高中英语 晨读英语美文60篇 38 The Shift in The ology of Discovery素材.doc

the shift in the methodology of discoveryhe changed the future without ever winning a vote or commanding an army.all albert einstein did was having an idea.its not a particularly easy one to grasp in all its ramifications,but the basic insight he expressed in his 1905 paper on special relativityis almost childlike in its simplicity.and yet it ushered in a new golden age of physicsand did much to shape the course of the 20th century.it also transformed the way the future is made:not with wars and revolutions but with scientific insights.that much is still true.but it is history that science precedesat the hands of the occasional lone genius.these days, vast networks of laboratories sponsored by governmentare all pushing to find the new thing.discovery and invention,in the developed countries at least, have become regularized.the insights of individuals are still important, of course,but the overall effort relies less on any one genius. “in the late 19th century, you had predominantly the private inventor,”says yale historian daniel kevles. “now you have the organized inventor.scientific fields are crowded with geniuses.everybodys working at the big problems all the time.”this shift in the discovery has complicated matters.it is chiefly responsible for the complexity of machines,but also for the growing complexity of the act of inventing and building.the pentagon awards a contract for a new jet fighter to a prime contractor,which passed the various systems and subsystems and components downthrough layers of subcontractors. “henry ford could understand every piece of his assembly line,”says don kash, a technology expert at george mason university in washington d.c., “nobody can do that at toyota.”whats different now, though, is now comfortable weve become with complexity.innovation is part of our lives in a way it hasnt been for previous generations.in 1970,alvin toffler argued in future shock that technology was changing society so quicklythat a person in the span of single lifetime would find himself a stranger in his own culture.tofflers book struck homebecause many people felt that new technologies were bringing about changeat a pace that was disorienting and not a little disturbing.these days weve learned how to ride the rocket of innovation. “my fathe