图源：受访者提供

Science is always seen as hard-core and hard to understand. But could you imagine hundreds of people being captivated (迷住) by the cover of a science magazine? The achievement was completed after Wang Yixi and his team made the cover of an October issue of Structure, a US-based Cell Press journal.

科学总是被认为是硬核且难以理解的。但你能想象成百上千的人被一本科学杂志的封面迷住吗？这一成果是在王义西及其团队制作完10月份美国科技期刊《细胞·结构》封面后达成的。

The cover shows a Chinese ink painting of a farmer leading an ox (牛) across a bridge, followed by a boy with a bamboo basket on his back. In addition to the jelly fish (水母) and lotus flowers (莲花) in the river under the bridge, chemical compounds (化合物) and elemental structures were highlighted and weaved (编织) into the picture.

封面展示了一幅中国水墨画。画中一位农夫牵着一头牛过桥，后面还跟着一个背着竹篮的男孩。除了桥下河里的水母和莲花以外，化合物和元素结构也被加以强调并加入到画面中。

It vividly depicts the process in which a special enzyme (酶) involved in the biosynthesis (生物合成) of an important organic compound is activated ‑ the latest breakthrough by a Chinese scientific research team.

它生动地描绘了一个重要的有机化合物的生物合成过程，在这一过程中一种特殊的酶会起到重要作用——这是一个中国科研团队的最新突破。

The drawing was one of many works by Wang and his team. Over the past four years, they have come up with more than 10,000 visual works for academic papers across a variety of fields.

这幅画是王义西及其团队的众多作品之一。在过去的四年里，他们为各个领域的学术论文创作了超过10,000个视觉作品。

While studying chemistry at university, Wang said that he often came across an experimental preparation process that he had to explain, but the amount of text was too large and abstract (抽象的). That’s why he later ran Xixizhiyan company to turn graphics into fine art.

王先生说，在大学学化学时，他经常遇到需要解释的实验准备过程，但文字量太大且抽象。 这就是他后来选择经营西西智研公司的原因，将图表转化为美术。

“What we do is to visualize (将......可视化) abstract concepts and help scientific researchers demonstrate their findings in a straightforward and distinctive way,” said Wang, now in his 30s.

“我们所做的就是将抽象概念可视化，帮助科研人员以一种简单而独特的方式展示他们的发现，”现年30多岁的王义西说。

Wang said that many science journals have allowed, and even encouraged, paper authors to come up with such illustrations. The rapidly rising number of Chinese scientific papers has resulted in increased demand from Chinese scientists who want illustrations for their work to carry distinctive Chinese elements.

王先生表示，许多科学期刊都允许甚至鼓励论文作者创作出这样的插图。中国科学论文数量的迅速增长使得中国科学家的需求不断增加，他们希望自己的作品插图带有独特的中国元素。

“The most popular cultural elements include tai chi and peony flowers (牡丹花), as well as the Monkey King and other figures from classic Chinese literature works,” Wang said.

“最受欢迎的文化元素包括太极和牡丹花，以及孙悟空和其他中国古典文学作品中的人物，”王先生说。

Since many Western editors or paper reviewers might not be familiar with some Chinese elements, Wang recommends that his clients (客户) submit certain introductory words explaining the drawings, such as how they are associated with the science.

由于许多西方编辑或论文审稿人可能不熟悉某些中国元素，王义西建议他的客户提交一些解释插图的介绍性文字，比如它们是如何与科学相联系的。

“It’s fulfilling (令人有成就感的) whenever we produce a special piece of work that combines cutting-edge scientific findings and traditional Chinese culture that meets the expectations of the client,” Wang said.

“每当我们创作出一件尖端科学发现和中国传统文化相结合的独特作品，满足客户的期望时，我们都会很有成就感，”王先生说。

 

以上文章内容选自《21世纪英文报》高二931期