時差N小時:雞蛋和燈泡

What a light bulb and an egg have in common? Theshell of an egg and the glass exterior of a light bulbhave more than one thing in common. First, bothprotect something delicate inside: the exterior ofthe light bulb keeps the delicate internal wiringprotected and an eggshell protects a developingchick.The need to protect chicks and wiring requiresthat eggshells and light bulbs be structurally strong.

電燈泡和雞蛋有什么共同點呢?雞蛋的外殼和燈泡的玻璃外罩的相同點可不止一處。首先，兩者都在保護內(nèi)部脆弱的東西：燈泡的外罩保護精細的內(nèi)部接線，而蛋殼保護還未孵化的小雞。為了保護小雞和燈絲，要求蛋殼和燈罩的結(jié)構(gòu)性很強。

Second, both are made of thin material. A chick, ready to hatch, has to be able to peck its waythrough the shell. And because light bulbs are usually made of opaque rather than clear glass,the glass exterior must be thin so that light can shine through.

其次，兩者都由薄型材料構(gòu)成。一只待孵化的小雞必須能夠破開蛋殼鉆出來。且因為燈泡通常由不透明的玻璃做成，所以玻璃外罩要很薄，這樣燈光才能透過燈罩射出去。

So how can a structure be strong and yet made of thin material at the same time? By using acarefully-designed oval shape. Picture for a moment a square egg. If you took that imaginaryobject in your hand and squeezed it very hard between your thumb and finger, the pressureyou'd exert would be localized in the exact part of the flat surface your thumb and finger werepushing. Even a slight pressure would be great enough to break the thin shell into pieces.

那么什么樣的結(jié)構(gòu)即堅固同時又能由薄層的材料制成呢?通過利用一種精心設計的橢圓形。暫且先描繪一個方形的蛋。假設你把這個虛構(gòu)的對象拿在手里，用拇指和食指用力擠壓，你施加的壓力會落在拇指和食指接觸到的平面上。即使是輕微的壓力也足以將薄薄的蛋殼打得粉碎。

But if you do the same thing to a real egg, the force you exert is not localized in one point, butis distributed into all directions around the surface of the egg. Though you can eventuallybreak an egg by doing this, it takes a great deal more force to do so. Of course, it's nocoincidence that the shapes of light bulbs and eggs are similar. When the light bulb wasinvented and perfected, it was patterned after a shape that nature had come up with hundredsof thousands of years ago.

但是如果你擠壓一個真正的雞蛋，那么你施加的壓力并不著力在一個點上，而是分散在蛋殼表面的各個方向。盡管你最終還是可以將雞蛋捏碎，但在那之前你要使更多的勁。當然，燈泡的形狀跟雞蛋相似并不是偶然現(xiàn)象。燈泡的發(fā)明和完善還是仿照了大自然幾十萬年前就有的形狀。