On a cold December evening in 1802,

1802 年 12 月，一個寒冷的夜晚

a nervous young man named Luke Howard

一位緊張兮兮的年輕人，名叫盧克．霍華德

stood before the assembled members of a London science club

站在倫敦科學俱樂部會員前

about to give a lecture that would change his life,

準備做一場演講，這將改變他一生

and go on to change humanity's understanding of the skies.

繼而改變人類對天空的認識

Luke Howard was a pharmacist by profession, but he was a meteorologist by inclination, having been obsessed by clouds and weather since childhood.

盧克．霍華德的職業是藥師，但他的志趣是成為氣象學家，他從小就一直著迷於雲和天氣

As a school boy, he spent hours staring out of the classroom window,

學生時期，他常花數小時望向教室窗外

gazing at the passing clouds.

凝視著飄過的雲朵

Like everyone else at the time, he had no idea how clouds formed,

正如那時候的其他人，對於雲是如何形成

or how they stayed aloft.

或它們如何在停高空飄浮一無所知

But he enjoyed observing their endless transformations.

但他沉浸於觀察雲無止盡的變換

By his own admission, Luke paid little attention to his lessons,

他承認自己很少關心課業

but fortunately for the future of meteorology,

但對氣象學的發展是個福音

he managed to pick up a good knowledge of Latin.

因為他學習並精通了拉丁文

Compared to the other natural sciences,

相較於其他自然科學

meteorology, the study of weather, was a late developer,

研究天氣的氣象學發展得比較晚

mainly because weather is elusive.

主要是因為天氣難以捉摸

You can't snap off a piece of rainbow or a section of cloud for convenient study.

你無法折一段彩虹或摘一小片雲拿來研究

You can, of course, collect rain water in calibrated containers,

當然，你能將雨收集在測量容器內

but all you really end up with are buckets of water.

但最後你所得的終究是幾桶水而已

Understanding clouds required a different approach,

要瞭解雲需要不同的方法

which is where Luke Howard's idea came in.

而這方法正是盧克．霍華德想出來的

His simple insight based on years of observation

基於多年的觀察，他單純地理解到

was that clouds have many individual shapes

雲有許多種獨特的形狀

but they have few basic forms.

但它們僅有少數幾種基本類型

In fact, all clouds belong to one of three principle types

事實上，所有雲都屬於三個主要種類其中之一

to which Howard gave the names:

霍華德為它們命名為：

Cirrus, Latin for tendril or hair,

卷雲，在拉丁語是捲髮或頭髮之意

Cumulus, heap or pile,

積雲，堆積或堆疊之意

and Stratus, layer or sheet.

層雲，層或片之意

But that wasn't the clever part.

可是那不是最聰明的部分

Clouds are constantly changing, merging, rising, falling, and spreading throughout the atmosphere,

雲一直持續在變化，聚集、上升、下降、散佈於大氣中

rarely maintaining the same shapes for more than a few minutes.

很少在幾分鐘內保持相同形狀

Any successful naming system had to accommodate this essential instability,

任何成功的命名系統都必須適用於這種基本的不穩定性

as Howard realized.

霍華德了解這一點

So, in addition to the three main cloud types,

所以，除了三種雲的主要種類外

he introduced a series of intermediate and compound types

他還提出一系列中間型及混合型

as a way of including the regular transitions that occur among clouds.

以涵蓋在雲之間常見的轉換

A high, wispy cirrus cloud that descended and spread into a sheet was named cirrostratus,

當高而纖細的卷雲下降且散成片狀時，就叫做「卷層雲」

while groups of fluffy cumulus clouds that joined up and spread were named stratocumulus.

當成群毛絨絨的積雲匯合展延，就叫做「層積雲」

Howard identified seven cloud types,

霍華德鑑別出七種雲的種類

but these have since been expanded to ten,

但現今已增加到十種

cloud nine being the towering cumulonimbus thunder cloud,

第九種是高聳的積雨雷雲

which is probably why being on cloud nine means to be on top of the world.

這可能是它被擺在「欣喜若狂」 ( cloud nine ) 意即世界之頂 (天堂) 的理由吧！

Howard's classification had an immediate international impact.

霍華德的分類立即在國際間產生影響

The German poet and scientist J.W. von Goethe wrote a series of poems in praise of Howard's clouds,

德國詩人科學家歌德寫了一系列的詩，讚頌霍華德的雲

which ended with the memorable lines,

結尾有令人難以忘懷的詞句

"As clouds ascend, are folded, scatter, fall,

「當雲上升、折疊、散開、下降

Let the world think of thee who taught it all,"

讓世人想起教導這一切的你」

while Percy Shelley also wrote a poem "The Cloud,"

雪萊也寫了一首詩 —— <雲>

in which each of Howard's seven cloud types was characterized in turn.

詩裡，霍華德七種雲中的每一種都輪流被加以描繪

But perhaps the most impressive response to the naming of clouds was by the painter John Constable,

但或許對雲的命名迴響最感人的是畫家約翰．康斯特勃

who spent two summers on Hampstead Heath painting clouds in the open air.

他花了兩個夏天在漢普斯特德荒野的戶外畫雲

Once they had been named and classified,

一旦雲被命名與分類

clouds became easier to understand

它們就變得清晰易懂

as the visible signs of otherwise invisible atmospheric processes.

猶如將不可見的大氣運作轉為可見的標誌

Clouds write a kind of journal on the sky

雲寫下一種天空日誌

that allows us to understand the circulating patterns of weather and climate.

讓我們瞭解了天氣與氣候的循環型式

Perhaps the most important breakthrough in understanding clouds

或許認識雲的最重大突破在於

was realizing that they are subject to the same physical laws as everything else on Earth.

領悟了它們是遵循相同的物理定律，如同地球上的其他事物一樣

Clouds, for example, do not float,

例如：雲並不一直飄浮在空中

but fall slowly under the influence of gravity.

而是受重力影響緩緩地下沉

Some of them stay aloft due to upward convection from the sun-heated ground,

有些停在高空飄浮，是因為受太陽 —— 熾熱大地所產生向上的對流的影響

but most are in a state of slow, balletic descent.

但大多以緩慢的芭蕾舞姿下降

"Clouds are the patron goddesses of idle fellows,"

「雲是無所事事者的守護女神」

as the Greek dramatist Aristophanes wrote in 420 B.C.

西元前 420 年希臘戲劇家阿里斯托芬寫道

and nephology, the study of clouds, remains a daydreamer's science,

而雲學，雲的研究，仍是做白日夢者的科學

aptly founded by a thoughtful young man

恰好是由一位思想豐富的年輕人所創立

whose favorite activity was staring out of the window at the sky.

他的樂趣就是凝視窗外的天空