Vocabulary work
1. Take a close look at the language of research and discovery which can be effectively used in your professional activity. Pay attention to how the key words are explained and memorise them.
| Science and scientists Scienceis the study of the nature and behaviour of natural things and knowledge obtained about them. Scientificdescribes words that relate to science. A scientistis someone who works in science. | obtain – получать |
| Technology and technologists Technologydescribes scientific knowledge applied for practical purposes. Technologicaldescribes things relating to technology. Technologistsare researchers who work in a particular area of technology. | apply – применять, прилагать particular – особенный, отдельный technology – техника, технология |
| Innovation Innovationis the act of thinking of new ideas, developments, and improvements. These are innovationsand the people innovatingthem are innovators. The related adjective is innovative. The first, experimental, versions of a new technological idea are prototypes(e.g. a prototype version). | innovation –нововведение, изобретение development – развитие, совершенствование, разработка prototype – прототип, опытный образец |
| Inventors Inventionor inventivenessis the ability to design new machines, devices, or products. An inventionis a new machine, device, or product. People who invent things are inventors. The related adjective is inventive. | invent – изобретать design (v) – проектировать; предназначать |
| Researchers People trying to find facts about something, studyit or do researchin it, into it, or on it. A piece of research may be referred to as a studyor a research study. These terms also refer to the published results of the research. Scientific research often takes place in laboratories, or labs. There are also research laboratories or research labs. People doing research are researchers. Research as a noun is usually but not always an uncountable noun. | research (n) – исследование, поиск refer (to) – упоми-нать; относиться (к); ссылаться (на) to be referred to as – называться uncountable noun – неисчисляемое существительное |
| Experimentation Experimentsare scientific tests that are carried out, conducted, done, or performedto see what happens to something in particular conditions. A field experimentis one done in real surroundings and not in a laboratory. A thought experimentis done by thinking about a problem, rather than experimenting on it. Doing experiments is experimentation, the people who do them are experimenters. | carry out – проводить condition – условие surroundings – обстановка, среда, окружение rather than – а не |
| Experimental approaches A table used for conducting experiments is a laboratory bench. A test tubeis a small tube-shaped container used in experiments. Experiments may be conducted on samplesor specimens. The validity, or reality, of experimental results is tested by repeating the experiments to see if the results obtained are the same. | approach (n) – подход, метод sample – образец, проба specimen – образец, пробный экземпляр validity – достовер-ность, правиль-ность, обоснован-ность obtain – получить |
| Observation and hypothesis A phenomenonis something that is seen to occur or exist: it is observed. Information obtained by making observationand making measurementsof them is data. Datais collectedor gathered. It is then processedand analysed in a process of analysis. Unprocessed, unanalysed data is raw data. Scientists look for meaning in data: they interpret it in order to reach conclusions or to conclude things. Data and other information form the evidence for these conclusions. The form datacan be used as a singular or plural. Sometimes datumis used for the singular. An experiment may be done to test a hypothesis: to see whether a suggested explanation for something is true. Approaching scientific problems by hypothesizingabout them and testing these hypotheses by observation and experimentationis often described as being empirical. | occur – происхо-дить, случаться observe – наблю-дать process (v) – обра-батывать raw – сырой, необработанный reach a conclusion– прийти к выводу evidence – признак, данные; доказа-тельство approach a prob-lem– решать задачу |
| Discoveries and breakthroughs The discovererof something is the person who finds it or becomes aware of it for the first time by discovering itor by making a discovery. A discovery may be described as a breakthrough. People may say that it is ground-breakingor that it breaks new ground. Scientists who are the first to do work in a principal area are pioneers. They are said to pioneerparticular developments or do pioneering workin a particular area. | breakthrough – прорыв; важное научное открытие; техническое достижение ground-breaking – переломный pioneer (v) – выполнять впервые |
| Theory and theorists A theoryis an idea or set of ideas designed to explain something. The related adjective is theoretical. People who produce and work on theories are theoristsor theoreticians. A modelof a phenomenon, system, or process is a theoretical description of it, designed to aid understanding of how it works. Theory is also used as an uncountable noun to talk about the theories of a particular area as a whole. Scientists modelphenomena, systems, and processes, for example on a computer. | set (n) – комплект; набор; ряд, серия aid (v) – помогать as a whole – в целом |
| Laws of science A statement in mathematics or logic that is the product of reasoning is a theorem. The explanation of this reasoning is the theorem’s proof, often in the form of a series of equations. A formulais a series of mathematical, chemical, or other symbols that express a scientific rule. General statements that are confirmed by observations are principles and laws. Theorems, principles, and laws are often preceded by the name of the person who first formulated them, e.g. the Copernican principle. | statement – утверждение, формулировка reasoning – рассуждение equation – уравнение confirm – подтверждать |
| Reasoning If you deduceor infersomething, you can come to the conclusion that it is true. Deductionor inferencecan refer to a conclusion and to the process of reaching it. Reasoninglike this is deductive in its logic and may be described as logical. | deduce – выводить (формулу) infer – заключать, подразумевать inference – вывод, заключение |
| Presenting findings Scientists usually publishtheir resultsor findingsin articlesor papersin scientific journals. Articles and papers are submittedto journals for assessment before publication. Scientists may give presentations of their work at conferencesor congresses: gatherings of scientists who meet to discuss their work. These and other types of scientific gatherings are referred to as meetings. If someone delivers, gives or presents a paperat a meeting such as this, they make an oral presentation. A scientist presents findingsto a conference on something, delivers a paper at a meeting, or gives a paper on something at an international congress. (from Key Words in Science and Technology by Bell Mascull) | findings – резуль-таты paper – доклад, статья submit – пред-ставлять assessment – оценка presentation – изложение, представление, выступ-ление meeting – заседа-ние, собрание, встреча deliver a paper – делать доклад |