$课文32 伽利略的复生

577. In his own lifetime Galileo was the centre of violent controversy;

伽利略在世时是激烈论战的中心。

578. but the scientific dust has long since settled, and today we can see even his famous clash with the Inquisition in something like its proper perspective.

但是，自他逝世以来，那场科学上的纷争早已平息了下来，甚至他和宗教法庭的著名冲突，我们今天也能正确如实地看待。

579. But, in contrast, it is only in modern times that Galileo has become a problem child for historians of science.

但是相比之下，对于科学史家来说，伽利略只是在现代才变成了一个新的难题。

580. The old view of Galileo was delightfully uncomplicated.

令人高兴的是，过去对伽利略的看法并不复杂。

581. He was, above all, a man who experimented:

他首先是个实验工作者，

582. who despised the prejudices and book learning of the Aristotelians,

他蔑视亚里士多德学派的偏见和空洞的书本知识。

583. who put his questions to nature instead of to the ancients, and who drew his conclusions fearlessly.

他向自然界而不是向古人提出问题，并大胆地得出结论。

584. He had been the first to turn a telescope to the sky, and he had seen there evidence enough to overthrow Aristotle and Ptolemy together.

他是第一个把望远镜对准天空的人，观察到的论据足以把亚里士多德和托勒密一起推翻。