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59. Inventions and Inventors.
59、发明和发明者、
1. If we wrote down the names of all the things people have invented since the beginning of the world, we would have a very long list. We would find that most of these items are improvements on previous inventions. We would also see that many of them have limited use for a particular field purpose.
1、如果我们写下有史以来人们发明的所有事物的名字，我们会有一个很长的名单。我们会发现其中很多东西都是对以往发明的改进。我们也会看到它们其中很多发明都只是在特定领域或对特定目的的有限用途。
2. Occasionally, however, there are inventions which change the way we live. Controlled fire and the wheel are two such inventions which allowed our ancestors to live a better life in safety. Agricultural tools invented about 10,000 years ago helped people learn to grow enough food to feed large populations. They actually led to the development of cities.
2、然而，偶尔有发明会彻底改变我们的生活方式。受控制的火以及车轮就是这样两种发明，它们使我们的祖先在安全上获得更好的生活。大约发明于一万年前的农业工具帮助人们学会生产足够的食物以养活庞大的人口。它们事实上导致了城市的发展。
3. We don't know about the inventors of fire and the wheel, but we can read about the people who invented other things which are important to our everyday lives. In one way or another, all of our lives are affected by their inventions.
3、我们不知道是谁发明火和轮子，但是，我们可以通过阅读得知是谁发明了其它那些对我们日常生活很重要的东西。这些发明以这样或那样的方式，影响着我们所有人的生活。
4. For more than 3,000 years, ships were powered by sails. Then in 1793, an American named Robert Fulton became interested in an idea which would mean the end of sailing ships. Many People knew how to built steamships, but the only ones they could build were small and impractical. No one truly believed that ships run by steam power would replace the beautiful and colorful sailing ships. They were wrong.
4、在三千多年的时间里，船一直依靠帆获得动力。1793年，一位名叫罗伯特·富尔顿的美国人对一个想法产生了兴趣，这个想法意味着帆船时代的终结。很多人知道如何建造蒸汽船，但是他们只能建造一些小而不实用（的蒸汽船）。没有人真正相信以蒸汽为动力的船会取代漂亮而又种类繁多的帆船。他们错了。
5. Fulton worked in France and England for a number of years, perfecting his ideas. Then in 1806, he returned to the United States and began to build the Clermont. It was an experiment to see if anyone could build a ship and operate it successfully as a business. Making money was the true test, since shipbuilders would not invest their money unless they knew that they could make a profit.
5、富尔顿先生在法国和英国工作了许多年，他的想法逐渐完善。之后，在1806年，他返回美国开始建造克莱蒙特号（蒸汽船）。这是一次试验，确定是否可以建造一艘可成功地进行商业运行的蒸汽船。赚钱是真正的试验标准，因为除非造船商知道可以获利，否则不会把他们的钱投进去。
6. The Clermont was 130 feet long, 16 1/2 feet wide and 4 feet deep. On August 11, 1807, the first commercial steams |
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