一封电子邮件——来自年轻时的我 | 盖茨笔记
- 2026-11-02 11:31:34
Recently I was telling a friend about Weather for Dummies. This was not unusual—it’s actually one of the first books I recommend to anyone who wants to understand the weather and how it’s affected by climate change.
最近我告诉了一位朋友《天气傻瓜书》（音译）这本书。这并不是一件稀奇事——实际上，这是我向任何想要了解气象和气候变化的人推荐的第一本书。
After that conversation, I started wondering when I got my own copy of Weather for Dummies. I searched through old emails and was amazed to learn that it was more than 14 years ago!
在那次谈话之后，我开始琢磨自己何时拥有了《天气傻瓜书》这本书。我翻了翻旧邮件，惊讶地发现那是14年前的事了！
In the fall of 2008, I had transitioned from being full-time at Microsoft to full-time at the Gates Foundation. After decades of focusing maniacally on software, I finally had the time to get a better grounding in physics, chemistry, biology, and other sciences, which would help me in my work on health, education, and climate change. I was also just curious about all these subjects for their own sake. So I looked around for the best books and read as many of them as I could find. Weather for Dummies was one of 25 titles that I chose.
在疯狂地专注于软件几十年之后，我终于有时间在物理、化学、生物和其他科学方面习得更完善的基础知识，这有助于我在健康、教育和气候变化方面的工作。我对这些学科本身也很好奇。所以我四处寻找最好的书，并尽可能多地阅读。《天气傻瓜书》是我选的25本书之一。
It took a while, but I eventually made it through all the books. Although there were many good ones, here are three in addition to Weather for Dummies that I especially recommend:
虽然花了一些时间，但我最终读完了所有书。其中有很多不错的，除了《天气傻瓜书》，我还特别推荐以下三本：
The Atmosphere, by Frederick K. Lutgens and Edward Tarbuck. This one was first published in 1979 and is now in its 14th edition. (Redina Herman joined as a third author sometime after I got my copy.) Although it’s intended as a textbook for a college-level course, it’s quite accessible for anyone who’s motivated to learn about how the Earth’s climate works. It covers precipitation, air pressure, storms, air pollution, and much more and uses colorful illustrations to explain complex subjects. (Available for rent or purchase from the publisher, Pearson.)
《大气》，弗雷德里克·K.鲁特更斯和爱德华·塔巴克著。这本书于1979年首次出版，现在已经是第十四版了。（雷迪纳·赫尔曼（Redina Herman）在我拿到我那本书后不久加入成为了第三作者。）虽然它是作为大学课程的教科书，但对于任何有意愿了解地球气候如何运作的人来说，它都是很容易获取的。它涵盖了降水、气压、风暴和空气污染等，并使用丰富多彩的插图来解释了复杂的科目。（你可以在亚马逊和培生出版社上租借或购买。）
Physical Geology, by James S. Monroe, Reed Wicander, and Richard Hazlett. Like The Atmosphere, Physical Geology is a college textbook that can also stand on its own. Part of the joy of reading it is that you get into subjects you probably learned about in elementary school—like plate tectonics and volcanoes—but in way more depth, which makes them even more interesting. There are some helpful ties to climate change, such as a chapter on glaciers (which are retreating dramatically as the Earth warms), and some amusing asides, like a page on the geology of the British Crown Jewels. (Available used on Amazon.)
《物理地质学》，詹姆斯·S.门罗，里德·维坎德和理查德·哈兹利特著。和《大气》一样，《物理地质学》是一本大学教科书，但也可以单独阅读。阅读这本书的乐趣之一在于，你可以探讨你可能在小学就学过的学科——比如板块构造学和火山——但更深入，这让它们变得更有趣。书中有一些与气候变化有关的关联内容，比如有一章是讲关于冰川的（随着地球变暖，冰川正在急剧退缩），还有一些有趣的旁白，比如有一页是讲关于英国皇冠珠宝的地质学。（你可以在亚马逊上找到。）
Planet Earth, by John Renton. I appreciate this book for two reasons: because it’s fascinating on its own, and because it introduced me to John Renton as a teacher. After reading Planet Earth, I watched his series of video lectures, Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology, on The Great Courses. Renton was a professor at the University of West Virginia and was just so good at making geology interesting. Through his writing, he helps you see the physical world around you in a different way. (You can find Planet Earth on Amazon and watch Nature of Earth on The Great Courses or Wondrium.)
约翰·兰顿的《地球脉动》。我欣赏这本书有两个原因：一是它本身很引人入胜，二是它让我认识了约翰·兰顿这位老师。读完《地球脉动》后，我又看了他在The Great Courses上的系列视频讲座《地球自然：地质学入门》。兰顿是西弗吉尼亚大学的教授，他非常擅长让地质学变得有趣。他帮助你以不同的方式看待周围的物质世界。（你可以在亚马逊上找到《地球脉动》，也可以在The Great Courses或Wondrium上观看《地球自然》。)
I’m glad I did these deep dives. Although I’m not a scientist, I draw on a basic grasp of sciences all the time. Knowing something about the weather and geology helps me with Breakthrough Energy’s work on climate change. Knowing some chemistry and biology helps me with the foundation’s work on new medicines and vaccines.
我很高兴我做了这些深入的阅读。虽然我不是科学家，但我一直都掌握着基本的科学知识。了解一些天气和地质知识对我在“突破能源”关于气候变化的工作有帮助。了解一些化学和生物学则有助于我在盖茨基金会的新药和疫苗方面的工作。
There’s always more to learn. More recently, I’ve gained a lot from reading a diverse set of books and authors including Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert, On Immunity by Eula Biss, The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Eradication by Nancy Stepan. Vaclav Smil’s books are always phenomenal. And I recently read Mukherjee’s newest book, The Song of the Cell, which is about how understanding cells is key to improving human health.
学无止境。最近，我从阅读一系列不同的书籍和作者中获得了很多，包括伊丽莎白·科尔伯特的《白色天空下》、尤拉·比斯的《免疫》、悉达多·慕克吉的《基因》和南希·斯特潘的《根除》。瓦茨拉夫·斯米尔的书总是非常出色。在我写这篇文章的时候，我已经读完了慕克吉的新书《细胞之歌》，这本书讲述了了解细胞是改善人类健康的关键。
But these days I’m not just reading about science. I make sure to look at lots of other kinds of books too, including novels, histories, and biographies. A couple months ago I even let myself goof off by reading a murder mystery! I doubt my younger self would approve, but it’s fun and educational to branch out.
但这些天我不只是阅读了科学书籍。我也会看很多其他类型的书，包括小说、历史和传记。几周前，我还读了一本谋杀悬疑小说来打发时间！我怀疑年轻时的自己是否会同意我这样做，但拓展视野既有趣又有教育意义。
