牛頓蘋果樹將體驗太空零重力

A piece of physicist Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree is to defy gravity by being carried into space on the next NASA shuttle mission.

The 4-inch-long wood sample, which is normally held in the Royal Society archives in London, comes from the original tree from which an apple fell and inspired Newton's theory of gravity.

Born in 1643 in Lincolnshire, Newton dominated British and European science by the early 1700s and is considered by many as the greatest scientist of his era.

The tree sample along with a picture of Newton will be taken into orbit by British-born astronaut Dr Piers Sellers who will be part of a six-man crew aboard the NASA space shuttle Atlantis scheduled to lift off on May 14.

"We're delighted to take this piece of Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree to orbit. While it's up there, it will be experiencing no gravity, so if it had an apple on it, the apple wouldn't fall," said Sellers.

"I'm pretty sure that Sir Isaac would have loved to see this, assuming he wasn't spacesick, as it would have proved his first law of motion to be correct."

After the flight the piece of tree and the picture of the scientist will be returned to the Royal Society.

The mission is part of the academic institution's 350th anniversary celebrations.

Newton himself was elected president of the Royal Society in 1703, an office he held until his death in 1727.

Lord Rees, the current president of the Royal Society, said: "We are both pleased and proud that such an extraordinary part of scientific history and important element of the Royal Society's archive collection can make this historic trip into space.

"Upon their return the piece of tree and picture of Newton will form part of the History of the Royal Society exhibition that the Society will be holding later this year and will then be held as a permanent exhibit at the Society," he added.

物理學家伊薩克•牛頓爵士的那棵蘋果樹上的一截樹枝不久將隨美國宇航局的宇航員們前往太空，體驗零重力。

這截4英寸長的樹枝現存於倫敦皇家學會檔案館，它來自那顆激發牛頓得出萬有引力定律的蘋果樹。

牛頓於1643年出生於英國林肯郡，他在18世紀早期英國和歐洲的科學界佔據重要地位，被很多人視爲他那個時代最偉大的科學家。

這截樹枝連同牛頓的一張畫像將由英國出生的宇航員皮爾斯•塞勒斯博士帶入太空。塞勒等六名宇航員將搭乘美國宇航局的亞特蘭蒂斯號航天飛機於5月14日前往太空。

塞勒斯說：“我們很高興能將伊薩克•牛頓爵士那顆蘋果樹上的樹枝帶入太空。那裏沒有重力，所以如果樹上有蘋果，也不會掉下來。”

“我相信伊薩克爵士也很想見到這一切，當然如果他沒有太空反應的話。因爲這能證明他的第一運動定律的正確性。”

在飛行任務結束後，這截樹枝和牛頓的畫像將被送回皇家學會。

這項太空任務是英國皇家學會350週年慶祝活動的一部分。

牛頓於1703年被選爲皇家學會主席，並一直擔任該職，直到1727年去世。

皇家學會的現任主席李斯勳爵說：“珍藏於皇家學會檔案館的這件在科學史上具有非凡意義的重要物品能進行這次歷史性的太空之旅，我們感到十分高興和驕傲。”

他說：“從太空歸來後，這截樹枝和牛頓的畫像將在學會將於今年晚些時候舉行的皇家學會歷史展上展出，並將成爲皇家學會的永久展品。”