A travelling scientist has placed a bird in a glass bell jar

一名旅行科学家把一只鸟放进了钟型玻璃罐

and begun to pump out the air.

开始抽气

Deprived of oxygen, the bird begins to suffocate.

失去了氧气 鸟开始窒息

The onlookers respond with a mix of fascination and horror.

围观者既着迷又恐惧

This is science as the new religion,

这就是科学作为新的宗教

with the power over life itself.

拥有凌驾于生命的力量

But Wright also hints at the great fear of the age -

但怀特同时也暗示了那一时代的恐惧

that science, the machine, and progress all come at a cost.

科技 机器 和进步 都是要付出代价的

Would those who dared to stand

那些敢于阻碍发展的人

in the way of progress be sacrificed,

会像空气泵里的鸟一样

like the bird in the air pump?

被牺牲掉吗

As the 18th century drew to a close,

当十八世纪走向尾声

one momentous event would mark the start of

一起重大事件标志着

a new zealous export of Enlightenment ideas to other cultures.

启蒙运动思想开始向其他文化再次输出

In the summer of 1798,

1798年夏天

a French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, invaded Egypt.

一支拿破仑.波拿巴率领的法国军队入侵了埃及

In military terms, Napoleon's objectives were clear -

在军事上 拿破仑的目标很明确

to gain strategic advantage over the British

获取对英国的战略优势

and expand France's imperial ambitions.

并扩张法国的帝国野心

But the invasion of this ancient land

但入侵这块古老的土地

was about much more than just military strategy.

远不止是一种军事策略

Many Europeans regarded Egypt as the birthplace of civilisation.

很多欧洲人视埃及为文明的起源地

They believed that ideas

他们认为那些思想

that had first been nurtured here under the pharaohs

最初在法老的统治下孕育而生

had been passed down, through ancient Greece,

然后经由古希腊

through the Roman Empire, through the Renaissance,

罗马帝国 文艺复兴

all the way down to modern Enlightenment France.

一直传播到现代启蒙运动时期的法国

So by invading Egypt,

通过入侵埃及

Napoleon was leading France back to the source of civilisation.

拿破仑引领着法国回到了文明的源头

To uncover the secrets of ancient Egypt,

为了揭开古埃及的秘密

Napoleon brought with him 167 of France's most brilliant

拿破仑此行带了167位法国最出色的

scientists, mathematicians, engineers and artists.

科学家 数学家 工程师和艺术家

They set about studying

他们开始研究

every aspect of the country they'd conquered,

这个被他们征服的国家的方方面面

especially the ancient ruins that lay half-buried beneath the sand.

特别是那些半掩在沙海中的古代遗迹