难想象。”当时政府中有人拟议聘任他担任交通大学校长(此议后来撤销),他还在交大、浙大、清华做了热情洋溢的学术报告。但是,现实令他失望,他只得再度负笈西行。对于国共之间的争斗,他睿智地明断,国民党的败像已定。 1950 年夏天开始的麦卡锡主义对他的迫害加速了他回归祖国的行动。在听证会上,他被问及:“如果在美国和中国之间发生冲突事件,你会为美国而战吗?”他答道:“我最终的效忠对象是中国人民。”(见《蚕丝:钱学森传》 192 页)。当年的努力遭拒之后,他一直在静待时机,经过艰苦努力, 1955 年 9 月 17 日 ,钱学森一家终于踏上归国的旅程。在码头上,他对美国记者说:“我不打算回来。我没有理由再回来。我已经考虑国很长时间。我准备尽我最大的努力,来帮助中国人民建设一个能令他们活得快乐而有尊严的国家。”他这样说了,也竭尽全力地这样做了。 这本书不是一本完整的钱学森传记,写作上也有一定局限性。建议朋友们同时阅读涂元季所写的《人民科学家钱学森》(上海交通大学出版社, 2002 )。 最后,说说这本传记的中译本。老实说,它令我非常失望。尽管总体说来,只要不涉及专业,译笔差强人意,然而,一碰到专业问题,译者的外行本色就原形毕露了,全书翻译错误至少达到三位数。原著者也不懂钱学森的专业,但由于她做足了功课,在专业上犯错误较少;而中译本的错误则是比比皆是。随手举几个例子: 【例 1 】钱学森早年发表了一篇有名的论文: Supersonic flow over an inclined body of revolution 正确的译法是: 有攻角旋转体的超声速绕流 中译本( 86 页)中却成了: 倾斜旋转体上方的超音速流 不知所云! 【例 2 】另一篇著名论文: Two-dimensional subsonic flow of compressible fluids 正确译法: 可压缩流体的二维亚声速流动 中译本( 95 页)译法: 二维空间下压缩液体的亚音速流动 面目全非!(文中论述的主要是气体)。 【例 3 】更不能容忍的是如下误译: “ 有两种湍流边界层:层流与紊流 ”(中译本44页) 学过一点流体力学的人都知道,“湍流”和“紊流”是“ turbulence ”的两种中文译法,译者这么说,不是天大的笑话吗?查原著,张纯如没错。 译文: “ 所谓边界层,指的是与特定物体表面的一层稀薄的气体或液体。 ”(中译本44页) 原著: “The boundary layer is the thin layer of flowing gas or liquid that is in contact with the surface of certain objects.” 原著者张纯如还是基本上正确,由于译者漏译了“ flowing ”,错译了“ thin ”,干脆把“边界层”的定义都窜改了,真是胆大包天!严格地说,张纯如说得也不够全面,如果改成下面这样,就完全正确了: “The boundary layer is the thin layer of flowing gas or liquid that is in contact with the surface of certain objects, in which viscous effects of fluidsplay a crucial role, while in other part of the flow field, fluid viscosity can be neglected.” 我就弄不明白,对钱学森先生从事的空气动力学、火箭动力学等专业一窍不通的人居然敢翻译这本书,而且译成后不给一位内行通读一下——学过流体力学的本科生就能称职。 还有一点更为令人不满。译者居然删掉了原著中的 52 页注释和 31 页索引,大大降低了译本的质量和可读性。 所以,我建议想读这本书的朋友尽可能去读原著;英文程度差的,只能把这个中译本当作故事来读,千万别全盘相信译本中的学术内容。 参考资料: Chang Iris, Thread of the silkworm, BasicBooks, 1995 ;中译本:《蚕丝:钱学森传》,鲁伊译,中信出版社, 2011. 写于 2011 年 7 月 20 日晨
(注:这篇博文是5月份读《Thread of the Silkworm》之后的一些笔记。如今钱先生已离去。。。常看到有人拿道听途说的旧闻说事;说的人之中,论治学功底、为国贡献,能及钱的一半的,能有几个?) ----------------------------------- 张纯如的钱学森传--《Thread of the Silkworm》 (转自MSN space:http://xinyuzhang.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!D94B9A4CB50503EE!1785.entry) 读了《Thread of the Silkworm》。这是张纯如写的一本关于钱学森的传记,着重于他从出生(1911)到1955年归国之间的事。一个人的40多年,压缩成200多页的文字之后,凸现的是棱角分明的个性和跌宕起伏的人生。 在 这本书中,钱学森是一个性格古板孤僻、不尽人情的科学家形象。在Caltech读博士期间,极少和别人说话。直到当了Caltech的教授,还是如此。他 讲课时先说一句Let's start with...,然后便一言不发开始在黑板上推公式。中间如果有人提问但深度不够他也拒绝回答。在讨论班,如果主讲人出错,他会毫不客气直截了当地批评 一通。他在办公室考虑问题的时候,不管谁敲门,都直接赶走:Go away!。 这样的教授,如果放在现在,估计隔几天就会被骂到学校bbs的十大。但是在钱的学术成就面前,这些问题就不值一提了--牛人就是应该有点个性嘛。 书 中多次突出了钱学森超强的数学功底 --- 比如有一门数学课给分很低,一帮学生要找老师加分;但是他们看到钱的试卷之后傻眼了---几乎满分的试卷,用钢笔写的,没有丝毫涂改痕迹。对于导师冯.卡 曼提出的问题,他总是能很快建立模型,给出解法。书中引用了冯.卡曼对他的评价: ...in Karman's autobiography, The Wind and Beyond, Tsien was the only student he devoted an entire chapter. As Karman wrote: He worked with me on many mathematical problems. I found him to be imaginative, with a mathematical aptitude to which he combined successfully with the great ability to visualize accurately the physical picture of natural. Even as a young student he helped dear up some of my own ideas on difficult topics. These are gifts which I had not often encountered and we became close colleagues 这样的功底是怎样练成的呢?他的同学的评价,或许只是冰山一角: Chang remembered: Tsien and I were very close friends, He was a very quiet man, very conservative He never showed emotions about politics... Sometimes we worked so hard that after dinner we just went back to the office. And sometimes I left a little earlier left before midnight. He wouldn't stop, however. Even after midnight his room was still bright... 还有一个流传很广的故事:放假期间,某学生以为周围没人,就在实验室放音乐;结果隔壁传来重重的敲墙壁的声音---原来钱学森一直在实验室。 还有他在Caltech的同事的回忆: Edelman also wrote: I recall going to see him one day ...Tsien answered, I get up each morning and do the best work I can do that day no matter what the subject matter is, and when I put my head on my pillow and I feel that I have done a good day's work, that's an end in itself. I am happy。 Although fifty years has passed, I will always remember Tsien for that. Perhaps no teacher ever taught a more valuable lesson than that. 读这本书的一大感慨就是作者能把一个做理论的人的研究课题讲的非常清晰,对于他的思考方法也理解得相当透彻---尽管作者无法采访钱本人。仅举两个小例子: Though Tsien lacked Karman's charisma, he made a concerted effort to imitate the elderly professors style of mentorship. ... They would discuss a problem and Karman would say, well, its very complicated, but why don't we emphasize this or emphasize that and see if we can simplify the thing. That's exactly the way that Tsien would then work with his students. Take a very complicated thing and try to reduce it to the basic elements. ...In his speeches, Tsien urged young engineering students to think of themselves as scientists rather than high-paid technicians. He advised them to take courses not only in engineering but also in mathematics, chemistry, and physics. The training of a competent engineering scientist. Tsien said, is a long process that takes seven or eight years of education after high school:...The unhurried academic atmosphere in an educational institution is certainly conducive to thinking, which is, after all, the only way to gain wisdom....his words to young Chinese scholars seemed to be those of a mentor looking back on all that had been given to him. Clearly Tsien was ready to give something back, but it was only in his return to China that he thought he had found worthy recipients. 对于钱学森的个人成就,作者认为时代与环境的作用不可忽视,正如她在序言中写的: Many believe that as talented as Tsien was as a theoretician, he would be remembered primarily for his leadership in China rather than for his scientific work in the United States, He didn't see as far-anywhere near as far-as von Karman did, or Einstein did, or Teller did, or any of those other people who are greats, said Tsien's friend Martm Summerfield, a former aeronautics professor at Princeton University He didn't see in the same sense as they did, He would carry out their calculations. be their arms and legs, but not be the mastermind, I think what he took with him was this ability to reproduce, To reproduce what they have produced. Guyford Stever, Tsien's former colleague at MIT, echoed the same belief: His contribution to the United States was good but not overwhelming, His contribution to the People's Republic of Chma sounds like it was amazingly great.. 写到这里,发现这个帖子不是读后感,而变书摘了。那么就顺其自然,再摘录钱1947年回国访问期间的一个小故事。这个故事告诉我们:对于投paper、交proposal等等之类由别人来做最终评判的事,一定要有耐心,切不可因为几次被拒就丧失勇气。:P Unfortunately, the art of courtship did not come easily for Tsien. In his usual blunt manner, he said to Ying: How about it? Will you go with me? Ying, hoping for something more romantic and also reluctant to be again separated from her family, rejected him. A few days later, Tsien made a second attempt, as direct as the first: How about it? Have you thought it over? Let's get married. Will you go? Tsien had already made up his mind that it would be Ying or nobody-if she spurned him, he would remain single for the rest of his life. Ying recognized his earnestness to this matter and finally accepted his proposal...
七律悼张纯如 鬼域冥冥敛步行,幽魂啼破玉容惊。 徒奔路蹇频呈骨,独泣风传欲断声。 夜雨叠翻千古怨,华灯试照一分明。 可怜识得腥雪后,从此新晴难再晴。 下面是稍早前在校内网上发表的一篇博文: 上周是张纯如的五周年(2004年11月9日)的纪念日,还记得当时第一次听到这个名字时的情景。五年过去了,大家似乎忘却了这个名字,忘记了那个怜悯而痛苦地叙写历史的灵魂。搜集了一些关于张纯如的资料,小小纪念一下: 维基百科:http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BC%A0%E7%BA%AF%E5%A6%82 百度百科:http://baike.baidu.com/view/17759.htm 纪念网站,有很多资料:http://www.irischang.net/index.cfm Finding Iris Chang: http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Iris-Chang-Friendship-Extraordinary/dp/0306814668/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8s=booksqid=1258761057sr=8-1 张的三本书: http://www.irischang.net/books.cfm The Rape of Nanking Thread of the Silkworm (钱学森) The Chinese in American 加拿大制作的纪念张的纪录片: Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking 官方网页:http://www.irischangthemovie.com/ 主题曲:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk08ITj2hGs Download from Rapidshare: http://www.filestube.com/296ed7ff261f797e03ea,g/Iris-Chanf-Ning-2007-STV-DVDRiP- XviD-GAYGAY-cd1.html http://www.filestube.com/a912cbe16d60247203ea,g/Iris-Chanf-Ning-2007-STV-DVDRiP- XviD-GAYGAY-cd2.html 张的另外一本书 The Chinese in American: Conversion with Harold Hudson 访谈节目对张的一个采访(April 28, 2003): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk08ITj2hGs 张在 UC Santa Barbara Arts Lectures 上做的一个报告: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h8LVorTecEfeature=related