跨越语言的障碍 从SCC的汉字排版问题看李约瑟的解决之道

Leaping over the Language Barrier: Needham's Solution to the Problem of Chinese Character Typesetting in SCC

在《中国科学技术史》(Science and Civilisation in China,以下简称SCC)第一卷出版之前,李约瑟必须要解决中英文混合排版的技术问题。他通过科学合理的版式设计为SCC规划了一种操作简便、成本低廉的解决方案。但此后的过程并不一帆风顺。当汉字铅字的来源出现问题以后,李约瑟以其执着而又不失灵活的处事方式,最终赢得了多方的支持,帮助剑桥大学出版社购置了全套的汉字铅字,才算是从根本上解决了这一问题。李约瑟在其中所做的很多工作已经超出了一个作者应负的责任,但他甘居幕后,所以这段往事长期以来并不为人所知。在我们今天看来,如何跨越中西方科学文化交流中语言的障碍,李约瑟的经验仍然值得我们学习和借鉴。

Before the publishing of the first volume of Science and Civilisation in China （after this referred to as ＂SCC＂）, Joseph Needham had to solve a technical problem to typeset Chinese with English. Through the design of layout, he found out a scientific and feasible solution to make operation easier and the cost lower. But the process didn＇t go such smoothly as Needham expected; he must solve a problem how to get the Chinese types. With perseverance on purpose and flexibility on approach, he won the supports from multi-parties and solved this problem at last. Much of the work Needham did is beyond the responsibility of an author, but he had hiddenbehind the scenes and never bragged about it, so this story is still not known. Today, how to leap over the language barrier in Sino-Western cultural exchange, Needham＇s solution is still worthy for us to learn.