TED英语演讲稿：为什么最新范文代表未知？（共5页）2900字.docx

TED英语演讲稿：为什么最新范文代表未知？（共5页）2900字.docx

《TED英语演讲稿：为什么最新范文代表未知？（共5页）2900字.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《TED英语演讲稿：为什么最新范文代表未知？（共5页）2900字.docx（3页珍藏版）》请在冰点文库上搜索。

TED英语演讲稿：

为什么X代表未知？

　　ihavetheanswertoaquestionthatwe'veallasked.thequestionis,whyisitthattheletterxrepresentstheunknown?

nowiknowwelearnedthatinmathclass,butnowit'severywhereintheculture--thexprize,thex-files,projectx,tedx.where'dthatcomefrom?

　　aboutsixyearsagoidecidedthatiwouldlearnarabic,whichturnsouttobeasupremelylogicallanguage.towriteawordoraphraseorasentenceinarabicislikecraftinganequation,becauseeverypartisextremelypreciseandcarriesalotofinformation.that'soneofthereasonssomuchofwhatwe'vecometothinkofaswesternscienceandmathematicsandengineeringwasreallyworkedoutinthefirstfewcenturiesofthecommonerabythepersiansandthearabsandtheturks.

　　thisincludesthelittlesysteminarabiccalledal-jebra.andal-jebrroughlytranslatesto"thesystemforreconcilingdisparateparts."al-jebrfinallycameintoenglishasalgebra.oneexampleamongmany.

　　thearabictextscontainingthismathematicalwisdomfinallymadetheirwaytoeurope--whichistosayspain--inthe11thand12thcenturies.andwhentheyarrivedtherewastremendousinterestintranslatingthiswisdomintoaeuropeanlanguage.

　　buttherewereproblems.oneproblemistherearesomesoundsinarabicthatjustdon'tmakeitthroughaeuropeanvoiceboxwithoutlotsofpractice.trustmeonthatone.also,thoseverysoundstendnottoberepresentedbythecharactersthatareavailableineuropeanlanguages.

　　here'soneoftheculprits.thisisthelettersheen,anditmakesthesoundwethinkofassh--"sh."it'salsotheveryfirstletterofthewordshalan,whichmeans"something"justlikethetheenglishword"something"--someundefined,unknownthing.

　　nowinarabic,wecanmakethisdefinitebyaddingthedefinitearticle"al."sothisisal-shalan--theunknownthing.andthisisawordthatappearsthroughoutearlymathematics,suchasthis10thcenturyderivationofproofs.

　　theproblemforthemedievalspanishscholarswhoweretaskedwithtranslatingthismaterialisthatthelettersheenandthewordshalancan'tberenderedintospanishbecausespanishdoesn'thavethatsh,that"sh"sound.sobyconvention,theycreatedaruleinwhichtheyborrowedthecksound,"ck"sound,fromtheclassicalgreekintheformoftheletterkai.

　　laterwhenthismaterialwastranslatedintoacommoneuropeanlanguage,whichistosaylatin,theysimplyreplacedthegreekkaiwiththelatinx.andoncethathappened,oncethismaterialwasinlatin,itformedthebasisformathematicstextbooksforalmost600years.

　　butnowwehavetheanswertoourquestion.whyisitthatxistheunknown?

xistheunknownbecauseyoucan'tsay"sh"inspanish.（laughter）andithoughtthatwasworthsharing.

　　（applause）