Day 1:
每段总结:
science rely on evidence
Experiment
First scientist
Star
House of wisdom
Two ground-breaking books
Chemistry
First scientific bestseller
Elements
Electric motor
Evolution
Uncertainty and infinity
Search continues
阅读时长:11’30”
生词:
Perpetual
1.continuing all the time without changing or stopping SYN: continuous
e.g.the perpetual noise of the machines
a little girl with a perpetual smile
2.repeated many times in a way that annoys you SYN:continual
e.g.my mother’s perpetual nagging
3.literary permanent
E.g.the perpetual snows of the mountaintops
Continual VS continuous
Continual: start and stop. With continual rain, you’ll get some sunny breaks.
Continuous: never-ending. With continuous rain, you’ll never see the sun.
Empirical
based on scientific testing or practical experience, not on ideas
OPP:theoretical, hypothetical
e.g.His theory is inconsistent with the empirical evidence.
Send out
“……then the results may be sent out for peer review”
Dispatch items to a number of people.
e.g.We posted the wedding invitations in batches, rather than sending them all out at the same time.
Gold leaf
gold in the form of very thin sheets, often used to cover objects, such as decorative details in a building金叶;金箔
e.g.He also uses gold leaf on mirrors, then paints it to get an antique look.
Deflection
the action of making something change its direction
e.g.the deflection of the missile away from its target
The journalists were frustrated by her constant deflection of their questions.
她对问题一直避而不答,令记者们非常沮丧。
Geocentric having the earth as its centre以地球为中心的
Progress VS progression
Progress:when our aim is process of gradually improving, getting nearer to achievement or completing sth
E.g. They made slow progress towards the mountaintop.
The boy has made great progress this year.
Progression:when our aim is gradually development from one state to another
E.g. The progression from primary to secondary school.
The new single is really a musical progression for band.
Eclipse
an occasion when the sun disappears from view, either completely or partly, while the moon is moving between it and the earth, or when the moon becomes darker while the shadow of the earth moves over it日食;月食
a solar/lunar eclipse日/月食
Fixed star
a star that is so far from the earth that it seems not to move in relation to other distant (= far away) stars as the earth moves through space
恒星(离地球很远的星体,远得在地球运转时,恒星相对别的遥远星体而言,位置似乎是固定的)
Supernova
a star that has exploded, strongly increasing its brightness for a few months
超新星(指因爆炸而数月内亮度大增的恒星)
Quash
to officially say that a legal judgment or decision is no longer acceptable or correct SYN:overturn
e.g.The High Court later quashed his conviction for murder.
Combustion:the chemical process in which substances mix with oxygen in the air to produce heat and light(化学)燃烧
Chromosome any of the rod-like structures found in all living cells, containing the chemical patterns that control what an animal or plant is like染色体
Genome the complete set of genetic material of a human, animal, plant, or other living thing基因组,染色体组
Day 2
Day 3
总结
The article basically tells us the way science emerged, developed. Dated back to the ancient Greek, philosophers like Aristotle observed nature by relying entirely on thought and argument, and did no argument. Thus, faults can’t be avoided. Until the early 17th century, a logical system for the scientific process was first put forward by the English philosopher Francis Bacon. It requires scientists to make observations, form a theory to explain what is going on, and then carry out an experiment to see whether the theory works.
Depended on some previous work and theories, ideas spread, intersect with each other. Science branches expand. The first philosophers with scientific outlook were active during the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Meanwhile, star-gazers showed up. In the late 18th century CE, House of Wisdom, a magnificent library, was set up, which inspired rapid advances in science and technology. In the 1660s, a chemical element was defined, which marked the birth of chemistry as a science. Then new discoveries including new gases, atoms, electric motor, thermodynamics came into view in succession. At the turn of 20th century, the Universe was demonstrated uncertain and infinity. In recent years, human genome project was led by the discovery of DNA.
This is surely not the end of science. As science develops, we human being are growing faster than ever intellectually. The Universe is uncertain, and our future is infinity.