2 Chapter 1 Born to Think

Chapter 1 Born to Think "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." —Albert Einstein Albert Einstein made his entrance into the world on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany. He certainly didn't seem like an extraordinary child. He was chubby and pale with thick, black hair. He was so quiet and shy that his parents worried that there was something wrong with him. They took Albert to doctors. "He doesn't talk," his parents explained. The doctors found nothing wrong.

“人生只有两种方式。 一个是好像没有什么是奇迹。 另一种是好像一切都是奇迹。” 1879年3月14日，阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦在德国乌尔姆出生。 他看起来当然不像个特别的孩子。 他胖嘟嘟的，脸色苍白，一头浓密的黑发。 他非常安静和害羞，他的父母担心他有什么问题。 他们带艾伯特去看医生。 “他不说话，”他的父母解释说。 医生没有发现任何问题。

The story goes that Albert didn't speak a word until he was three or four years old. Then suddenly, over supper one night, he said, "The soup is too hot." Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said anything before. "Because," little Albert replied, "up to now, everything has been fine." Is this story true? There's no proof.

据说艾伯特直到三、四岁才开口说话。 一天晚上吃晚饭时，他突然说:“汤太烫了。” 他的父母松了一口气，问他为什么以前什么也没说。 “因为，”小阿尔贝回答说，“到目前为止，一切都很好。” 这个故事是真的吗?没有证据。

Most boys his age played soldier and other rough-and-tumble games. Not Albert. When Albert saw real soldiers marching with their blank faces, they frightened him. Albert preferred to stay by himself and daydream. He enjoyed playing with blocks and building houses out of playing cards—some of them were fourteen stories high.

他这个年龄的大多数男孩都玩士兵和其他打闹游戏。 艾伯特。当阿尔伯特看到真正的士兵面无表情地行进时，他们吓坏了他。 艾伯特喜欢一个人呆着做白日梦。 他喜欢玩积木和用扑克牌盖房子——有些房子有十四层楼高。

His parents continued to worry about their lonely and quiet son. They took him to more doctors. "Could there be something wrong with his brain?" his parents asked. Once again, doctors found nothing wrong with the boy. It was just his nature. He was quiet. He was a thinker.

他的父母继续为他们孤独而安静的儿子担心。 他们带他去看了更多的医生。 “他的脑子有问题吗?”他的父母问。 再一次，医生没有发现男孩有任何问题。 这是他的天性。他很安静。 他是个思想家。

Albert's father and uncle had a business that sold batteries, generators, and wire. Electricity fascinated Albert. It was invisible, powerful, and dangerous. Electricity was like some mysterious secret. Albert pestered his father and uncle with lots of questions. How fast is electricity? Is there a way to see it? What's it made of? If there's electricity, could there be other strange and mysterious forces in the universe? Albert enjoyed thinking about a world beyond the one that could be seen or explained. As he later said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." Albert was also fascinated by the compass that his father had given him. No matter what he did with the compass, its needle always pointed in the

艾伯特的父亲和叔叔经营着一家销售电池、发电机和电线的公司。 电迷住了阿尔伯特。 它是无形的，强大的，危险的。 电就像某种神秘的秘密。 艾伯特向他的父亲和叔叔提出了许多问题。 电的速度有多快?有办法看到吗? 它是什么做的?如果有电，宇宙中还会有其他奇怪而神秘的力量吗? 阿尔伯特喜欢思考一个可以看到或解释的世界之外的世界。 正如他后来所说:“想象力比知识更重要。 知识是有限的。想象力环绕着世界。” 阿尔伯特对父亲送给他的指南针也很着迷。 不管他用指南针做什么，它的针总是指向

same direction: North. Albert turned the compass upside down and sideways. He used it in the dark. No matter what, that needle always pointed in the same direction. Albert wondered why. His dad explained that the earth is like a big magnet that's always pulling on the compass's magnetic needle. Albert was amazed that some strange and powerful force was all around him. He could not see it or feel it. Yet it was there, making the compass needle move. Albert had more to think about. School wasn't teaching him about the things that mattered to him. So at about age 10, Albert started to teach himself. He was going to read as much about science as he could. The Magnetic Earth Magnets have invisible forces. Every magnet has two ends—one called the "north pole" and one called the "south

同一个方向:北方。艾伯特把指南针上下颠倒了一下。 他在黑暗中使用它。无论如何，那根针总是指向同一个方向。 艾伯特不知道为什么。他爸爸解释说，地球就像一块大磁铁，一直在拉着指南针的磁针。 阿尔伯特惊讶地发现他周围有一种奇怪而强大的力量。 他既看不见也感觉不到。 然而它就在那里，使罗盘指针移动。 艾伯特有更多的事情要考虑。 学校没有教他那些对他重要的东西。 所以在大约10岁的时候，艾伯特开始自学。 他打算尽可能多地读科学方面的书。 磁铁有看不见的力量。 每块磁铁都有两端，一端叫“北极”，另一端叫“南极”