《A Short History of Nearly Everything》第137章

bove。
spring　never　came　and　summer　never　warmed：　1816　became　known　as　the　year　withoutsummer。　crops　everywhere　failed　to　grow。　in　ireland　a　famine　and　associated　typhoidepidemic　killed　sixty…five　thousand　people。　in　new　england；　the　year　became　popularlyknown　as　eighteen　hundred　and　froze　to　death。　morning　frosts　continued　until　june　andalmost　no　planted　seed　would　grow。　short　of　fodder；　livestock　died　or　had　to　be　prematurelyslaughtered。　in　every　way　it　was　a　dreadful　year—almost　certainly　the　worst　for　farmers　inmodern　times。　yet　globally　the　temperature　fell　by　only　about　1。5　degrees　fahrenheit。　earth’snatural　thermostat；　as　scientists　would　learn；　is　an　exceedingly　delicate　instrument。
the　nineteenth　century　was　already　a　chilly　time。　for　two　hundred　years　europe　and　northamerica　in　particular　had　experienced　a　little　ice　age；　as　it　has　bee　known；　whichpermitted　all　kinds　of　wintry　events—frost　fairs　on　the　thames；　ice…skating　races　along　dutchcanals—that　are　mostly　impossible　now。　it　was　a　period；　in　other　words；　when　frigidity　wasmuch　on　people’s　minds。　so　we　may　perhaps　excuse　nineteenth…century　geologists　for　beingslow　to　realize　that　the　world　they　lived　in　was　in　fact　balmy　pared　with　former　epochs；and　that　much　of　the　land　around　them　had　been　shaped　by　crushing　glaciers　and　cold　thatwould　wreck　even　a　frost　fair。
they　knew　there　was　something　odd　about　the　past。　the　european　landscape　was　litteredwith　inexplicable　anomalies—the　bones　of　arctic　reindeer　in　the　warm　south　of　france；　hugerocks　stranded　in　improbable　places—and　they　often　came　up　with　inventive　but　not　terriblyplausible　explanations。　one　french　naturalist　named　de　luc；　trying　to　explain　how　graniteboulders　had　e　to　rest　high　up　on　the　limestone　flanks　of　the　jura　mountains；　suggestedthat　perhaps　they　had　been　shot　there　by　pressed　air　in　caverns；　like　corks　out　of　apopgun。　the　term　for　a　displaced　boulder　is　an　erratic；　but　in　the　nineteenth　century　theexpression　seemed　to　apply　more　often　to　the　theories　than　to　the　rocks。
the　great　british　geologist　arthur　hallam　has　suggested　that　if　james　hutton；　the　father　ofgeology；　had　visited　switzerland；　he　would　have　seen　at　once　the　significance　of　the　carvedvalleys；　the　polished　striations；　the　telltale　strand　lines　where　rocks　had　been　dumped；　and　theother　abundant　clues　that　point　to　passing　ice　sheets。　unfortunately；　hutton　was　not　a　traveler。
but　even　with　nothing　better　at　his　disposal　than　secondhand　accounts；　hutton　rejected　out　ofhand　the　idea　that　huge　boulders　had　been　carried　three　thousand　feet　up　mountainsides　byfloods—all　the　water　in　the　world　won’t　make　a　boulder　float；　he　pointed　out—and　becameone　of　the　first　to　argue　for　widespread　glaciation。　unfortunately　his　ideas　escaped　notice；　andfor　another　half　century　most　naturalists　continued　to　insist　that　the　gouges　on　rocks　could　beattributed　to　passing　carts　or　even　the　scrape　of　hobnailed　boots。
local peasants； uncontaminated by scientific　orthodoxy；　knew　better；　however。　thenaturalist　jean　de　charpentier　told　the　story　of　how　in　1834　he　was　walking　along　a　countrylane　with　a　swiss　woodcutter　when　they　got　to　talking　about　the　rocks　along　the　roadside。　thewoodcutter　matter…of…factly　told　him　that　the　boulders　had　e　from　the　grimsel；　a　zone　ofgranite　some　distance　away。　“when　i　asked　him　how　he　thought　that　these　stones　had　reachedtheir　location；　he　answered　without　hesitation：　‘the　grimsel　glacier　transported　them　on　bothsides　of　the　valley；　because　that　glacier　extended　in　the　past　as　far　as　the　town　of　bern。’　”
charpentier　was　delighted。　he　had　e　to　such　a　view　himself；　but　when　he　raised　thenotion　at　scientific　gatherings；　it　was　dismissed。　one　of　charpentier’s　closest　friends　wasanother　swiss　naturalist；　louis　agassiz；　who　after　some　initial　skepticism　came　to　embrace；and　eventually　all　but　appropriate；　the　theory。
agassiz　had　studied　under　cuvier　in　paris　and　now　held　the　post　of　professor　of　naturalhistory　at　the　college　of　neuchatel　in　switzerland。　another　friend　of　agassiz’s；　a　botanistnamed　karl　schimper；　was　actually　the　first　to　coin　the　term　ice　age　（in　german　eiszeit　）；　in1837；　and　to　propose　that　there　was　good　evidence　to　show　that　ice　had　once　lain　heavilyacross　not　just　the　swiss　alps；　but　over　much　of　europe；　asia；　and　north　america。　it　was　aradical　notion。　he　lent　agassiz　his　notes—then　came　very　much　to　regret　it　as　agassizincreasingly　got　the　credit　for　what　schimper　felt；　with　some　legitimacy；　was　his　theory。
charpentier　likewise　ended　up　a　bitter　enemy　of　his　old　friend。　alexander　von　humboldt；　yetanother　friend；　may　have　had　agassiz　at　least　partly　in　mind　when　he　observed　that　there　arethree　stages　in　scientific　discovery：　first；　people　deny　that　it　is　true；　then　they　deny　that　it　isimportant；　finally　they　credit　the　wrong　person。
at　all　events；　agassiz　made　the　field　his　own。　in　his　quest　to　understand　the　dynamics　ofglaciation；　he　went　everywhere—deep　into　dangerous　crevasses　and　up　to　the　summits　of　thecraggiest　alpine　peaks；　often　apparently　unaware　that　he　and　his　team　were　the　first　to　climbthem。　nearly　everywhere　agassiz　encountered　an　unyielding　reluctance　to　accept　his　theories。
humboldt　urged　him　to　return　to　his　area　of　real　expertise；　fossil　fish；　and　give　up　this　madobsession　with　ice；　but　agassiz　was　a　man　possessed　by　an　idea。
agassiz’s　theory　found　even　less　support　in　britain；　where　most　naturalists　had　never　seena　glacier　and　often　couldn’t　grasp　the　crushing　forces　that　ice　in　bulk　exerts。　“could　scratchesand　polish　just　be　due　to　ice　？”　asked　roderick　murchison　in　a　mocking　tone　at　one　meeting；evidently　imagining　the　rocks　as　covered　in　a　kind　of　light　and　glassy　rime。　to　his　dying　day；he　expressed　the　frankest　incredulity　at　those　“ice…mad”　geologists　who　believed　that　glacierscould　account　for　so　much。　william　hopkins；　a　cambridge　professor　and　leading　member　ofthe　geological　society；　endorsed　this　view；　arguing　that　the　notion　that　ice　could　transportboulders　presented　“such　obvious　mechanical　absurdities”　as　to　make　it　unworthy　of　thesociety’s　attention。
undaunted；　agassiz　traveled　tirelessly　to　promote　his　theory。　in　18