《生活大爆炸》背后的科學(xué)護(hù)航人

文/Melissa+Pandika+譯/銘之

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 “l(fā)ittle 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.

仿佛一部關(guān)于加州理工學(xué)院四位科學(xué)家的情景喜劇還不夠古怪似的，現(xiàn)實(shí)中的加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校天體物理學(xué)家大衛(wèi)·薩爾茨伯格將《生活大爆炸》提升至極客界的巔峰。

在研究高能粒子物理和高能中微子天文學(xué)之余，薩爾茨伯格的工作是哥倫比亞廣播公司熱播情景喜劇的科學(xué)顧問，確保劇中的物理學(xué)內(nèi)容正確——從謝爾頓晦澀難懂的臺詞到白板上的各種方程式。盡管《犯罪現(xiàn)場調(diào)查》和《海軍罪案調(diào)查處》等法醫(yī)劇因其劇情有?？茖W(xué)知識而招致批評，《生活大爆炸》卻因其一絲不茍的準(zhǔn)確性和對科學(xué)界當(dāng)下熱點(diǎn)的不時致敬而得到了物理學(xué)家和粉絲們的一致贊揚(yáng)。

“它與《新星》節(jié)目截然不同?！彼_爾茨伯格說?！渡畲蟊ā凡⒉皇怯瞄L達(dá)一小時的紀(jì)錄片深入探討某個科學(xué)話題，劇中可能會提到“μ子”和“暗物質(zhì)”等術(shù)語，但由觀眾決定是否要在谷歌上查詢這些術(shù)語。即便觀眾不去查詢，專家稱他們?nèi)詴⒁獾竭@部劇中的人物刻畫。對科學(xué)家和工程師正面、真實(shí)的刻畫能夠影響觀眾是否會跟隨他們走上同樣的職業(yè)之路，或者在考慮氣候變化及其他問題時是否會信任他們。

“這就是為什么大衛(wèi)所做的工作如此重要，即便是在《生活大爆炸》這樣一部喜劇中。這部劇從根本上提升了古怪工程師和書呆子科學(xué)家的地位，使他們顯得很酷?！笨茖W(xué)與娛樂交流項目副執(zhí)行董事安·麥錢特說。

有時，薩爾茨伯格的確發(fā)現(xiàn)他的工作激發(fā)了年輕觀眾的好奇心。比如有一次一位名叫奧利維婭的14歲女孩給他發(fā)電子郵件探討該劇的一集，其中主角倫納德·霍夫施塔特親吻了他的實(shí)驗(yàn)室搭檔萊斯莉·欣克爾?！班?，地球沒有動。不過它無論如何都會運(yùn)行383英里。”倫納德說。奧利維婭曾極力想根據(jù)地球的旋轉(zhuǎn)來自己算出這段距離。于是薩爾茨伯格建議她考慮某些因素，比如太陽系圍繞銀河系的運(yùn)動。她最終得出了正確答案。薩爾茨伯格說：“如果有一個學(xué)生給我發(fā)電子郵件討論這個問題，會有多少百名學(xué)生在自己查詢這個問題呢？”

薩爾茨伯格身材清瘦，時常微笑。他的辦公室光線充足，室內(nèi)擺放著物理教科書、學(xué)生照片，還有一些裝著電源設(shè)備的大箱子，他計劃帶著這些箱子去日內(nèi)瓦的大型強(qiáng)子對撞機(jī)（LHC）所在地。一個書架上還放著伽利略和愛因斯坦玩偶。

薩爾茨伯格將其對物理學(xué)的熱愛追溯至他在新澤西度過的童年——那里距一家實(shí)驗(yàn)室大約四英里，天文學(xué)家就是在這家實(shí)驗(yàn)室首次聽到了宇宙大爆炸的背景輻射。他從小就跟在當(dāng)電氣工程師的父親身邊制作電路。上高中時，當(dāng)他意識到物理是生物和化學(xué)的基礎(chǔ)時，他迷上了物理。

他從2006年開始參與《生活大爆炸》的工作，當(dāng)時比爾·普拉迪和查克·洛爾兩位創(chuàng)作者正在制作這部劇的第一集試播集。洛爾最初聯(lián)系了薩爾茨伯格的同事來審閱劇本并為藝術(shù)指導(dǎo)工作提供建議，但是因?yàn)檫@位同事住在夏威夷，于是他就向洛爾推薦了薩爾茨伯格。

薩爾茨伯格的主要工作是審閱劇本的草稿。通常情況下，科學(xué)對話已經(jīng)寫好了，他只需稍作調(diào)整。但在許多情況下，劇本送達(dá)時有一些空著的括號，寫著“在此插入科學(xué)內(nèi)容”。填這些空有點(diǎn)像解決一道物理題。編劇會限定一些參數(shù)，比如對話的長度，或者是否應(yīng)該讓觀眾理解這句話?！版i孔有了，只是需要正確的鑰匙。”薩爾茨伯格說。

但有時為了好玩，他也會設(shè)置“小的定時炸彈”——與其同事和學(xué)生所做的研究相關(guān)的圈內(nèi)笑話。有一次，他在劇本中悄悄混入了一個名為集成式離子阱-飛行時間質(zhì)譜儀的設(shè)備，這是他的一個研究生建造的設(shè)備。道具師看到后就做了一個仿制品放在倫納德的實(shí)驗(yàn)室里。

他還繪制每集的白板。有一次，他需要想出一個方程，讓劇中人物在好幾集的時間里解決。“很難想出一個既符合劇情又尚未解決的問題。”他說。但后來他自己為研究一種名為軸子的粒子開始苦苦求解一個方程，于是他就把這個方程放到了劇本中。

薩爾茨伯格每周都會參加這部喜劇的現(xiàn)場錄制。起初他以為他需要培訓(xùn)演員怎么講臺詞——但他幾乎不用這么做。吉姆·帕森斯能輕松地說出謝爾頓·庫珀滿是術(shù)語的臺詞，常常令薩爾茨伯格大為驚訝?！爸v這些科學(xué)詞匯時，除發(fā)音之外還需要有些別的東西，而且要有節(jié)奏，讓你覺得你對這些詞稔熟于心。他做到了?！?/p>

通常情況下，薩爾茨伯格會待在片場，與編劇們交流想法。但他指出：“我們不是科學(xué)警察，由編劇來決定他們想要使用的東西?！彼€會回答緊急關(guān)頭的問題，并檢查即興笑話是否準(zhǔn)確——盡管他自己不再編笑話?！斑@就像如果我去參加一個聚會，人們給我講他們關(guān)于引力的新理論，我就會盡量客套一下。”

他承認(rèn)，所有這些工作是否有助于該劇的成功無從得知。但是，除了防止惹怒書呆子，實(shí)際上這項工作也許有助于改善公眾對科學(xué)的態(tài)度。英格蘭高等教育基金委員會的報告指出，在2008至2009年——也就是該劇在英國首播期間——以及2010至2011年，大學(xué)物理專業(yè)的招生人數(shù)都有10%的增長。“該劇和大衛(wèi)都功不可沒?！奔又荽髮W(xué)洛杉磯分校神經(jīng)物理學(xué)家馬揚(yáng)克·梅赫塔說。

薩爾茨伯格也正在利用大型強(qiáng)子對撞機(jī)制造一次大爆炸，這是一處龐大的地下隧道，能將氫質(zhì)子束加速至很快的速度。沿著相反方向前進(jìn)的兩個質(zhì)子束發(fā)生碰撞，質(zhì)子就會分裂成更小的粒子，包括前述的μ子。μ子能較長時間保持完整狀態(tài)，便于測量，并且可以標(biāo)明其他粒子的存在，包括那些有待發(fā)現(xiàn)的粒子。薩爾茨伯格正在安裝新的μ子探測器，為明年大型強(qiáng)子對撞機(jī)以最高能量加速粒子做準(zhǔn)備。正如薩爾茨伯格在電視領(lǐng)域的工作一樣，他使自己在歐洲核子研究組織的研究工作也能接地氣，甚至允許本科生到這個粒子物理學(xué)的圣地來工作。

與《生活大爆炸》每集數(shù)以百萬計的觀眾相比，只有極少數(shù)的人會閱讀薩爾茨伯格的科學(xué)論文。盡管如此，他對這兩種經(jīng)歷都頗為享受?！斑@部劇只是我科學(xué)生涯中一個很小的方面，”他說，“我希望自己用40年的時間來做研究和教學(xué)，所以這短短的10年只是一小部分?！弊寴O客趣味變時髦的10年？我們欣然接受。

1. cred [kred] n. 可靠性，可信性（credibility的縮寫）

2. echelon [?e??l?n] n. 等級；階層

3. neutrino [nju?tri?n??] n. [核]中微子

4. CBS：哥倫比亞廣播公司（Columbia Broadcasting System）

5. legit [l??d??t] adj. 〈口〉（=legitimate）合理的；合乎邏輯的

6. dense [dens] adj. 難懂的

7. forensic [f??rens?k] adj. 法醫(yī)的；法庭的

8. meticulous [m??t?kj?l?s] adj. 〈口〉一絲不茍的；嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)?/p>

9. NOVA：《新星》，美國公共電視網(wǎng)（PBS）播出的科教系列節(jié)目

10. plumb [pl?m] vt. 探究，探索

11. muon [?mju??n] n. [核]μ（介）子（一種不穩(wěn)定的介子）

12. Large Hadron Collider：大型強(qiáng)子對撞機(jī)，世界上最大、能量最高的粒子加速器，是一種將質(zhì)子加速對撞的高能物理設(shè)備，坐落于日內(nèi)瓦附近瑞士和法國的交界侏羅山地下的環(huán)形隧道內(nèi)。

13. circuit [?s??（r）k?t] n. 電路

14. production design：藝術(shù)指導(dǎo)工作，在電影制作現(xiàn)場負(fù)責(zé)協(xié)調(diào)燈光、攝影、特效、服裝、道具、剪接各組人員的工作，設(shè)計整體的視覺效果。

15. tweak [twi?k] n. 稍稍改進(jìn)

16. parameter [p??r?m?t?（r）] n. 〈口〉起限定作用的因素，參數(shù)

17. ion trap：離子阱

18. time-of-flight-mass-spetronmeter：飛行時間質(zhì)譜儀

19. replica [?repl?k?] n. 復(fù)制品；仿制品

20. slog [sl?ɡ] vi. 步履艱難地行進(jìn)

21. axion [??ks??on] n. [物]軸子

22. blow away：（從感情上）壓倒；使震驚

23. off-the-cuff：未經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備的，當(dāng)場的，即席的

24. fend off：防止，阻止

25. mammoth [?m?m?θ] adj. 巨大的

26. proton [?pr??t?n] n. [核]質(zhì)子

27. intact [?n?t?kt] adj. 未受損的；完整無缺的

28. CERN：歐洲核子研究組織（European Organization for Nuclear Research），世界上最大型的粒子物理學(xué)實(shí)驗(yàn)室

29. mecca [?mek?] n. 眾人向往的地方；圣地；勝地