万物简史 第106期:势不两立的科学(14)

In the district of Sydenham in south London, at aplace called Crystal Palace Park, there stands astrange and forgotten sight: the world's first life-sized models of dinosaurs. Not many people travelthere these days, but once this was one of the mostpopular attractions in London—in effect, as RichardFortey has noted, the world's first theme park.

在伦敦南部的西德纳姆区，有个地方名叫水晶宫公园。那里耸立着一片被人遗忘的奇观：世界上第一批实物大小的恐龙模型。近来去那里的人不太多，但一度这里是伦敦游客最多的胜地之一——事实上，正如理查德·福蒂说的，它是世界上第一个主题公园。

Quite a lot about the models is not strictly correct. The iguanodon's thumb has been placed onits nose, as a kind of spike, and it stands on four sturdy legs, making it look like a rather stoutand awkwardly overgrown dog. (In life, the iguanodon did not crouch on all fours, but wasbipedal.) Looking at them now you would scarcely guess that these odd and lumbering beastscould cause great rancor and bitterness, but they did. Perhaps nothing in natural history hasbeen at the center of fiercer and more enduring hatreds than the line of ancient beasts knownas dinosaurs.

严格来说，那些模型在许多方面是不正确的。禽龙的大拇指顶在鼻子上，变成了一根尖刺;它长着四条粗壮的腿，看上去像一条肥肥胖胖、不成比例的狗。(其实，禽龙不用四条腿蹲着，而是一种两足动物。)现在望着它们，你几乎想不到这些古怪而行动缓慢的动物会引起积怨和仇恨，但事实却是如此。在自然史上，也许从来没有哪种动物像名叫恐龙的古代动物那样成为强烈而又持久的仇恨的中心。

At the time of the dinosaurs' construction, Sydenham was on the edge of London and itsspacious park was considered an ideal place to re-erect the famous Crystal Palace, the glass andcast-iron structure that had been the centerpiece of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and fromwhich the new park naturally took its name. The dinosaurs, built of concrete, were a kind ofbonus attraction. On New Year's Eve 1853 a famous dinner for twenty-one prominentscientists was held inside the unfinished iguanodon. Gideon Mantell, the man who had foundand identified the iguanodon, was not among them. The person at the head of the table wasthe greatest star of the young science of paleontology. His name was Richard Owen and by thistime he had already devoted several productive years to making Gideon Mantell's life hell.

建造恐龙模型的时候，西德纳姆位于伦敦边缘，宽敞的公园被认为是重建著名的水晶宫的理想之地。玻璃和铸铁结构的水晶宫曾是1851年博览会的中心场所。新建的公园很自然地以此冠名。用混凝土建成的恐龙模型是一种很有经济效益的景观。1853年除夕，在尚未完工的禽龙模型内为21名科学家举行了一次著名的晚宴。那位发现并确认禽龙的人吉迪恩·曼特尔不在其中。坐在餐桌上手的是古生物学这门年轻的科学里最伟大的人物，他的名字叫理查德·欧文。到这个时候，他已经花费几年心血，成果累累，害得吉迪思·曼特尔的日子很不好过。