time and space
閱讀時(shí)間：50分鐘
1.the leaning tower of Pisa 比薩斜塔
2.air resistance 空氣阻力
3.Newton’s first law 牛頓第一定律
4.gravitational attraction， gravity, gravitation
5.refute
??? 1. to say that a statement is not true or accurate without giving proof
??? The police said he was drunk, a claim refuted by his attorney.
??? 2. to prove that a statement is false
??? The evidence refutes all claims that the student loan scheme is not working.
He observed that the times at which the moons of Jupiter appeared to pass behind Jupiter were not evenly spaced, as one would expect if the moons went round Jupiter at a constant rate.
6.moon 衛(wèi)星
7.space
??? v [Tn, Tn.p] ~ sth (out) set sth out with regular spaces between
???? 將某事物均勻隔開:
??? space out the posts three metres apart
??? 把這些柱子間隔三米排開 *
8.propagation 傳播
9.wave crest 波峰
10.thousandth 千分之一
11.ether 以太
The fundamental postulate of the theory of relativity, as it was called, was that the laws of science should be the same for all freely moving observers, no matter what their speed.
12.postulate
an idea that is an important part of a theory, argument, or explanation 假定，基本原理
13.the special / general theory of relativity ? ? ?狹義/廣義相對(duì)論
Only light, or other waves that have no intrinsic mass, can move at the speed of light.
14. intrinsic:
??? relating to the essential qualities or features of something or someone
??? the intrinsic beauty of the Italian language
15.pulse 脈沖
16.velocity
the speed that something moves at in one direction速度
17.cesium clock 銫原子鐘， 銫鐘
18.鉑桿（platinum metre bar），以此桿兩端之間的距離定為1米
19.坐標(biāo)系 Coordinate system
20.Piccadilly Circus 皮卡迪利圓環(huán)
皮卡迪利圓環(huán)（Piccadilly Circus），倫敦最有名的圓形廣場(chǎng)，興建于1819年，早期是英國(guó)零售商店所在地，今日為英國(guó)倫敦市中心購(gòu)物街道的圓心點(diǎn)，有五條主要道路交錯(cuò)于此。
21.diagonal line對(duì)角線
22.radius 半徑
23.snapshot n,快照
24.geodesic 測(cè)地線
25.elongated
??? longer and narrower than is normal or natural
??? elongated fingers
26.curvature 彎曲
Brilliant ideas:
In Newton’s theory, if a pulse of light is sent from one place to another, different observers would agree on the time that the journey took (since time is absolute), but will not always agree on how far the light traveled (since space is not absolute). Since the speed of the light is just the distance it has traveled divided by the time it has taken, different observers would measure different speeds for the light.
In relativity, on the other hand, all observers must agree on how fast light travels. They still, however, do not agree on the distance the light has traveled, so they must therefore now also disagree over the time it has taken.
The theory of relativity put an end to the idea of absolute time!!!
That space-time is not flat, as had been previously assumed: it is curved, or “warped,” by the distribution of mass and energy in it.
The mass of the sun curves space-time in such a way that although the earth follows a straight path in four-dimensional space-time, it appears to us to move along a circular orbit in three-dimensional space.
