此文来自培根《新工具》语录第129章
英语原文:
Francis Bacon Aphorism 129
from The New Organon
Again, we should notice the force, effect, and consequences of inventions, which are nowhere more conspicuous than in those three which were unknown to the ancients; namely, printing, gunpowder, and the compass. For these three have changed the appearance and state of the whole world; first in literature, then in warfare, and lastly in navigation: and innumerable changes have been thence derived, so that no empire, sect, or star, appears to have exercised a greater power and influence on human affairs than these mechanical discoveries. -- Aphorism 129.
汉语翻译:
复次,我们还该注意到发现的力量,效能和后果。这几点是在明显地表现在古人所不知、较近才发现,而起源却暧昧不彰的三种发明上,那就是印刷、火药和磁石。这三种发明已经在世界范围内把事物的全部面貌和情况都改变了-- 第一种是在学术方面,第二种是在战事方面,第三种是在航行方面-- 并由此又引起难以数计的变化;竟至任何帝国、任何教派、任何星辰对人类事务的力量和影响都仿佛无过于这些机械性的发现。
注:英语原文的 star 应该译为 星辰,不是“显赫人物”。
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