Whether lightning rods should have rounded or pointy ends became a point of contention between rebellious Americans and King George III.
避雷针的末端应该是圆的还是尖的？这个问题成了叛逆的美国人和国王乔治三世之间争论的焦点。
撰文/播音：史蒂夫·米尔斯基(Steve Mirsky)
翻译：路识宇
审校：郭晓
Besides helping to create the United States of America, Benjamin Franklinof course invented the lightning rod. Which sits atop buildings and protects them by attracting lightning strikes and conducting them to the ground. Rather than through the structure. Which can cause fires or outright electrocutions.
But what’s better? A lightning rod with a round end or one that comes to a sharp point? According to the book Revolutionary Science, by Steve Jones at University College London, Franklin liked lightning rods to be, in Franklin’s own words, “made sharp as a Needle.”
除了参与创立美利坚合众国以外，本杰明·富兰克林的另一项成就，当然啦，就是发明了避雷针。避雷针被放置在楼宇的顶端来保护楼房，它们能将闪电导入大地，避免雷电穿越建筑本身而引起火灾或是触电的危险。
但是问题来了，避雷针的末端做成什么形状更好呢?尖端的还是圆端的?根据伦敦大学学院史蒂夫·琼斯撰写的书《革命性科学》，富兰克林更倾向于将避雷针设计成尖端，用他自己的话说是“像针尖一样尖锐”。
And so in North America, Jones writes, “The use of one or the other was interpreted as a statement in favor of the rebels or of the Crown.” In fact, Jones continues, “George III, to advertise his displeasure at the colonial revolt, had the sharpened structures on Buckingham Palace replaced with rounded versions.”
所以在北美，琼斯这样写道:“人们把对两种不同的避雷针的选择看成是选择站造反者一队还是皇室一队的宣言。”实际上，琼斯接着写道:“为了表达对殖民地上反抗活动的不满，乔治三世把白金汉宫上的尖端避雷针换成了圆端的。”
The king even pressured the Royal Society, the leading scientific organization of the time—and still highly regarded today—to endorse the idea that round-ended lightning rods were better than Franklin’s pointy ones. To which the president of the Royal Society responded, “I will always do my best to fulfill the wishes of His Majesty, but I am able to change neither the laws of nature nor the effects of its forces.”
国王甚至向英国皇家学会施压，希望他们能够认可圆端的避雷针比富兰克林尖端的好。皇家学会无论在当时还是现在都在科学领域享有盛名。对此，英国皇家学会的主席回应道:“我一直尽我所能去满足国王殿下的愿望，但是我无法改变自然法则，也不能改变自然力量带来的影响。”
Some Americans today, especially a few in positions of authority, would do well to acknowledge the reality of the laws of nature and the effects of its forces.
今天的一些美国人，尤其是一些权威人士，如果能承认自然法则及其影响，则将会更好地完成工作。
—Steve Mirsky
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