《生活大爆炸》背后的科学护航人

2014-12-08文/MelissaPandika译/

新东方英语 2014年10期

文/Melissa+Pandika+译/铭之

As if a sitcom about four Caltech scientists werent geeky enough， real-life UCLA astrophysicist David Saltzberg elevates The Big Bang Theory to the highest echelon2） of geekdom.

When Saltzberg isnt studying high-energy particle physics and high-energy neutrino3） astronomy， he works as the hit CBS4） sitcoms science consultant， ensuring that the physics is legit5）， from Sheldons dense6） lines to the equations on the whiteboards. While forensic7） dramas like CSI and NCIS draw criticism for their scientifically improbable scenarios， The Big Bang Theory draws praise from physicists， fanboys and fangirls alike for its meticulous8） accuracy and occasional hat-tips to the science worlds hip and happening.

“Its the opposite of a NOVA9） show，” Saltzberg says. Rather than plumbing10） the depths of a scientific topic in an hour-long documentary， The Big Bang Theory might drop terms like “muons11）” and “dark matter” but leaves it up to viewers to Google them. Even if they dont， experts say they still pick up on the shows character portrayals. Positive， realistic depictions of scientists and engineers can influence whether viewers follow in their career footsteps， or trust them when considering climate change and other issues.

“This is why the work that David does is so important， even on a comedy like The Big Bang Theory， which essentially elevated the geeky engineer and the nerdy scientist to a cool place，” said Ann Merchant， deputy executive director of the Science & Entertainment Exchange.

Sometimes Saltzberg does see his work spark curiosity in young viewers. Like the time a 14-year-old named Olivia emailed him about an episode in which main character Leonard Hofstadter kisses his lab mate Leslie Hinkle. “Well， the Earth didnt move. Except for the 383 miles it was going to anyway，” Leonard says. Olivia had struggled to calculate the distance herself based on the Earths rotation. So Saltzberg suggested considering， for example， the solar systems motion around the galaxy. She eventually responded with the right answer. Saltzberg says， “If theres one student e-mailing me about it， how many other hundreds are looking it up on their own？”

Slightly built and quick to smile， Saltzberg works from a bright office lined with physics textbooks， photos of students， and trunks filled with power supplies he plans to bring to the Large Hadron Collider12）（LHC） in Geneva. Galileo and Einstein dolls are perched on a bookshelf.

Saltzberg traces his love for physics to his childhood in New Jersey—about four miles from the lab where astronomers first heard the big bangs background radiation. He grew up building circuits13） alongside his father， an electrical engineer. In high school， he gravitated to physics when he realized it formed the foundation of biology and chemistry.

He began working on The Big Bang Theory in 2006， when co-creators Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre were producing the first pilot episode. Lorre initially contacted Saltzbergs colleague to review the script and advise the production design14）. But since he lived in Hawaii， he referred Lorre to Saltzberg instead.

The bulk of Saltzbergs work involves reviewing drafts of scripts. Often the scientific dialogue will already be written， and he makes just a few tweaks15）. But in many cases， the script arrives with empty brackets reading “Insert Science Here.” Filling them in is a bit like solving a physics problem. The writers set parameters16）， like the length of the dialogue or whether viewers should be able to understand it. “Theres a keyhole that needs the right key，” Saltzberg says.

But just for fun， he also plants “little time bombs”—inside jokes that reference his colleagues and students research. Once he slipped in a reference to a device called an integrated ion trap17） and time-of-flight-mass-spectrometer18）， which one of his graduate students had built. The prop master saw it and made a replica19） for Leonards lab.

He also draws out each episodes whiteboards. Once he had to come up with an equation for the characters to solve over several episodes. “Its hard to think about a problem that would work that wasnt already solved，” he said. But when he started slogging20） through an equation for his own research on a particle called an axion21）， he worked it into the script.

Saltzberg attends the shows live taping every week. Initially he thought hed need to coach the actors on their lines—but he rarely does. Hes regularly blown away22） by Jim Parsons breezy delivery of Sheldon Coopers jargon-laden lines. “Theres something to saying the scientific words thats more than just pronunciation， but also the rhythm that makes you feel like you own it. He does it.”

Usually， Saltzberg hangs out on-set to bounce ideas off the writers. But he notes， “Were not the science police. Its up to the writers to decide what they want to use.” He also answers last-minute questions and checks the accuracy of off-the-cuff23） jokes—although he no longer pitches his own. “Its like if I go to a party and people tell me their new theory of gravity， and Ill just try to be polite.”

He admits that its impossible to know whether all this work helps the shows success. But besides fending off24） nerd rage， it might actually help boost the general publics attitude toward science. The Higher Education Funding Council for England reported a 10% increase in enrollment in university physics programs from 2008 to 2009， when the show was first broadcast in the U.K.， and from 2010 to 2011. “The show and David deserve credit for this，” said UCLA neurophysicist Mayank Mehta.

Saltzberg is also making a big bang at the LHC， a mammoth25） underground tube that accelerates beams of hydrogen protons26） at high speeds. Smashing together two beams traveling in opposite directions causes the protons to disintegrate into smaller particles， including the aforementioned muons. Muons stay intact27） long enough to be measured and can signify the presence of other particles， including those yet to be discovered. Saltzberg is installing new muon detectors in preparation for the LHC to accelerate particles at its full energy next year. Much like Saltzberg does on TV， he makes his research at CERN28） accessible， allowing even undergraduates to work at the particle physics mecca29）.

Although only a handful of people might read Saltzbergs scientific papers， compared with the millions of viewers who tune in to each episode of The Big Bang Theory， he savors both experiences. “The show is just a little aspect of my scientific career，” he says. “I hope Ill be spending 40 years doing research and teaching， and so heres a little 10-year piece.” A decade of making it cool to geek out？ Well take it.

仿佛一部关于加州理工学院四位科学家的情景喜剧还不够古怪似的，现实中的加州大学洛杉矶分校天体物理学家大卫·萨尔茨伯格将《生活大爆炸》提升至极客界的巅峰。

在研究高能粒子物理和高能中微子天文学之余，萨尔茨伯格的工作是哥伦比亚广播公司热播情景喜剧的科学顾问，确保剧中的物理学内容正确——从谢尔顿晦涩难懂的台词到白板上的各种方程式。尽管《犯罪现场调查》和《海军罪案调查处》等法医剧因其剧情有悖科学知识而招致批评，《生活大爆炸》却因其一丝不苟的准确性和对科学界当下热点的不时致敬而得到了物理学家和粉丝们的一致赞扬。

“它与《新星》节目截然不同。”萨尔茨伯格说。《生活大爆炸》并不是用长达一小时的纪录片深入探讨某个科学话题，剧中可能会提到“μ子”和“暗物质”等术语，但由观众决定是否要在谷歌上查询这些术语。即便观众不去查询，专家称他们仍会注意到这部剧中的人物刻画。对科学家和工程师正面、真实的刻画能够影响观众是否会跟随他们走上同样的职业之路，或者在考虑气候变化及其他问题时是否会信任他们。

“这就是为什么大卫所做的工作如此重要，即便是在《生活大爆炸》这样一部喜剧中。这部剧从根本上提升了古怪工程师和书呆子科学家的地位，使他们显得很酷。”科学与娱乐交流项目副执行董事安·麦钱特说。

有时，萨尔茨伯格的确发现他的工作激发了年轻观众的好奇心。比如有一次一位名叫奥利维娅的14岁女孩给他发电子邮件探讨该剧的一集，其中主角伦纳德·霍夫施塔特亲吻了他的实验室搭档莱斯莉·欣克尔。“嗯，地球没有动。不过它无论如何都会运行383英里。”伦纳德说。奥利维娅曾极力想根据地球的旋转来自己算出这段距离。于是萨尔茨伯格建议她考虑某些因素，比如太阳系围绕银河系的运动。她最终得出了正确答案。萨尔茨伯格说：“如果有一个学生给我发电子邮件讨论这个问题，会有多少百名学生在自己查询这个问题呢？”

萨尔茨伯格身材清瘦，时常微笑。他的办公室光线充足，室内摆放着物理教科书、学生照片，还有一些装着电源设备的大箱子，他计划带着这些箱子去日内瓦的大型强子对撞机（LHC）所在地。一个书架上还放着伽利略和爱因斯坦玩偶。

萨尔茨伯格将其对物理学的热爱追溯至他在新泽西度过的童年——那里距一家实验室大约四英里，天文学家就是在这家实验室首次听到了宇宙大爆炸的背景辐射。他从小就跟在当电气工程师的父亲身边制作电路。上高中时，当他意识到物理是生物和化学的基础时，他迷上了物理。

他从2006年开始参与《生活大爆炸》的工作，当时比尔·普拉迪和查克·洛尔两位创作者正在制作这部剧的第一集试播集。洛尔最初联系了萨尔茨伯格的同事来审阅剧本并为艺术指导工作提供建议，但是因为这位同事住在夏威夷，于是他就向洛尔推荐了萨尔茨伯格。

萨尔茨伯格的主要工作是审阅剧本的草稿。通常情况下，科学对话已经写好了，他只需稍作调整。但在许多情况下，剧本送达时有一些空着的括号，写着“在此插入科学内容”。填这些空有点像解决一道物理题。编剧会限定一些参数，比如对话的长度，或者是否应该让观众理解这句话。“锁孔有了，只是需要正确的钥匙。”萨尔茨伯格说。

但有时为了好玩，他也会设置“小的定时炸弹”——与其同事和学生所做的研究相关的圈内笑话。有一次，他在剧本中悄悄混入了一个名为集成式离子阱-飞行时间质谱仪的设备，这是他的一个研究生建造的设备。道具师看到后就做了一个仿制品放在伦纳德的实验室里。

他还绘制每集的白板。有一次，他需要想出一个方程，让剧中人物在好几集的时间里解决。“很难想出一个既符合剧情又尚未解决的问题。”他说。但后来他自己为研究一种名为轴子的粒子开始苦苦求解一个方程，于是他就把这个方程放到了剧本中。

萨尔茨伯格每周都会参加这部喜剧的现场录制。起初他以为他需要培训演员怎么讲台词——但他几乎不用这么做。吉姆·帕森斯能轻松地说出谢尔顿·库珀满是术语的台词，常常令萨尔茨伯格大为惊讶。“讲这些科学词汇时，除发音之外还需要有些别的东西，而且要有节奏，让你觉得你对这些词稔熟于心。他做到了。”

通常情况下，萨尔茨伯格会待在片场，与编剧们交流想法。但他指出：“我们不是科学警察，由编剧来决定他们想要使用的东西。”他还会回答紧急关头的问题，并检查即兴笑话是否准确——尽管他自己不再编笑话。“这就像如果我去参加一个聚会，人们给我讲他们关于引力的新理论，我就会尽量客套一下。”

他承认，所有这些工作是否有助于该剧的成功无从得知。但是，除了防止惹怒书呆子，实际上这项工作也许有助于改善公众对科学的态度。英格兰高等教育基金委员会的报告指出，在2008至2009年——也就是该剧在英国首播期间——以及2010至2011年，大学物理专业的招生人数都有10%的增长。“该剧和大卫都功不可没。”加州大学洛杉矶分校神经物理学家马扬克·梅赫塔说。

萨尔茨伯格也正在利用大型强子对撞机制造一次大爆炸，这是一处庞大的地下隧道，能将氢质子束加速至很快的速度。沿着相反方向前进的两个质子束发生碰撞，质子就会分裂成更小的粒子，包括前述的μ子。μ子能较长时间保持完整状态，便于测量，并且可以标明其他粒子的存在，包括那些有待发现的粒子。萨尔茨伯格正在安装新的μ子探测器，为明年大型强子对撞机以最高能量加速粒子做准备。正如萨尔茨伯格在电视领域的工作一样，他使自己在欧洲核子研究组织的研究工作也能接地气，甚至允许本科生到这个粒子物理学的圣地来工作。

与《生活大爆炸》每集数以百万计的观众相比，只有极少数的人会阅读萨尔茨伯格的科学论文。尽管如此，他对这两种经历都颇为享受。“这部剧只是我科学生涯中一个很小的方面，”他说，“我希望自己用40年的时间来做研究和教学，所以这短短的10年只是一小部分。”让极客趣味变时髦的10年？我们欣然接受。

1. cred [kred] n. 可靠性，可信性（credibility的缩写）

2. echelon [?e??l?n] n. 等级；阶层

3. neutrino [nju?tri?n??] n. [核]中微子

4. CBS：哥伦比亚广播公司（Columbia Broadcasting System）

5. legit [l??d??t] adj. 〈口〉（=legitimate）合理的；合乎逻辑的

6. dense [dens] adj. 难懂的

7. forensic [f??rens?k] adj. 法医的；法庭的

8. meticulous [m??t?kj?l?s] adj. 〈口〉一丝不苟的；严谨的

9. NOVA：《新星》，美国公共电视网（PBS）播出的科教系列节目

10. plumb [pl?m] vt. 探究，探索

11. muon [?mju??n] n. [核]μ（介）子（一种不稳定的介子）