他的理论是把一只假设的猫放到理论上存在的盒子里再扔进去一个想象中的放射性原子。

The original theory involved putting a hypothetical cat into a theoretical box along with an imagined radioactive atom.

youdao

坐在这谈论化学的人没有意识到原子本身在某种程度上就是一种假设，他们之间的相互反应更是如此，而生物反应又比前两者更甚了。

People who sit there and talk about it don't realize that molecules themselves are somewhat hypothetical, and that their interactions are more so, and that the biological reactions are even more so.

youdao

但是普渡大学的一组研究者用意想不到的方式挑战了衰变速率恒定这个假设。相比于原子核衰变，他们对随机数更感兴趣。

But that assumption was challenged in an unexpected way by a group of researchers from Purdue University who at the time were more interested in random Numbers than nuclear decay.

youdao

So, I infer the existence of atoms based on the fact that doing that allows me to explain things that need explaining.

所以说我推测原子的存在是基于,该假设使得我能够解释,所需解释的一些现象

耶鲁公开课 - 死亡课程节选

When I posit the existence of atoms with certain structures and certain sort of ways of interacting and combining and building up, when I posit atoms, suddenly I can explain all sorts of things about the physical world.

当我假设原子以某种特定结构存在,以一定的方式相互作用,互相结合,集聚,通过假定原子存在,我立即就能够解释,物理世界中各种各样的现象了

耶鲁公开课 - 死亡课程节选

So, let's say we have an atomic number of 3, 3 that means we have 3 electrons, so we better hope to get our neutral atom that we have a charge of plus 3in the nucleus.

这也是很合理的，因为Z就是原子序数，假设原子序数是，那就有3个电子，那我们就希望,性原子有个带3个正电荷的原子核。

麻省理工公开课 - 化学原理课程节选