穴盘大学英语考试精读：第五册(UNIT5)

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洛

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As the author points out below, the success of science has less to do with a particular

method than with an essential attitude of the scientist. This attitude is essentially one

of inquiry, experimentation and humility before the facts. Therefore, a good scientist

is an honest one. True scientists do not bow to any authority but they are ever ready to

modify or even abandon their ideas if adequate evidence is found contradicting them.

Scientists, they do place a high value on honesty.

Science and the Scientific Attitude

by Paul G

. Hewitt

Science

is

the

body

of

knowledge

about

nature

that

represents

the

collective

efforts, insights, findings, and wisdom of the human race. Science is not something

new

but

had

its

beginnings

before

recorded

history

when

humans

first

discovered

reoccurring

relationships

around

them.

Through

careful

observations

of

these

relationships, they began to know nature and, because of nature's dependability, found

they could make predictions to enable some control over their surroundings.

Science made its greatest headway in the sixteenth century when people began

asking

answerable

questions

about

nature

—

—

when

they

began

replacing

superstition

by

a

systematic

search

for

order

——

when

experiment

in

addition

to

logic was used to test ideas. Where people once tried to influence natural events with

magic

and

supernatural

forces,

they

now

had

science

to

guide

them.

Advance

was

slow, however, because of the powerful opposition to scientific methods and ideas.

In about 1510 Copernicus suggested that the sun was stationary and that the earth

revolved

about

the

sun.

He

refuted

the

idea

that

the

earth

was

the

center

of

the

universe. After years of hesitation, he published his findings but died before his book

was circulated. His book was considered heretical and dangerous and was banned by

the Church for 200 years. A century after Copernicus, the mathematician Bruno was

burned at the stake

——

largely for supporting Copernicus, suggesting the sun to be

a star, and suggesting that space was infinite. Galileo was imprisoned for popularizing

the

Copernican

theory

and

for

his

other

contributions

to

scientific

thought.

Yet

a

couple of centuries later, Copernican advocates seemed harmless.

This

happens

age

after

age.

In

the

early

1800s

geologists

met

with

violent

condemnation because they differed with the Genesis account of creation. Later in the

same century,

geology

was safe, but

theories of evolution

were condemned and the

teaching

of

them

forbidden.

This

most

likely

continues.

every

crossway

on

the

road

that

leads

to

the

future,

each

progressive

spirit

is

opposed

by

a

thousand

men

appointed to guard the past.

who

are

persecuted,

condemned,

or

suppressed

at

the

time;

but

to

a

later

age,

they

seem harmless and often essential to the elevation of human conditions.

The enormous success of science has led to the general belief that scientists have

developed

and

ate

employing

a

-

a

method

that

is

extremely

effective

in

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gaining,

organizing,

and

applying

new

knowledge.

Galileo,

famous

scientist

of

the

1600s,

is

usually

credited

with

being

the

of

the

Scientific

Method.

His

method is essentially as follows:

1.

Recognize a problem.

2.

Guess an answer.

3.

Predict the consequences of the guess.

4.

Perform experiments to test predictions.

5.

Formulate

the

simplest

theory

organizes

the

three

main

ingredients:

guess,

prediction, experimental outcome.

Although this cookbook method has a certain appeal, to has not been the key to

most of the breakthroughs and discoveries in science. Trial and error, experimentation

without

guessing,

accidental

discovery,

and

other

methods

account

for

much

of

the

progress in science. Rather than a particular method, the success of science has more

to do with an attitude common to scientists. This attitude is essentially one of inquiry,

experimentation, and humility before the facts. If a scientist holds an idea to be true

and finds any counterevidence whatever, the idea is either modified or abandoned. In

the scientific spirit, the idea must be modified or abandoned in spite of the reputation

of the person advocating it. As an example, the greatly respected Greek philosopher

Aristotle said that falling bodies fall at a speed proportional to their weight. This false

idea

was

held

to

be

true

for

more

than

2,000

years

because

of

Aristotle's

immense

authority.

In

the

scientific

spirit,

however,

a

single

verifiable

experiment

to

the

contrary outweighs any authority, regardless of reputation or the number of followers

and advocates.

Scientists

must

accept

facts

even

when

they

would

like

them

to

be

different.

They must strive to distinguish between what they see and what they wish to see

—

—

for humanity's capacity for self-deception is vast. People have traditionally tended

to

adopt

general

rules,

beliefs,

creeds,

theories,

and

ideas

without

thoroughly

questioning their validity

and to

retain them long after they have been shown to

be

meaningless, false, or at least questionable. The most widespread assumptions are the

least questioned. Most often, when an idea is adopted, particular attention is given to

cases that seem to support it, while cases that seem to refute it are distorted, belittled,

or

ignored.

We

feel

deeply

that

it

is

a

sign

of

weakness

to

out

minds.

Competent

scientists,

however,

must

be

expert

at

changing

their

minds.

This

is

because science seeks not to defend our beliefs but to improve them. Better theories

are made by those who are not hung up on prevailing ones.

Away from their profession, scientists are inherently no more honest or ethical

than

other

people.

But

in

their

profession

they

work

in

an

arena

that

puts

a

high

premium on honesty. The cardinal rule in science is that all claims must be testable

——

they must be capable, at least in principle, of being proved wrong. For example,

if someone claims that a certain procedure has a certain result, it must in principle be

possible

to

perform

a

procedure

that

will

either

confirm

or

contradict

the

claim.

If

confirmed,

then

the

claim

is

regarded

as

useful

and

a

stepping-stone

to

further

knowledge.

None

of

us

has

the

time

or

energy

or

resources

to

test

every

claim,

so

most

of

the

time

we

must

take

somebody's

word.

However,

we

must

have

some

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criterion for deciding whether one person's word is as good as another's and whether

one claim is as good as another. The criterion, again, is that the claim must be testable.

To reduce the likelihood of error, scientists accept the word only of those whose ideas,

theories,

and

findings

are

testable

——

if

not

in

practice

then

at

least

in

principle.

Speculations that cannot be tested are regarded as

effect of compelling honesty - findings widely publicized among fellow scientists are

generally subjected to further testing. Sooner or later, mistake

（

and lies

）

are bound

to be found out; wishful thinking is bound to be exposed. The honesty so important to

the progress of science thus becomes a matter of self-interest to scientists.

NEW WORDS

represent

vt. be a sign or symbol of; act for

代表

collective

a.

of or shared by a group of people

集体的

insight

n.

the

power

of

using

one's

mind

to

see

or

understand

the

true

nature

of

a

situation

洞察力

wisdom

n.

intelligence and good judgment

智慧

reoccur

vi. occur again

dependability

n.

reliability, trustworthiness

prediction

n.

the act of predicting or sth. predicted

预测

headway

n.

motion forward; progress

answerable

n.

able to be answered

replace

vt. take or fill the place of

superstition

n.

a belief or practice based on ignorance, faith in magic or chance

systematic

a.

of, having or using a system; carried out according to a system

supernatural

n.

outside of or beyond the natural world

超自然的

opposition

n.

the act or condition of opposing; resistance

stationary

a.

not moving or changing; not capable of being moved

hesitation

n.

the act of hesitating

publish

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vt. print and offer for sale

circulate

v.

（

cause to

）

spread widely; move or send around

传播，

（使）

流传，

（使）

循环

heretical

a.

（

of opinion

）

opposed to established beliefs or standards

异端的

ban

vt. forbid by law or decree

largely

ad. for the most part; mainly

infinite

a.

having or seeming to have no limits; endless; very large

imprison

vt. put in prison

popularize

v.

cause

to

be

well

know

and

generally

liked

or

used;

make

（

a

difficult

subject

）

easily understandable to ordinary people

使普及；推广

geologist

n.

a person who knows much about geology

地质学家

violent

a.

having, showing, or resulting from great physical force; showing or having

strong feelings

强暴的；猛烈的

condemnation

n.

express strong disapproval of, pronounce guilty of crime or wrong

谴责；< /p>

宣

告??有罪

condemnation

n.

genesis

n.

the beginning or origin:

（

G-

）

the first book of the Old Testament

起源

;

（

《旧约全书 》第一卷）

《创世纪》

geology

n.

the study of origin, structure, and history of the earth

地质学

evolution

n.

slow,

gradual

development;

the

scientific

theory

that

all

living

things

developed very slowly over millions of years from simpler forms of life

进化（论）

crossway

n.

crossroad; a road that crosses another

progressive

a.

moving forward step by step; favoring or promoting improvement or reform

appoint

vt. name for an office, duty or position

指定，任命

rebel

n.

a person who resists or opposes authority

反叛者

persecute