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Thus it is not merely true, as frequently noted, that 90 percent of all the scientists whoever lived are now alive, and that new scientific discoveries are being made every day. These new ideas are put to work much more quickly than ever before. The time between the first and second stages of the cycle — between idea and application — has been radically reduced. This is a striking difference between ourselves and our ancestors. It is not that weare more eager or less lazy than our ancestors, but we have, with the passage of time, invented all sorts of social device to hasten the process.
因此，正如人们常常提到的，一个千真万确的情况是，从古到今的科学家中有90%的人活在今天的世界上，新的科学发现现在天天都有。这些新的思想现在比以往任何时候都得到更快的应用。这一循环过程的第一和第二阶段之间—即想法和应用之间—的时间已大大缩短。这一点是我们和我们祖先之间的一个引人注目的差别。这不是说我们比祖先更急于求成或较少懒惰，而是由于时间的推移，我们已经发明了各种社会手段来加速这一进程。
But if it takes less time to bring a new idea to the marketplace, it also takes less time for it to sweep through the society. For example, the refrigerator was introduced in the United States before 1920, yet its peak production did not come until more than thirty years later. However, by 1950 — in only a few years — television had grown from a laboratory novelty to the biggest part of show business. So the interval between the second and third stages of the cycle — between application and diffusion — has likewise been cut, and the pace of diffusion is rising with astonishing speed
但是如果说，将新思想投入市场应用的时间缩短了的话，那么，它在全社会推广的时间也缩短了。举例说吧，在美国，电冰箱在1920年前就开始使用了，但是直到30多年之后，它的生产才达到高峰。然而到1950年的时候—只经过几年时间—电视已从实验室的一件新玩意儿发展成娱乐业的最大的组成部分了。所以这一循环过程的第二和第三阶段之间—即应用和推广之间—的间隔也同样缩短了，而推广的进程正以惊人的速度加快进行。
The stepped-up pace of invention, application and diffusion, in turn, accelerates the whole cycle still further. For new machines or techniques are not merely a product, but a source, of fresh creative ideas.
发明、应用、推广的加速反过来又更进一步加速了整个循环过程。因为新的机器、新的技术不仅是一种新的创造性思维的产物，而且是新的创造性思想的源泉。
