It's 1872 and Andrew Carnegie,a 5-foot-3 Scottish immigrant iron millionaire, is in Sheffield, England.
1872年，安德鲁·卡内基，5英尺3英寸高的苏格兰移民，钢铁大王正在英国谢菲尔德
He's looking at the future.
他看到了未来
A revolutionary way to make steel.
一种革命性的炼钢方式
Steel has been around for thousands of years,but so expensive to produce, it's always been a luxury item.
钢已有几千年的历史，但制造成本高昂，所以钢通常是一种奢侈品
2,000 years ago it's used in Oriental swords.
2000年前，东方用钢来铸剑
It is even used in designer jewelry.
甚至用于珠宝设计
But America stands at the brink of a new age.
但是美国人正处于新时代的开端
To build it, they need steel-- and lots of it.
为了大兴土木，他们需要大量的钢
It's the only material strong enough for the towers that will touch the sky.
钢是唯一一种够坚固，足以支撑起摩天大楼的材料
An English bullet maker is showing Carnegie a new but simple method of producing steel.
一家英国的子弹制造厂向卡内基，展示了一种新颖而简单的炼钢方式
He's stunned.
他大为震惊
Blast hot air through molten iron.
用热空气猛吹融化了的铁
Carbon impurities burn off.
使碳之类的杂质烧尽
You get the wonder material. Steel.
便可得到这一非凡之物，钢
For the first time, it can be produced quickly and inexpensively.
有史以来第一次，使得快速和低成本炼钢成为现实
If Carnegie can use this Bessemer process to mass-produce it...he'll own the future.
如果卡内基能够把贝塞麦炼钢法用于大规模生产，他将掌握未来
Carnegie returns to the States, to Pittsburgh,to start building the biggest steel plant in the world.
卡内基回到美国匹兹堡着手筹建世界上最大的炼钢厂
It'll be larger than 80 football fields.
比80个足球场还要大
It's a massive gamble.
这是一场豪赌
Carneg risks everything he's got on the new plant.
卡内基把全副身家都押在这个新炼钢厂上
But only months into construction...disaster.
但才建了几个月，灾难降临
A catastrophic stock-market collapse.
股市全面崩溃
The economy is in free fall.
经济大幅衰退
He has to borrow even more money and barely scrapes through.
他不得不借更多的钱勉强度过难关
August 1875.Against all odds, Carnegie's giant furnaces are ready to test.
1875年8月，历经千辛万苦卡内基的巨型炼钢熔炉准备进行测试
Steel production is phenomenally dangerous.
炼钢的危险性极高
Inside, 5 tons of molten metal.3,000 degrees.Hot enough to vaporize a man in seconds.
熔炉里是5吨融化的金属，温度高达3000华氏度，足以把一个人在数秒内化为蒸汽
If it works,it will make Carnegie one of the richest men in the world.
如果能成功炼钢，卡内基将成为世界首富
But there's a lot more at stake.
但此事意义重大，远不止于此
Skyscrapers, cars, washing machines, airplanes, even space travel.
摩天大楼、汽车、洗衣机、飞机甚至太空旅行
None of it can happen if steel can't be mass-produced.
如果不能实现钢的大规模生产，这一切都无从谈起