建国史话第197期:第一颗原子弹研制成功

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember
 
(MUSIC)
 
World War Two ended with an action that was never taken before in the history of warfare, and has never been taken since. It required the efforts of a team of scientists. Working in secrecy, they designed and built the first atomic bombs. President Harry S. Truman made the decision to use these weapons against Japan in August of nineteen forty-five.
人类战争史上一次前所未有的行动,给第二次世界大战划上了句号,那就是,美国向日本广岛和长崎投掷了原子弹。从此,原子弹再没用过,其巨大的威慑力就足够了。原子弹的出现要归功于美国的一群科学家,他们秘密开发研制出了原子弹,美国总统杜鲁门1945年8月决定,用原子弹对付日本。

PRESIDENT TRUMAN: "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. We shall continue to use it until we destroy Japan's power to make war."
杜鲁门总统说:“全世界都会知道,第一枚原子弹被投掷到了广岛。我们会继续使用原子弹,直到彻底摧毁日本的战斗能力”。
 
STEVE EMBER: America's use of atomic weapons brought years of conflict in Europe and the Pacific to an end. But it also marked the beginning of the nuclear age. And it represented, in a dramatic way, the growing importance of science and technology in modern times.
美国动用原子弹,结束了欧洲和太平洋战事,同时也标志着核时代的来临,以一种戏剧化的方式展现了科学技术在现代社会中的重要性。

Interest in science goes back to the earliest days of the nation. President Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were famous not only as political leaders but also as inventors and scientists. President Abraham Lincoln and Congress established the National Academy of Sciences during the Civil War in the eighteen sixties. And in the early nineteen hundreds, the nation created scientific offices to study and improve agriculture, public health, even air travel.
早在建国之初,美国人就对科学有着强烈的兴趣,美国总统托马斯.杰弗逊和本杰明.富兰克林不仅是著名的政治领袖,也是著名的发明家和科学家。美国总统林肯和国会在19世纪60年代内战期间,专门成立了国家科学院,20世纪初期,美国政府又成立了科研办公室,研究和改善农业、公共健康,乃至民航的发展。
 
By the start of World War One in nineteen fourteen, the federal government was employing scientists in many areas of work.
1914年第一次世界大战打响时,美国政府已经雇佣了很多领域的科研人员。

President Woodrow Wilson created the National Research Council to organize the work of scientists and engineers to win the war. However, before World War Two, government support for science was generally limited. The government was willing to pay for research only to meet certain clear goals, such as better weapons or military transport systems.
威尔逊总统成立了全国研究委员会,负责组织科学家和工程师的工作,设法打赢第一次世界大战。然而,二战开始前,美国政府对科研项目的支持总体上说还是相对有限的。政府只愿意给具体的科研项目出资,比如改进武器装备或是军事运输系统等。
 
World War Two greatly changed the traditionally limited relationship between American scientists and the federal government. In the early years of the war, the German forces of Adolf Hitler showed the world the strength of their new tanks, guns and other weapons.
美国联邦政府和科学界的关系一贯很有限,是二战显著改变了这种状况。二战初期,希特勒向全世界展示了德国强大的新坦克、大炮和其他武器。
 
President Franklin Roosevelt knew that the United States would need to develop modern weapons of its own if it entered the war.
美国总统罗斯福知道,美国如果想参战,就必须开发自己的先进武器。
 
For this reason, Roosevelt established a National Defense Research Committee in nineteen forty to support and organize research on weapons.
出于这种原因,罗斯福1940年成立了全国防御研究委员会,负责武器研究。
 
The new committee included some of the top scientists in America. Among its members were the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bell Laboratories. The committee did its work so well that Roosevelt later formed an even more powerful Office of Scientific Research and Development.
新的全国防御研究委员会里有当时很多顶尖的科学家,包括哈佛大学和麻省理工学院校长,以及贝尔实验室负责人。这个委员会工作成绩非常显著,罗斯福后来又成立了更为强大的科研和开发办公室。
 
The leader of both groups was Vannevar Bush -- no relation to the future presidents. He had long experience as a professor of electrical engineering and as an inventor. Many scientists knew him.
这两个科研机构由范内瓦.布什负责--这个布什和后来的布什总统没有关系。他当过很多年电子工程学教授,本人也是发明家,在科研圈子里知名度很高。

Vannevar Bush put together a hard-working team. And in the years that followed, American scientists and engineers developed one invention after another to help the war effort.
范内瓦.布什组建了一个勤奋的团队,在接下来的岁月里,美国科学家和工程师一个发明接着一个发明, 为战争的胜利做出了极大贡献。
 
Scientists developed new devices to help the Navy find German submarines. They improved methods for bombers to find their targets. And they developed more powerful rockets to protect American troops when they landed on foreign beaches.
科学家们研制了新装置,帮助海军探测德国潜艇;他们提高了轰炸机锁定目标的精确度,还开发出威力更大的火箭,更有效地保护在外国抢滩登陆的美军部队。
 
American scientists and doctors also made great progress in improving the methods of wartime medicine. World War Two may well have been the first war in history in which a wounded soldier was more likely to survive than to die.
美国科学家和医生在战争急救方面也取得了长足进展,在人类战争史上,二战是第一场伤员的存活比死亡机会更大的战争。
 
But, in many ways, the most important scientific development of the period was the atomic bomb.
然而,从很多意义上看,这段时期内最重要的科研成果还是原子弹的诞生。
 
In nineteen thirty-nine, Albert Einstein wrote President Roosevelt a letter. The scientist told the president that it might soon be possible to build a powerful weapon -- a weapon that would use the power of the atom. And he urged Roosevelt to get American scientists to build the atomic bomb before German scientists could build one.
1939年,爱因斯坦写信给罗斯福总统。他在信中说,用不了多久,可能就会出现一种使用原子能量的强大武器,他敦促罗斯福,一定要让美国科学家抢在德国人前面研制出原子弹。
 
Roosevelt agreed. He created a special team of scientists. Their work became known as the Manhattan Project. Roosevelt made sure that these scientists got all the money and supplies they needed.
罗斯福表示同意。他成立了一个特别科研小组,将这一研究项目定名为曼哈顿项目。罗斯福确保这些科学家可以得到需要的一切金钱和物资。
 
Roosevelt died before the scientists could complete their work. But in April nineteen forty-five, the scientists told the new president, Harry Truman, that they were almost ready to test their invention. Just three months later, they exploded the world's first atomic bomb in the desert in the southwestern state of New Mexico.
遗憾的是,罗斯福没能等到原子弹的诞生就去世了。1945年4月,科学家通报新总统杜鲁门,基本做好了试验的准备。短短三个月后,他们就在美国西南部新墨西哥州的沙漠地带试爆了原子弹。
 
Truman had to make a difficult decision. He knew the atomic bomb would cause widespread death and suffering if it was used on a Japanese city. But he was willing to do anything to avoid the need for American troops to invade Japan.
杜鲁门总统面临一个艰难的选择。他知道,如果向日本投掷原子弹,一定会造成大量死亡和痛苦,但是为了避免让美军进攻日本,他不惜一切代价。
 
 
In Japan, a new prime minister and government were searching for a way to end the war. But Truman believed that the Japanese were still not ready to surrender. And he felt it was his duty to end the war as soon as possible.
当时,日本新首相领导的政府正在寻找结束战争的途径。但是杜鲁门认为,日本还没有做好投降的准备,他觉得,结束这场战争是他做为美国总统应尽的责任。

On August sixth, nineteen forty-five, the first atomic bomb fell on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second A-bomb fell on the city of Nagasaki.
1945年8月6号,美国向日本广岛投掷了第一枚原子弹,三天后又向长崎投掷了一枚原子弹。
 
PRESIDENT TRUMAN: "Having found the atomic bomb, we have used it. We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us."
美国总统杜鲁门宣布:“我们研制出了原子弹,而且已经开始使用,我们会继续用下去,直到彻底消灭日本的作战能力,只有日本投降才能让我们停下来。”
 
STEVE EMBER: President Truman
 
PRESIDENT TRUMAN: "It is an awful responsibility which has come to us. We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemy. And we pray that he may guide us to use it in his ways and for his purposes."
杜鲁门还说,“对我们来说,这是一个可怕的责任,我们感谢上帝,让这个责任由我们来承担,而不是我们的敌人,我们也祈求上帝,指引我们,依照他的方式,为了他的目的,去履行这一义务。”
 
STEVE EMBER: The Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Japan estimates that between one hundred fifty thousand and two hundred forty-six thousand people died within two to four months of the bombings.
日本的辐射效应研究基金会估计,美国对广岛和长崎投掷原子弹后的两到四个月内,大约有15万到24万6千人死亡。
 
The bombings left Japan's rulers with no choice. In less than one week, they surrendered.
日本领导人别无选择,不到一个星期,日本宣布投降。
 
PRESIDENT TRUMAN: "I received this afternoon a message from the Japanese government. I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, which specifies the unconditional surrender of Japan. In the reply there is no qualification. Arrangements are now being made for the formal signing of the surrender terms at the earliest possible moment. General Douglas MacArthur has been appointed the Supreme Allied Commander to receive the Japanese surrender."
美国总统杜鲁门说,“我今天下午收到日本政府的回复,我认为他们的回复是对波茨坦声明的全面接受,波茨坦声明里具体说明了日本的无条件投降。日本的回复中没有任何附加说明,我们目前正在具体安排尽早签署投降书。麦克阿瑟将军被任命为盟军最高统帅,接受日本的投降。”
 
STEVE EMBER: In this newsreel, we hear General MacArthur accepting the surrender of the Japanese Empire.
 
NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: "The Battleship Missouri, fifty-three thousand ton flagship of Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet, becomes the scene of an unforgettable ceremony marking the complete and formal surrender of Japan. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander for the occupation of Japan, boards the Missouri. Fleet Admiral Nimitz, Pacific Fleet Commander, and Admiral Halsey welcome MacArthur and his Chief of Staff General Sutherland aboard. It is Sunday, September second, nineteen forty-five."
当时的一份报导说:日本投降仪式,是在海军上将哈尔西领导的第三舰队旗舰,排水量5万3千吨的密苏里号上举行的。盟军最高统帅麦克阿瑟登上密苏里号,哈尔西将军和太平洋舰队指挥官尼米兹将军一起欢迎麦克阿瑟和他的参谋长萨瑟兰将军的到来。这是1945年9月2号,星期天。

 


 
GENERAL MACARTHUR:" We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. The issues involving divergent ideals and ideologies have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate. The terms and conditions upon which surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces is here to be given and accepted are contained in the instrument of surrender now before you. I now invite the representatives of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government and the Japanese Impreial Headquarters to sign the instrument of surrender at the places indicated.
麦克阿瑟将军说:“今天,主要参战各方代表聚集在此,签署一份重要协议,重建和平。不同理念和意识形态带来的分歧已经在战场上解决,不需要我们在这里讨论或争辩。日军投降条款都写在你们面前的投降协议书里,请日本天皇,日本政府和日军司令部代表在投降书上签字”。
 
STEVE EMBER: American scientists and engineers proved that a war could be won with research as well as bullets. And all Americans learned how much could be gained when government agencies, scientists and universities worked together for common goals.
美国科学家和工程师证明,除了子弹外,科学研究也能打赢一场战争。所有美国人也认识到,政府部门和科学家、高等院校为共同目标而努力能够得到巨大收获。
 
Roosevelt had understood this long before the war ended. He asked Vannevar Bush to study how the federal government could work with scientists and universities in peacetime.
早在战争结束前,罗斯福总统就很清楚地看到了这一点,他要求范内瓦.布什研究一下,联邦政府如何才能在和平时期跟科研人员和高等院校展开合作。
 
Bush offered a number of ideas to President Truman at the end of the war. He told the president that science was important to America's progress and safety. He called on the federal government to support scientific study and education.
二战结束时,范内瓦.布什向杜鲁门总统提出很多建议。他指出,科学研究对美国的进步和国防安全至关重要,呼吁联邦政府支持科研教育。
 
Professor Bush said that the nation's universities should be greatly strengthened. He called for the creation of a new government agency to provide money for science projects.
范内瓦.布什教授认为,应该大力强化美国的大学系统,并建立成立一个新的政府部门,为科研项目提供经费。

Truman and Congress agreed with Vannevar Bush. And in the next few years, American research efforts expanded. In nineteen forty-six, the Office of Naval Research was created to support basic science study in universities. In the same year, the government created the Atomic Energy Commission. And in nineteen fifty, it created the National Science Foundation to provide support to thousands of the nation's best scientists.
他的建议得到了杜鲁门总统和国会的支持。在接下来的几年里,美国的科研努力大幅度拓宽,1946年建立了海军研究办公室,支持高等院校的基础科研。同年,联邦政府还建立了原子能源委员会,1950年,又建立了全国科学基金会,为全国各地数以千计最优秀的科学家提供帮助。
 
 
In the years that followed, American science would grow beyond the wildest dreams of Vannevar Bush and other scientists of his time.
此后的很多年里,美国科学的发展远远超越了范内瓦.布什和他那代科学家的梦想。
 
Universities would add thousands of new students along with new laboratories and research centers.
成千上万的新生走进大学校园,各大高等院校还增建了新的实验室和研究中心。
 
By the middle of the nineteen sixties, the federal government would spend more than thirteen billion a year for research and development. And five hundred new centers of higher learning would be created. All this investment would help make the United States the world leader in such fields as computer science, genetics and space travel.
到20世纪60年代中期的时候,联邦政府每年用于科研和开发的经费已经超过130亿美元,500个新的高等教育中心拔地而起,这些投资使美国在电脑、遗传学和太空探索等领域内都走在了世界的前列。
 
Our program was written by David Jarmul. You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at 51voa.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember, inviting you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
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