Translation and Influence of One Two Three… Infinity in China

Abstract

One Two Three… Infinity is a world-famous popular science work. The first edition of the book was published in 1946, but its first translation work in China was published in 1978 for the reason that China was experiencing an unprecedented cultural revolution from 1966-1976, thus the popular science publishing industry stagnated. The translators used some outdated words and deleted or modified some names of countries and people for reasons including politics, economics, and culture. However, the translation work gained a huge circulation and great impact in China, and it almost became a must-read for college students at the end of 1970s, being regarded as an enlightening textbook especially for students of science in China. In 2002, a new translation of One Two Three… Infinity was published by Science Press in China, with a unique style and also being one of the popular science works.