Text 1. Pure and Applied Science (Participles, Gerund)
As students of science you are probably sometimes puzzled by the terms "pure" and "applied" science. Are these two totally different activities, having little or no interconnection? Let us begin by examining what is done by each.
Pure science is primarily concerned with the development of theories (or, as they are frequently called, models) establishing relationships between the phenomena of the universe. When they are sufficiently validated these theories (hypotheses, models) become the working laws or principles of science. In carrying out this work, the pure scientist usually disregards its application to practical affairs, confining his attention to explanations of how and why events occur.
Text 2. Mathematization of Natural Sciences (Participles, Gerund)
Exact science in its generally accepted sense can be referred to as a family of specialized natural sciences, each of them providing evidence and information about the different aspects of nature by somewhat different working methods. It follows that mathematics in its pure sense does not enter into this frame, its object of study, being not nature itself. Being independent of all observations of the outside world, it attempts to build logical systems based on axioms. In other words, it concentrates on formulating the language of mathematical symbols and equations which may be applied to the functional relations found in nature.
This "mathematization", in the opinion of most specialists, is witnessed first in physics which deals with general laws of matter and energy on subatomic, atomic and molecular levels. Further application of these mathematical laws and studies is made by chemistry and results in structural bonds between the elements of matter being established.
Text 3. Automation in the Research Process (Gerund)
Our goal should be automating the routine and thereby leave more time for the creative process.
With that word of caution, let's proceed by arbitrarily dividing research into three stages and examining each stage to find what functions of the research process might be automated without endangering creativity. Stage one includes the dreams, the ideas, the exploratory work, selecting the problem, setting the objective, testing technical feasibility, and searching the literature. Stage two involves planning the experiment, conducting the experiment, checking the alternates, data taking, and data evaluation. Stage three is the solution of the problem — drawing conclusions and making recommendations.
Although there is a great deal of creativity involved in stage one, there are also opportunities for automation. The burden of keeping up with the literature even in one's own restricted field is becoming heavier with each passing year. The mass of reading necessary to make a literature search has increased immensely. Advances in computer technology have made possible storing and quick retrieving essentially all the scientific literature.
Text 4. Forecasting (Infinitive)
To speculate about the future is one of the most basic qualities of man. It involves two aspects: one is to forecast what the future development will be and the other is to determine in what approximate period of time it is going to take place. To make such a prognosis means to learn from the past experience and to extrapolate the knowledge into the future. Recently, however, the rate of change has been so great as to make it difficult to learn from experience, at least as far as the time factor is concerned. To take but one example, a prediction of man's possible landing on the Moon around the turn of the century was made as late as 1961, only 8 years before the actual event! So, to be on the safe side, we had better leave time to take care of itself, and concentrate our attention on what the future may be like.
There is yet another problem involved: are we to accept submissively any possible course of events, or are we to work for a future most suited for most people? The choice is to be made, at different levels, by every individual and by every society.
Text 5. Computer Design (Infinitive)
The design of an automatic computer is not a simple matter. To understand how to use a computer one must fully appreciate its design. Therefore, a brief introduction to the logical design is necessary for the users to understand the underlying idea. To present some background material on theoretical and philosophical aspects of information processing is to give the user more profound understanding of computers' application. From what has been said above, it is clear that a computer may be thought of both as a machine by which to handle information and a machine by which to transform one set of symbols into another. For the user it is a machine to process the information, a way to obtain an output by applying to an input a specified sequence of logical operations. The designer considers a computer to be a device for applying a sequence of logic operations to symbols representing information.
Since mathematical operations are a particular group of logic operations, the consideration of logic operations by definition includes mathematical operations. To appreciate the significance of the conventional character of logic, and to gain some understanding of computer logical design we must consider a few simple games. These games are to illustrate some significant factors.
Text 6. Scientific Attitude (Infinitive, Complex Object)
What is the nature of the scientific attitude, the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, biology, chemistry or any other science? What are their special methods of thinking and acting? What qualities do we usually expect them to possess?
To begin with, we expect a successful scientist to be full of curiosity – he wants to find out how and why the universe works. He usually directs his attention towards problems which have no satisfactory explanation, and his curiosity makes him look for the underlying relationships even if the data to be analysed are not apparently interrelated. He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective. Furthermore, he is not only critical of the work of others, but also of his own, since he knows man to be the least reliable of scientific instruments.
And to conclude, he is to be highly imaginative since he often looks for data which are not only complex, but also incomplete.
Text 7. Lobachevsky (Complex Object)
Men of science consider Lobachevsky to be a great mathematician. The whole world knows Lobachevsky to have strictly demonstrated and explained the principles of the theory of parallel lines. We consider him to be a great organizer of popular education, and we know him to have written much on the problems of education.
Lobachevsky was born on December 1, 1792 near Nizhny Novgorod. His father died when he was only a child, leaving the family in extreme poverty. The family moved to Kazan where Lobachevsky was admitted to the gymnasium. We know his progress to have been extremely rapid in mathematics and classics. At the age of 14 he entered the University of Kazan where he is known to have spent 40 years as a student, assistant professor, and finally rector. Under his direction great improvements were made at the University. We know an observatory to have been founded and equipped and a mechanical workshop to have been established.
For 2200 years all the mankind believed Euclid to have discovered an absolute truth. Lobachevsky proved Euclid’s axiom on parallel lines not to be true. He built a new geometrical theory quite different from that of Euclid. We know his ideas to have greatly influenced not only geometry, but mechanics, physics, astronomy as well. Like Galileo, Copernicus and Newton he is one of those who laid the foundation of science.
Text 8. Benjamin Franklin (Complex Subject)
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) is acknowledged to be the founder of the theory of atmospheric electricity. At the time when theories to explain electricity were neither complete nor well founded the lightning was proved by him to be an electrical phenomenon. He was not the first to think of it but he was the first to prove it. His theory of electricity still appears to hold good. He is acknowledged to have invented a means of protection against the disastrous effects of lightning – the lightning rod. Franklin's theory at first seemed to be misunderstood both in his country and abroad. It is known to have been severely attacked by the leader of French scientists abbé Nollet.
Franklin is recognized to have been a great public figure who did as much as he could for the good of his country. He is known to have been the editor of one of the newspapers enjoying a great popularity with his countrymen. He is sure to be one of the broadest as well as one of the most creative minds of his time.
Text 9. "Would you like your son or daughter to become a scientist?” (Complex Object, Complex Subject)
The questions were asked by the Literary Gazette and a British scientist was reported to answer as follows.
"I would not like my son or daughter to become a scientist of the kind typical in the world today. The development of science has already led to many undesirable consequences and is likely to lead to many more unless great effort is made to control the application of scientific discoveries. If, however, science could be developed in a new way to become a meaningful social activity, I would be glad to see my son or daughter doing science.
So far as the field is concerned, I think there will be a growing tendency for scientists to occupy themselves with problems which affect fairly directly the lives of people. There seems to exist a great need to develop science which deals specially with the problems of how the applications of science affect man. To cite but a few examples, there are such problems as urban development, education and, of course, the prevention of war. If the new knowledge about the world is used for the benefit of man, rather than for death and destruction, the human race can continue to benefit from science for centuries to come.
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