貝多芬五號交響樂（Beethovon Symphony No.5）俗稱命運交響曲。開始就是《當當當——當————（延長音）》兩次。為何叫命運？答案五花八門，一說這兩聲像晴天霹靂，（這是聽音辨位），一說這是他已經聾了，把聲音開到最大，狠狠敲打，是在向命運抗議　（這是望文生義），一說音樂家其實風光是身后事，活著時候，慘淡心酸，這兩聲是《債主敲門》……。

那就說說債主交響曲吧：

Symphony 五號在1807年開始動筆，一般相信五號是三號的續篇，而三號正是差點撕掉的英雄，藝術家脾氣不好，一般都不是問題，脾氣好還叫藝術家嗎？他們主動被動不論，都早早被群眾寵壞，遇到摩擦，大家都先怪藝術家的對手，好像責怪他沒有哄著捧著天才，而天才當然是沒錯的，殊不知拿破侖容或不該稱帝，但 Beethoven的崇拜和幻滅，其實都很情緒化，缺乏章法，……。五號作為三號的繼續，確有所本，因為都是以寵仰將軍作主題。

五號開場的兩趟債主敲門，還真有所本，Anton Felix Schindler 替貝多芬立傳，這位辛德勒發現他在原譜上記載一行德文駐記: So pocht das Schicksal an die Pforte! /  That’s destiny knocks on your door / 這是命運在敲你門。[The Symphony of Destiny 緣是得名]。命運和債主，某種意義上就是同意詞吧!

他在24歲就出現耳聾的症狀，逐步惡化，緩慢下坡，到寫成五號的37歲，已經掙扎了12 年，這中間歷經了群醫會診、遍歷偏方，甚至鋼琴製造商為他訂做了一台、每鍵下聯三根鋼弦，就是要他大敲大彈，用大聲來補耳背！耳朵就是不買帳，他能不怪宿命嗎？

報載 Beethoven 現存的一束頭髪，用LASER燒灰後以gas chromatography分析，含鉛量特高，這可以解釋他的長期慢性腹痛，很可能是鉛中毒…………這雖和Mona Lisa被推論身懷六甲（by gestation jaundice），異曲同工，但法醫學上（forensic medicine)位階較高。 

Washington Post  (December 6, 2005; Page A08)
Study Concludes Beethoven Died From Lead Poisoning
By Rick Weiss

By focusing the most powerful X-ray beam in the Western Hemisphere on six of Ludwig van Beethoven's hairs and a few pieces of his skull, scientists have gathered what they say is conclusive evidence that the famous composer died of lead poisoning.

The work, done at the Energy Department's Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago, confirms earlier hints that lead may have caused Beethoven's decades of poor health, which culminated in a long and painful death in 1827 at age 56.
 
"There's no doubt in my mind . . . he was a victim of lead poisoning," said Bill Walsh, an expert in forensic analysis and chief scientist at Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Warrenville, Ill., who led the study with energy department researcher Ken Kemner.

Still a mystery, however, is the source of Beethoven's lead exposure, which evidence now suggests occurred over many years. Among the possibilities are his liberal indulgence in wine consumed from lead cups or perhaps a lifetime of medical treatments, which in the 19th century were often laced with heavy metals.

One metal that was clearly absent was mercury, Walsh said -- a detail that weakens the hypothesis floated by some that Beethoven had syphilis, which in those days was commonly treated with mercury.

"We found zero evidence of that," Walsh said, "so it was nice to exonerate him of that scurrilous possibility." Details of the findings are to be announced today in Argonne, Ill.

The work was done at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source, a $467 million high-tech facility that sends subatomic particles sailing around a circular half-mile-long track at velocities up to 99.999 percent of the speed of light.

When electrons are whipped around that tubular tunnel they emit X-rays that are 100 times as bright as the surface of the sun. Scientists can divert those rays toward tiny samples in need of analysis. As those X-rays hit atoms in a sample, they knock other electrons out of place, causing a brief release of energy whose signature is specific to the types of atoms present.

Many of the atoms in Beethoven's body were lead atoms, it turns out. The hair samples clocked in at 60 parts per million, or about 100 times higher than normal. The bone samples were also extremely high in lead, though technical problems kept the team from getting a precise number for those samples.

The hair samples were from an authenticated lock of Beethoven's hair purchased by a collector from Sotheby's several years ago. Preliminary studies completed on two of those hairs in 2000 suggested high levels of lead but were not definitive and left open the question of whether they were the result of short-term or chronic exposure.

Moreover, the method used at that time destroyed the hairs -- an approach the owner was not willing to repeat.

Argonne's X-ray technique is nondestructive. Moreover, it offered Kemner a chance to further his research, which aims to develop ways to clean up heavy-metal contamination. A major goal is to develop soil-dwelling bacteria that can consume dangerous elements and render them relatively harmless.




蒙娜麗莎的妊辰黃疸：


開始的《生化》證據，是說她眼白泄露黃疸，而且不經意流露《滿足的微笑》，高度懷疑妊辰黃疸……BBC 2006報導加拿大團隊用鐳射看見油畫里掩蓋的多層，發覺曾經畫麗莎穿一襲１６世紀當時只有孕婦才用的罩衫……。

Mona Lisa pregnancy theory mooted

The famous smile on Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa could be because she is pregnant or had just had a baby, research suggests.

Canadian scientists used laser and infrared scans to produce a 3D image of the painting. This allowed details beneath layers of paint to be seen - including a gauzy dress then associated with pregnant or new mothers.

It also showed the 500-year-old picture was in good condition. The scans, using a resolution 10 times finer than a human hair, did reveal some warping to the wooden back of the painting.

Too dark

The team from National Research Council of Canada (NRC) were given rare access to the painting at its home in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

It said other details obscured by darkened paint and varnish included the hair originally being in a bun and a slightly different posture, as well as the gauze dress. "This type of gauze dress ... was typical of the kind worn in early 16th Century Italy by women who were pregnant or who had just given birth," said Bruno Mottin of the French Museums' Center for Research and Restoration.

"This is something that had never been seen up to now because the painting was always judged to be dark and difficult to examine." The woman herself has been identified as the wife of Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo.

Mystery remains

Da Vinci was commissioned to paint the portrait between 1503 and 1506 but kept it and may have altered it several times. While some questions about the painting may have been answered, other mysteries remain - particularly around how the image was created. The method of Da Vinci's sfumato - or smoky - painting technique continues to elude experts. John Taylor, from the NRC, said: "It's extremely thinly painted and extremely flat, and yet the details of the curls of hair, for example, are extremely distinct.

"So, the technique is unlike anything we've ever seen before".

Story from BBC NEWS: