Unit 3 The scientific 科研方法.doc

Unit 3The scientific method科研方法Every scientist dreams of lighting up some dark corner of the natural world or, almost as good, of finding a dark corner where none had been suspected. The most careful observations, the most elaborate calculations will not be fruitful unless the right questions are asked. Here is where creative imagination enters science, which is why some of the greatest scientific advances have been made by young, nimble minds. 每一位科学家都渴望探明自然界未知领域的客观规律；或者说每一位科学家都渴望找到一处前人尚未耕耘过的研究园地。在科学研究中，如果不能提出恰当的问题，再细致的观察和周密的计算，也不会有什么成果。这是一个有创造性想象力的科学领域，这就是为什么一些最伟大的科学进步是由敏锐的年轻人做出的。Scientists study nature in a variety of ways. Some approaches are quite direct: a geologist takes a rock sample to a laboratory and, by inspection and analysis, finds out what it is made of and how and when it was probably formed. Other approaches are indirect: nobody has ever visited the center of the earth or ever will, but by combining a lot of thought with clues from different sources, a geologist can say with near certainty that the earth has a core of molten iron. No matter what the approaches to particular problems may be, however, the work scientists do always fits into a certain pattern of steps. This pattern, a general scheme for looking at the universe, has become known as the scientific method. 科学家以各种方式研究自然。一些方法是非常直接的: 地质学家把一个岩石样本带到实验室,通过检验和分析,发现它的构造是什么样的、它可能是如何形成、何时形成的。其他方法是间接的:迄今为止，尚未有人访问过地球中心，将来也不会有，但是通过综合分析以及从各种途径得来的数据，一位地理学家几乎可以肯定地说地球核是由熔铁组成的。然而,不管科学家们可能用什么方法解决特定的问题，他们的工作总是遵从一定的模式进行着。用一个普遍的解决方法来研究宇宙,这种模式,被称为科研方法。We can think of the scientific method in terms of four steps: (1) formulating a problem, (2) observation and experiment, (3) interpreting the data, and (4) testing the interpretation by further observation and experiment. Examining the natural world is at the heart of the scientific method, since the results of observation and experiment serve not only as the foundations on which scientists build their ideas but also as the means by which these ideas are checked.我们认为的科研方法是根据四个步骤进行的：（1）研究问题的确定，（2）观察和实验，（3）解释数据，（4）进一步观察和实验来验证解释。科研方法的核心是研究自然世界,因为观察和实验的结果不仅为科学家形成他们的想法打基础也为检测他们的想法提供了途径。. Formulating a problem may mean no more than choosing a certain field to work in, but more often a scientist has in mind some specific idea he or she wishes to investigate. In many cases formulating a problem and interpreting the data overlap. The scientist has a speculation, perhaps only a hunch, perhaps a fully developed concept, about some aspect of nature but can not come to a definite conclusion without further study. .系统阐述一个问题可能意味着仅仅是选择某个领域来工作,但在大多数情况下一个科学家心理想着他或她希望去调查的某些特殊观点。在某些情形中，阐述一个问题和解释数据会重叠。关于自然界某方面，科学家有一个明确地表达，或许仅仅一个预感，或许一个全面发展的概念，但还不能形成确定的结论没做进一步研究。.Observation and experiment are carried out with great care. Facts about nature are the building blocks of science and the ultimate proof of its results. This insistence on the primacy of accurate, objective data is what sets science apart from other modes of intellectual endeavor. .科学家们小心地观察和做实验。自然界的事实是构建科学的基石和科研结果的最终证明。这种坚持以准确、客观的数据为首就是科学有别于其他模式的智力努力方面。. Interpretation may lead to a general rule to which the data seem to conform. Or it may be a more ambitious attempt to account for what has been found in terms of how nature works. In any case, the interpretation must be able to cover new data obtained under different circumstances. .解释数据可能导致一般规则数据似乎符合。或者它可能是一个更雄心勃勃试图解释根据大自然是怎样运行的发现了什么。在任何情况下,解释必须能够涉及在不同的环境下获得的新数据。. Testing the interpretation involves making new observations or performing new experiments to see whether the interpretation correctly predicts the results. If the results agree with the predictions, the scientist is clearly on the right track. The new data may well lead to refinements of the original idea, which in turn must be checked, and so on indefinitely.检验解释包括做新观察或新实验来检测解释是否正确预测结果。如果结果与预测一致，科学家很显然在正确的方向上。新数据有利于对起先的观点加以修饰和改良，而新观点又必须要再次接受检验，这种过程会永远持续下去。In its original tentative forms, a scientific interpretation is usually called a hypothesis. When it has survived checking and rechecking, the hypothesis becomes a law or a theory. A law usually states a regularity or relationship of some kind. Isaac Newtons law of gravity is an example. According to Newton , the force of attraction between two objects (the sun and the earth, for instance) varies in a certain specific way with the masses of the objects and with the distance between them. 科学解释就其原始形式来说通常被称为假设。当假设能够经得起反复的检测，它就变成了定律或理论。一个定律通常说明了一些情形的规则或关系。艾萨克牛顿的万有引力定律是一个例子。根据牛顿所说,两个物体之间的万有引力 (例如：太阳和地球)在某些特定方面会不同，这与物体的质量和与它们之间的距离相关。A law tells us what, a theory tells us why. A theory explains why. A theory explains why certain events take place and, if they obey a particular law, how that law originates in terms of broader considerations. Thus, Albert Einsteins general theory of relativity interprets gravity as a distortion in the properties of space and time around a body of matter. From this theory, Einstein made a number of predictions, among them that light should be affected by gravity. The success of these predictions, together with the theorys ability to account for Newton s law, led to the acceptance of the general theory of relativity. 定律告诉我们内容，理论告诉我们原因。理论解释为什么。理论解释某些事件为什么发生，如果他们遵循特定的定律，定律来自于开阔的思考。因此,阿尔伯特爱因斯坦的广义相对论解释万有引力是一种在时空中的物质变形属性。这个理论中，爱因斯坦做了大量的预测，其中一个是光线会受到引力的影响。这些预测的成功，和其他理论一起能够说明牛顿的定律，验证了广义相对论。Often a model a simplified version of reality is part of a hypothesis or theory. In developing the law of gravity, Newton considered the earth to be perfectly round, even though it is actually more like a grapefruit than like a billiard ball. Newton regarded the path of the earth around the sun as an oval called an ellipse, but the actual orbit has wiggles no ellipse ever had. By choosing a sphere as a model for the earth and an ellipse as a model for its orbit, Newton isolated the most important features of the earth and its path and used them to arrive at the law of gravity. If he had started with a more realistic model a squashed earth moving irregularly around the sun he probably would have made little progress.通常一个模型，是现实的简化版本，是假设或理论的一部分。在万有引力定律发展过程中，牛顿认为地球是很圆的, 尽管比起台球它实际上更像一个葡萄柚。牛顿认为地球环绕太阳转动的路径像一个椭圆形称为椭圆,但实际的轨道没有成椭圆形快速转动。通过选择一个球体作为地球的模型，选择一个椭圆作为轨道的模型,牛顿把地球最重要的特征和它的路径分开,利用它们总结出万有引力定律。如果他一开始就用一个更现实的模型一个压扁的地球围绕太阳不规则地运动他可能不会取得什么进展。A breakdown of the scientific method into four steps does not mean that a working scientist necessarily follows these steps in order. Sometimes all four processes go on more or less at the same time. Often an experiment and its interpretation is carried out by different people or groups. Whatever way it is carried out though, the scientific method is not a mechanical process but a human activity that needs creative thinking in all its steps. 一个分解的科学方法分为四个步骤并不意味着工作的科学家一定遵循这些步骤进行。有时四个步骤会或多或少的在同一时间进行。通常一个实验和对它的解释由不同的人或团体完成。不管它的实施是采用什么方式,科学的方法不是一个机械的过程,而是在它所有的步骤中需要创造性思维的一种人类活动。What has made science such a powerful tool for the investigation of nature is the constant testing and re-testing of its findings. The laws and theories of science do not represent “ultimate truth”: they are considered valid only as long as no contrary evidence comes to light. If such contrary evidence does turn up, the law or theory must be modified or even discarded. Scientists are open about the details of their work, so that others can follow their thinking and repeat their experiments and observations. Nothing is accepted only on the basis of personal authority or revelation, or because it is part of a religious or political doctrine. “Common sense” is not a valid argument either. What counts are definite measurements and clear reasoning, not vague notions that vary from person to person. 对科学的发现不断地做反复测试使得科学成为一个自然界研究的强大工具。科学的定律和理论不代表“终极真理”: 很显然，只要没有相反证据，他们被认为是有效的。如果相反的证据确实出现，定律或理论必然会被修改甚至丢弃。科学家们公开他们工作的细节,以便他人可以跟随他们的思维并重复他们的实验和观察。大家不会接受仅仅以个人权威或启示为基础的内容,或因为它是宗教或政治学说的一部分。“常识”不是一个有效的论点。重要的是明确的测量和清晰的推理,而不是因人而异模糊的概念。 The power of the scientific approach is shown not only by its success in understanding the natural world, but also by the success of the technology based on science。It is hard to think of any aspect of life today untouched in some way by science. The synthetic clothing we wear, the medicines that lengthen our lives, the cars and airplanes we travel in, the telephone, radio, television and Internet by which we communicate - all are ultimately the products of a certain way of thinking. Curiosity and imagination are part of that way of thinking, but the most important part is that nothing is ever taken for granted but is always subject to test and change. In the past, scientists were burned at the stake for daring to make their own interpretations of what they saw. Galileo, the first modern scientist, was forced by the Church under threat of torture to deny that the earth moves around the sun. Even today, attempts are being made to compel the teaching of religious beliefs (for instance, the story of the Creation as given in the Bible) under the name of science. Many people find religious beli