“The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” — Einstein
Genius See, Genius Do
A few years back while thumbing thru Descartes’ Meditations, the following passage leaped from the page and snagged my attention:“The reading of all good books is like conversing with the finest men of past centuries.”
Indeed, so far as writing is nothing but thinking on paper and talking is but a case of thinking out loud, it’s apparent, then, to read the thoughts of another is to essentially chat with them. And so, quite naturally, I wondered: Who were Einstein’s favorite authors to chat with?

“你唯一必須知道的事情就是圖書館的位置。”——愛因斯坦
天才何視，天才何為
幾年前，在翻閱笛卡爾的《沉思錄》時(shí)，下面這段話從書頁(yè)上跳了出來(lái)，吸引了我的注意力 :
“ 讀好書就像與過(guò)去幾個(gè)世紀(jì)最優(yōu)秀的人交談?！?br /> 的確，寫作便是在紙上思考，而交談不過(guò)是大聲的講出自己的所思所想，那么，很顯然，閱讀他人的思想，實(shí)質(zhì)上就是與他們聊天。所以，很自然地，我想知道：愛因斯坦最喜歡和誰(shuí)聊天？

As for why wanting to know about Einstein’s favorite books should be of concern, ahem, take one glance at the word “genius” in the dictionary.
Doesn’t seeing an actual person’s last name — Einstein — listed along with abstract nouns stand out like seeing Shaquille O’Neal in a room filled with gymnasts?
And so, since science says we’re “98.8 percent” chimp and all, not to mention “monkey see, monkey do,” well, I figured — genius see, genius do!
In others,
Read what Einstein reads = think how Einstein thinks
Bingo!

至于為什么我想要知道愛因斯坦最喜歡的書，咳咳，翻開字典里瞥一眼“天才”這個(gè)詞。



你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)字典里“愛因斯坦”這個(gè)名字赫然的出現(xiàn)在一堆抽象名詞之中，這像不像一間滿是體操運(yùn)動(dòng)員的房間里猛然矗著一個(gè)奧尼爾一樣突出？
科學(xué)說(shuō)我們是 "98.8%"同于黑猩猩，所以我們一般" 看猴子，做猴子 "（ 注: 諺語(yǔ)，意即有樣學(xué)樣），而我也想閱天才所閱，習(xí)天才之所為 !
換句話說(shuō)：
讀愛因斯坦之所讀 = 想愛因斯坦之所想

Recently I came across a wonderful article on BigThink. “Here are 5 of His [Einstein] Favorite Books,” reads the headline. Ahem, if by chance you’re familiar with my past work, I take it you’re aware of the Law of Three. For this reason, two of the noted five books didn’t make the cut.
The first of the honorable “cuts” was Ernst Mach’s Analysis of Sensations.
Sure, Einstein loved the book — in particular Mach’s principle — but unlike the other books on the list, this one hasn’t aged well. Besides, due to the vagueness of Mach’s principle, a handful of the statements have long since been falsified.

近日，我在 BigThink 上看到一篇很精彩的文章，標(biāo)題是這樣寫的：《 這是五本他（愛因斯坦）最喜歡的書》
如果碰巧你熟悉我過(guò)去的作品，我想你應(yīng)該知道我篤信“三之法則”，因此，這五本書，我僅列舉三本，有兩本未能入選。
第一本光榮被砍的是恩斯特 · 馬赫 [ 奧地利物理學(xué)家、哲學(xué)家 ] 的《感覺的分析》
誠(chéng)然，愛因斯坦很喜歡這本書，尤其是《馬赫原理》（馬赫猜想），但與名單上的其他書不同，這本書并不太成熟，此外，由于馬赫原理的模糊性，一些陳述早已被證偽。

The second of the honorable “cuts” was Cervantes’ Don Quixote.
Leopold Infeld, who worked with Einstein, recalled how “Einstein lay in bed without shirt or pajamas, with Don Quixote on his night table.” Fun fact, eh! But remember, back in Einstein’s day, there was no such thing as a TV or a YouTube.
Ahem, I take it, Einstein read Quixote after a long day’s work for the same reason I occasionally succumb to indulging the clickbait about your favorite celeb — for amusement’s sake.

第二本光榮被砍的是塞萬(wàn)提斯的《唐吉訶德》。
據(jù)曾與愛因斯坦共事的利奧波德 · 英費(fèi)爾德利回憶說(shuō)，“愛因斯坦躺在床上，沒(méi)穿襯衫或睡衣，而《唐吉訶德》則躺在床頭柜上?！庇腥さ氖聦?shí)，嗯 ！但是請(qǐng)注意，在愛因斯坦的時(shí)代，沒(méi)有電視或者 YouTube 這樣的東西。
嗯哼，我猜愛因斯坦在工作一整天后讀《堂吉訶德》的原因和我偶爾沉迷于最喜歡的名人趣事一樣——只是為了娛樂(lè)。

Given our stated aim, clearly we’re not interested in what Einstein found amusing. After all, whereas we can grow smarter from reading what a smart person reads, we can’t become famous from reading about what a famous person does. For this reason, Quixote and his famous adventures didn’t make the list.

鑒于我們的既定目標(biāo)，顯然我們對(duì)愛因斯坦覺得有趣的東西不感興趣，畢竟，雖然我們可以通過(guò)閱讀聰明人讀的書而變得更聰明，但我們不可能通過(guò)閱讀名人的作品而成名。
因?yàn)檫@個(gè)原因，堂吉訶德和他著名的冒險(xiǎn)故事沒(méi)有被選入名單。

In short, seeing that today marks Einstein’s birthday, along with a handful of other greats, such as Simone Biles, Steph Curry and Quintin Primo, on this glorious Pi Day of 3.14 — it’s only right the following three books be presented to every one for the sake of higher learning.

另外，今天是愛因斯坦的生日，也是西蒙 · 拜爾斯、斯蒂芬 · 庫(kù)里和昆丁· 普里莫等其他偉人的生日，在圓周率3.14這個(gè)光榮的日子里，只有把以下三本書送給每個(gè)人，才能給他們帶來(lái)更高的學(xué)習(xí)價(jià)值。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處


Einstein’s Favorite Book #1: “Ethics” by Baruch Spinoza
One morning while at his Berlin home, Einstein received an urgent telegram. It was from Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein of New York: “Do you believe in God? Stop. Answer paid 50 words.”
Apparently Rabbi Goldstein expressed concern that Einstein — the most famous scientist in the world — had been somewhat undermining religion. And so, though the rabbi expected an answer long and sour, Einstein kept it short and sweet:
“I believe in Spinoza’s God . . .” Einstein wired back.
For those initiated into the mysteries, “Spinoza’s God” is merely a code-word for a mathematical theology. Perhaps the mathematical physicist Lord Kelvin best summed up Einstein’s above view when noting that “mathematics is the only true metaphysics.”

愛因斯坦最喜歡的書 # 1: 巴魯克 · 斯賓諾莎的《倫理學(xué)》



一天早上，愛因斯坦在他柏林的家中收到一封緊急電報(bào)，電報(bào)是紐約的赫伯特 · 戈?duì)柎奶拱l(fā)來(lái)的 :
“ 你相信上帝嗎？回電已付，答案限50字?！?br /> 顯然，戈?duì)柎奶箵?dān)憂，世界上最著名的科學(xué)家愛因斯坦在某種程度上破壞了宗教，因此，盡管戈?duì)柎奶瓜Ｍ玫揭粋€(gè)冗長(zhǎng)而尖酸的回答，但愛因斯坦還是簡(jiǎn)短而暖心的回答道：
“我相信斯賓諾莎的上帝......”
對(duì)于那些揭開世界神秘面紗的人來(lái)說(shuō)，“斯賓諾莎的上帝”只不過(guò)是數(shù)學(xué)神學(xué)的一個(gè)代號(hào)，也許數(shù)理物理學(xué)家開爾文勛爵完美地總結(jié)了愛因斯坦的上述觀點(diǎn)，“數(shù)學(xué)是唯一真正的形而上學(xué)”。

Perhaps there’s only one truth, though countless versions of it exist. What Einstein loved most about Spinoza was this: of all the philosophers, Spinoza was the first to take Galileo’s grand insight seriously:
To understand the Universe, you must understand the language in which it’s written — the language of Mathematics.
Because this is a uni-, not multiverse, and the prefix uni- simply means oneness, what Spinoza essentially proved in the Ethics was this: it’s inconceivable for there to exist anything aside from the “One.”
Let the theologian declare with a grand solemnity that “God cannot be created or destroyed.” Excellent!
Let the physicist try a hand at one-upmanship and declare, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed.” Wonderful!
Let the mathematician supply the basis for number theory, and in the process note the number one is “neither prime nor composite,” which is to say, in the world of natural numbers — that which is one “cannot be created or destroyed.” Dazzling!

也許真理只有一個(gè) ——盡管它存在著無(wú)數(shù)個(gè)版本。
愛因斯坦最喜歡斯賓諾莎的地方是：在所有的哲學(xué)家中，斯賓諾莎是第一個(gè)認(rèn)真對(duì)待伽利略宏大見解的人：
要理解宇宙，你必須理解它所用的語(yǔ)言——數(shù)學(xué)語(yǔ)言。
因?yàn)檫@個(gè)是一個(gè)Uni-verse（單一宇宙），而不是Multi-verse（多元宇宙），前綴 Uni- 意味著同一，斯賓諾莎在《倫理學(xué)》中基本上證明了這一點(diǎn)：除了“一”之外，任何事物的存在都是不可思議的。
讓神學(xué)家神學(xué)家莊嚴(yán)地宣布，"上帝不能被創(chuàng)造或毀滅"，好極了！
讓物理學(xué)家嘗試用高人一等的方法宣布， "能量不能被創(chuàng)造或毀滅"， 好極了！
讓數(shù)學(xué)家提供數(shù)論的基礎(chǔ)，在這個(gè)過(guò)程中注意到數(shù)字1“既不是質(zhì)數(shù)也不是合數(shù)”，也就是說(shuō)，在自然數(shù)的世界里，“一”是“不能創(chuàng)造也不能毀滅的”，好極了！

In every such case, it becomes apparent why Bertrand Russell defined mathematics as “the art of saying the same thing in different words.”
Or as Tesla put it:
“What one man calls God, another calls the laws of physics.” — Nikola Tesla
Bingo!
In short, in Einstein’s view: the proper nouns “God” and “Universe” amount to cases of saying hello and hola. After all, so far as both are defined as one, universal and omnipotent — it is all the same!

在每一個(gè)這樣的例子中，我們最終都會(huì)明白了為何伯特蘭 · 羅素將數(shù)學(xué)定義為“用不同的語(yǔ)言表達(dá)同一件事的藝術(shù)”。
或者正如特斯拉所說(shuō)：
"一個(gè)人稱之為上帝的東西，另一個(gè)人稱之為物理定律。"—— 尼古拉 · 特斯拉
簡(jiǎn)而言之，在愛因斯坦看來(lái):“上帝”和“宇宙”這兩個(gè)專有名詞就相當(dāng)于“hello”和“hola”，畢竟，就被定義為一體、普遍和全能而言，兩者并無(wú)二致 !

Sectional Takeaway Insight
Spinoza’s Ethics is entitled to Omar’s fanatical compliment paid to the Quran, when he declared: “Burn the libraries; for their value is in this book.”
Within these sublime pages, if properly understood, the reader will have insight into what compelled Einstein to become a pacifist that detested war or conflict of any sort.
Within these sublime pages, if properly understood, the reader will have insight into what compelled Einstein to conclude that “nothing will benefit health or increase chances of survival on earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
In short, within these sublime pages, if properly understood, the reader will have insight into why Einstein’s core belief boiled down to the following:
The goal of true enlightenment isn’t to realize your unity with everything, but to realize the fact you are everything.

心得感悟
斯賓諾莎的《倫理學(xué)》完全有資格獲得奧馬爾對(duì)《古蘭經(jīng)》那樣的狂熱贊美，當(dāng)時(shí)他宣稱：“燒掉圖書館，因?yàn)樗鼈兊膬r(jià)值都蘊(yùn)含在這本書里?！?br /> 如果能被正確理解，讀者就能洞悉是什么驅(qū)使愛因斯坦成為一個(gè)厭惡戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)或任何形式?jīng)_突的和平主義者，是什么迫使愛因斯坦得出這樣的結(jié)論:“ 沒(méi)有什么比進(jìn)化成素食者更有益于健康或增加在地球上生存的機(jī)會(huì)了?！?br /> 簡(jiǎn)而言之，這些崇高的篇章如果被正確地理解，讀者將會(huì)洞見為何愛因斯坦的核心信念可以歸結(jié)為以下內(nèi)容：
真正的開悟，目的不是認(rèn)識(shí)到你與一切的統(tǒng)一，而是認(rèn)識(shí)到你就是一切這個(gè)事實(shí)。

In Einstein’s day, Sir Isaac Newton bordered on being a god!

圖： 在愛因斯坦的時(shí)代，艾薩克·牛頓爵士幾乎是上帝 !

Einstein’s Favorite Book #2: “A Treatise of Human Nature” by David Hume
Newton essentially founded modern science. In the famed Principia Mathematica, he laid the foundation for the law of gravity. No wonder Newton was Einstein’s hero. But as Aristotle once remarked about his beloved teacher, “Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth.”
Einstein would have to repeat history.
In Newton’s picture of the world, space and time were absolutes — wholly independent of our input. Einstein, well-versed in Hume’s philosophy, suspected his hero in this instance — may have been on the right track but aboard the wrong train . . . of thought.

愛因斯坦最喜歡的書 # 2 : 大衛(wèi)休謨《 人性論 》



幾乎可以說(shuō)，牛頓是現(xiàn)代科學(xué)的奠基者，在著名的《數(shù)學(xué)原理》中，他為萬(wàn)有引力定律奠定了基礎(chǔ)。
難怪牛頓是愛因斯坦敬仰的英雄，但是，正如亞里士多德曾經(jīng)對(duì)他敬愛的老師所說(shuō)的那樣，"柏拉圖是我的朋友，但真理是我更好的朋友。"
愛因斯坦也難免重復(fù)歷史。
在牛頓的世界圖景中，空間和時(shí)間是絕對(duì)的——完全獨(dú)立于我們，精通休謨哲學(xué)的愛因斯坦，懷疑他心目中的英雄的思想——他可能走在正確的軌道上，卻上錯(cuò)了火車……

Perhaps what Einstein loved most about this book is best captured in the famed proverb:
Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.
History’s greatest skeptic, or doubter, is none other than David Hume!
So downright skeptical was Hume of everything that, one could argue: even if Hume had smelled smoke coming from another room, he still wouldn’t have believed there was fire. After all, Hume would’ve demanded to see the flames, first, because he wouldn’t have quite trusted his own nose. Or any of his five senses for that matter.
Hume, you see, agreed with other empiricists so far as experience serves as the basis of knowledge goes. But here’s where the skeptic kicked in.
Because the DNA of science is the law of causality, apart from which there could be no scientific method, Hume realized the law itself was nowhere to be found in actual experience.

也許愛因斯坦最喜歡這本書的地方就體現(xiàn)在這句著名的諺語(yǔ)中：
懷疑是智慧的開始，而不是結(jié)束。
歷史上最偉大的懷疑論者，或者說(shuō)質(zhì)疑者，不是別人，正是大衛(wèi) · 休謨 ！
休謨對(duì)一切事物都持徹頭徹尾的懷疑態(tài)度，以至于可以說(shuō)：即使休謨聞到了另一個(gè)房間里傳來(lái)的煙味，他也不會(huì)相信有火。
休謨會(huì)強(qiáng)調(diào)必須親眼看到火焰，因?yàn)樗粫?huì)完全相信自己的鼻子，或者他的五種感官中的任何一種。
休謨同意其他經(jīng)驗(yàn)論者的觀點(diǎn)，因?yàn)榻?jīng)驗(yàn)是知識(shí)的基礎(chǔ)，但這也正是懷疑論者們質(zhì)疑的地方。
因?yàn)榭茖W(xué)的DNA是因果律，沒(méi)有因果律就沒(méi)有科學(xué)方法，休謨意識(shí)到這個(gè)規(guī)律本身在實(shí)際經(jīng)驗(yàn)中是無(wú)處可尋的。

In Hume’s famed thought experiment, a method which Einstein borrowed and mastered (Gedanken experiment), he imagined a game of pool, or “billiards” as he called.
According to the law of causality, each time the cue stick strikes billiard ball A, it will necessarily roll until striking billiard ball B. Excellent! “Like causes produce like effects” is simple enough. But here’s where Hume’s genius shined brightest:
No matter how many times he observed billiard ball A strike ball B, never once did he observe that essential cause-effect lix.
In other words, what Hume recognized is there’s no cause and effect out there in the world per se, but rather we — thru our own minds — impose such structures on reality.

通過(guò)休謨著名的思想實(shí)驗(yàn)（Gedanken experiment），愛因斯坦借鑒并掌握了這一方法（理想實(shí)驗(yàn)，思維實(shí)驗(yàn)），他想象了一場(chǎng)臺(tái)球比賽，也就是他所說(shuō)的 "撞球"。
根據(jù)因果律，每當(dāng)球桿打到臺(tái)球A時(shí)，它必然會(huì)滾動(dòng)，直到撞到臺(tái)球B為止，相似的原因產(chǎn)生相似的結(jié)果，但休謨的天才最閃耀的地方就在于此：
不管他觀察了多少次臺(tái)球A擊中臺(tái)球B，他從來(lái)沒(méi)有觀察到那個(gè)重要的因果關(guān)系。
換句話說(shuō)，休謨認(rèn)識(shí)到世界本身并沒(méi)有因果關(guān)系，而是我們——通過(guò)我們自己的思想——將這種結(jié)構(gòu)強(qiáng)加于現(xiàn)實(shí)。

Falling dominoes are a classic example of causality (cause-effect). Yet, as Hume noted, nothing outside of our own perceptions ensures when the first domino is struck, the others will fall, too. (Pic: pixabay.com)
“That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will rise.” — David Hume
Hume’s famous insight essentially says just because the sun rose on all the other preceding billions upon billions of days, by no means does that entail science has the right to declare the sun must necessarily rise tomorrow, too.
Hume’s issue with “necessary connection” forms the basis of the biggest riddle presently confronting science: the problem of induction.


倒下的多米諾骨牌是因果關(guān)系的一個(gè)經(jīng)典例子，然而正如休謨所指出的那樣，除了我們自己的感知之外，沒(méi)有任何東西能夠保證當(dāng)?shù)谝粔K多米諾骨牌倒下時(shí)，其他骨牌也會(huì)倒下。
”“太陽(yáng)明天不會(huì)升起”這句話和“太陽(yáng)會(huì)升起”這句話一樣，同樣都是一個(gè)可理解的命題，也并不意味著更多的矛盾。”——大衛(wèi) · 休謨
休謨這一著名的觀點(diǎn)，本質(zhì)上是說(shuō)，僅僅因?yàn)樘?yáng)在之前的數(shù)十億天里都是升起的，絕不意味著科學(xué)有權(quán)宣布太陽(yáng)明天也一定會(huì)升起。
休謨關(guān)于“必然聯(lián)系”的問(wèn)題構(gòu)成了當(dāng)前科學(xué)所面臨的最大謎題的基礎(chǔ)： 歸納法問(wèn)題。

Sectional Takeaway Insight
Due in large part to reading Hume, Einstein revolutionized physics by noting the following: given that spacetime dictates how matter moves about, time itself must be relative to each person’s frx of reference.
The relativity model suggests the knower, then, which never departs from subjectivity, somewhat imposes that invisible stoplight called “time” on what otherwise would’ve forever remained the eternal present.
“The only reason for time,” concluded Einstein, “is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”
Because Einstein lixed time with space, or spacetime, what holds for time must also apply to space. This explains why he described “time and space [as] modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.”
In short, armed with the above insight, it becomes apparent what Einstein meant by the following cryptic conclusion:
“The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”

心得感悟
很大程度上由于讀了休謨的書，愛因斯坦注意到以下幾點(diǎn)，從而使物理學(xué)發(fā)生了革命性的變化：
既然時(shí)空決定了物質(zhì)的運(yùn)動(dòng)方式，那么時(shí)間本身就必然與每個(gè)人的參照系相關(guān)。
相對(duì)論模型表明，認(rèn)知者無(wú)法脫離主觀性，并在某種程度上強(qiáng)加了一種叫做“時(shí)間”的不可見的信號(hào)燈，否則它將永遠(yuǎn)保持“永恒的現(xiàn)在”。
" 時(shí)間存在的唯一理由，" 愛因斯坦總結(jié)道，" 就是為了讓一切不會(huì)同時(shí)發(fā)生"。
因?yàn)閻垡蛩固拱褧r(shí)間與空間，或者說(shuō)時(shí)空聯(lián)系在一起，所以對(duì)時(shí)間成立的東西也一定適用于空間。
這就解釋了為什么他把 "時(shí)間和空間 [作為] 我們思考的模式，而不是我們生存的條件"。
總之，有了上述的見解，愛因斯坦下面的隱秘結(jié)論的意思就很明顯了：
" 過(guò)去、現(xiàn)在和未來(lái)之間的區(qū)別，只是一種頑固而持久的幻覺。"

Einstein’s Favorite Book #3: Johann von Goethe’s Oeuvre
Each generation has its “geniuses.” After all, genius merely results from a single-minded devotion to achieving one goal. And because everyone is good at at least one thing, clearly for anyone armed with the “fire and desire” to make the most of a natural gift — he or she will undoubtedly taste genius, eventually.
“Polymathy,” however, is another story.
In all of history, there’s only been a handful of true polymaths. Whereas the genius is the one-trick pony, the polymath is that rare breed of a “jack of all trades, master of many.” Names such as Da Vinci and Franklin top this storied list. Another name is Johann von。 Goethe.

愛因斯坦最喜歡的書 # 3 : 約翰 · 馮 · 歌德的全部著作
(圖)書面圖上男性十字全裸
每一代人都有自己的 "天才"，畢竟，天才不過(guò)是一心一意地為實(shí)現(xiàn)一個(gè)目標(biāo)而努力的結(jié)果。
而由于每個(gè)人至少擅長(zhǎng)一件事，顯然，對(duì)于那些擁有“激情和欲望”的人來(lái)說(shuō)，充分利用天賦——他或她最終無(wú)疑會(huì)品嘗到天才的滋味。
然而，“多面手”（博學(xué)者）則是另一回事。
歷史上，真正的博學(xué)者屈指可數(shù)，天才是只會(huì)一招的小馬駒，而博學(xué)者則是“萬(wàn)事皆通，萬(wàn)物皆通”的稀有寶駒，像達(dá)芬奇和富蘭克林這樣的人在這個(gè)傳奇的名單上名列前茅，另一個(gè)便是約翰 · 馮 · 歌德。

“The beginning of wisdom,” said Socrates, “is the definition of terms.”
The instant the Socratic method uproots the word university, it becomes apparent the true meaning of a universal education along with achieving some measure of “polymathy” was the original aim of the universitas (‘the whole’).

蘇格拉底說(shuō)：“智慧的開端是各種術(shù)語(yǔ)的定義?！?br /> 當(dāng)蘇格拉底式的教學(xué)方法把“ university”這個(gè)詞連根拔起的瞬間，人們明白了“universal education”（通識(shí)教育）的真正含義，同時(shí)達(dá)到某種程度的“博學(xué)多識(shí)”是大學(xué)（ university）的最初目標(biāo) (“整體”)。
譯注：
這段會(huì)很拗口，這涉及到中西方一個(gè)很大的認(rèn)知不同，universe在英語(yǔ)中為“宇宙；世界；領(lǐng)域”，universal為“普遍的；通用的；宇宙的；全世界的”，中文里面將“ university”一詞翻譯為“大學(xué)”，這個(gè)詞取自儒家傳統(tǒng)經(jīng)典，如出自《禮記》的《大學(xué)》，論述儒家修身齊家治國(guó)平天下思想（“八條目”：格物、致知、誠(chéng)意、正心、修身、齊家、治國(guó)、平天下），南宋朱熹又作《大學(xué)章句》，最終和《中庸》《論語(yǔ)》《孟子》并稱“四書”，而西方的“universe”源自拉丁語(yǔ) universum，即所有，全人類，全世界，轉(zhuǎn)為一體，引申詞義為“宇宙”，大學(xué)“ university”一詞所代表的現(xiàn)代大學(xué)源自歐洲的中世紀(jì)大學(xué)，教師和學(xué)生自發(fā)組成社團(tuán)，明確雙方的權(quán)利義務(wù)，和其他行業(yè)協(xié)會(huì)類似，這種社團(tuán)在拉丁文中被稱為“universitas magistrorum et scholarium”，意思是“community of masters and scholars”（專家學(xué)者社團(tuán)），簡(jiǎn)稱universitas，意思是“團(tuán)體、集合體”，盡管具體的歷史溯源可以糾清其涵義的來(lái)龍去脈，但詞根上，或者說(shuō)一般閱讀者的首要印象，“大學(xué)”這個(gè)詞和“宇宙”、“世界”、“通用”是直接相關(guān)的，而在中文里面，這層理解或者隱藏涵義完全被剔除了，這就造成中西兩方在看到這個(gè)詞時(shí)，會(huì)有完全不同的潛意識(shí)認(rèn)知——盡管大家都知道這個(gè)詞代表的就是現(xiàn)代的“綜合性學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)構(gòu)（大學(xué)）”。

Perhaps the above explains why Gleick argued that “it is not the amount of knowledge that makes a brain. It is not even the distribution of knowledge. It is the interconnectedness.”
“Poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist” were among Goethe’s interconnectedness. And so, because it takes one to know one: Einstein glimpsed in Goethe that rare gift known as “interdisciplinary genius.”
From Goethe’s famed theory of colors to that of allowing his heart to overflow and then leak, from pen to pages of Faust, no wonder Einstein wrote in a 1932 letter to Leopold Casper — Goethe is “a poet without peer, and is one of the smartest and wisest men of all time.”
Shakespeare’s poetic wit exceeded Goethe’s, but not even The Bard could match the subtlety and depth of Goethe’s genius.“If I love you, what business is it of yours?” Goethe asked.

也許上述可以解釋為什么格利克認(rèn)為 " 不是知識(shí)的數(shù)量，甚至不是知識(shí)的傳播，造就了人的頭腦，而是知識(shí)的相互聯(lián)系"。
"詩(shī)人、劇作家、小說(shuō)家、科學(xué)家、政治家、戲劇導(dǎo)演、評(píng)論家和業(yè)余藝術(shù)家 "，這些都是歌德的“相互聯(lián)系”。
天才相惜相知，天才最了解天才，正因?yàn)槿绱耍瑦垡蛩固乖诟璧律砩峡吹搅撕币姷奶熨x，并稱之為 "跨學(xué)科天才"。
從歌德著名的色彩理論到偉大的詩(shī)劇《浮士德》，無(wú)不令愛因斯坦心生感佩，難怪愛因斯坦在1932年給利奧波德 · 卡斯珀的信中寫道: 歌德是“一個(gè)無(wú)與倫比的詩(shī)人，是有史以來(lái)最智慧、最聰明的人之一?！?br /> 歌德的詩(shī)歌智慧或許不如莎士比亞，但即使是《 游吟詩(shī)人 （ The Bard ）》這樣的詩(shī)作也無(wú)法與歌德天才的精妙和深邃媲美。
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Pause, if you will, and truly absorb Goethe’s single note . . . as it hangs there unwavering — filled with such longing. Oh, such unfulfillable longing!
To the man secretly in love with the woman, his coworker, whom he smiles at each morning while innocently offering to grab her a latte from Starbucks, too . . . while offering his “extra” Phantom of the Opera tickets on Broadway, upon hearing news of her mother’s planned first visit to the Big Apple, ahem, Goethe whispers from the pages: If he loves her, what business is it of hers?
Here lies the magic of reading Goethe!
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it,” Goethe advises. “Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Indeed, Einstein — powered by such suggestions — boldly revolutionized the physics of his day.

“我愛你，與你何干? ”—— 歌德
（“ If I love you, what business is it of yours?”又譯“我愛你，與你無(wú)關(guān)”）
如果你愿意，暫停一下，深切感受一下歌德字句中的美，
它掛在那里毫不動(dòng)搖，又充滿了如此的渴望，這是怎樣一種無(wú)法滿足的渴望啊 !
這個(gè)男人暗戀著同事的那個(gè)女人，他每天早上都對(duì)她微笑，天真地幫她從星巴克拿帶回拿鐵..... 一聽到她母親計(jì)劃好到紐約游玩的消息，歌德便拿出“多余”的百老匯歌劇《魅影》的門票...... 歌德在詩(shī)語(yǔ)中低聲訴說(shuō)：如果他愛她，那與她有什么關(guān)系 ?
這就是讀歌德的魔力所在！
歌德建議:“無(wú)論你能做什么，或者夢(mèng)想你能做什么，開始吧。”
大膽又兼有天賦、有力量而兼有魔力，事實(shí)上，愛因斯坦在這些建議的推動(dòng)下，大膽地革新了當(dāng)時(shí)的物理學(xué)。
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In short, because an “oeuvre” is merely a collection of an author’s work, perhaps Einstein was of the view: who better to chat with over the course of his life’s work than a real-life polymath?
Sectional Takeaway Insight
Hearing Einstein call someone else smart is like hearing Chappelle call another comedian funny. And so, if nothing else — read Goethe if you care to chat with “one of the smartest and wisest men of all time.”
The Takeaway
As part of the initiation into the mysteries, the wise men of old use to teach the true geniuses of the world carry on silent conversations between the ears and pages alike. Hence it has long been said two persons can’t possibly read the same book.

心得感悟
由于“全部作品”僅僅是一個(gè)作者作品的集合，也許愛因斯坦的觀點(diǎn)是：
在他一生中，還有誰(shuí)能比一個(gè)現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中存在過(guò)的博學(xué)者更適合聊天呢？
聽到愛因斯坦說(shuō)別人聰明，就像聽到卓別林說(shuō)另一個(gè)喜劇演員有趣，所以，如果沒(méi)有別的事，如果你想和 "有史以來(lái)最聰明、最智慧的人之一 "聊天，就讀讀歌德吧。
作為進(jìn)入奧秘世界的啟蒙教育的一部分，古代的智者曾經(jīng)教導(dǎo)世界上真正的天才進(jìn)行眼與書之間的無(wú)聲對(duì)話，因此，人們才早有這樣的說(shuō)法：兩個(gè)人不可能讀同一本書。

Perhaps Emerson put it best:
We are always reasoning from the seen to the unseen. Hence the perfect intelligence that exists between wise men of remote ages. A man cannot bury his meanings so deep in his book but time and like-minded men will find them.
Plato had a secret doctrine, had he? What secret can he conceal from the eyes of Bacon? of Montaigne? of Kant? Therefore Aristotle said of his works, “They are published and not published.”
Einstein had a secret doctrine to unlock his genius, had he?
Well, because the philosophers of the world have already said everything important that needs to be said . . . the genius simply removes the letter ‘K’ from what people Knew yesterday and repackages it as new today.
In short, I can’t help but conclude:
Read what Einstein reads = Think how Einstein thinks

也許愛默生說(shuō)得更好：
我們總是從看得見的東西推理到看不見的東西。
所以完美的智慧存在于過(guò)去的智者之間，一個(gè)人可能將自己的智慧深埋于書中，但是時(shí)間和志趣相投的人終究會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)它們。
也許柏拉圖有一個(gè)秘密，但他又有什么秘密能瞞過(guò)培根、蒙田、康德的眼睛?
因此，亞里士多德在談到他的作品時(shí)說(shuō)：“它們是公開的，也是不公開的。”
那么，愛因斯坦有沒(méi)有一個(gè)開啟他天才的秘密？
好吧，世界上的哲學(xué)家已經(jīng)把所有重要的，需要說(shuō)的東西都說(shuō)完了...... 天才只是把昨天人們所知道的東西去掉了“知識(shí)”（Knew ）一詞前面的字母 "K"，讓它今天以“新”（new）的面貌出現(xiàn)在我們的面前。
簡(jiǎn)而言之，我得出了這樣的結(jié)論：
讀愛因斯坦之所讀 = 想愛因斯坦之所想

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