Day 1
1. ongoing: continuing; still in progress 持续的; 正在进行的：
e.g. ongoing negotiations.进行中的谈判。
2. empirical: adj. based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic. 以观察（或经验）为依据的; 单凭经验的, 经验主义的
e.g. they provided considerable empirical evidence to support their argument.
3. falsify: 1.alter (information or evidence) so as to mislead e.g.falsified documents.
2.prove (a statement or theory) to be false e.g.the hypothesis is falsified by the evidence.
4. speculative:1. engaged in, expressing, or based on conjecture rather than knowledge e.g. He gave her a speculative glance.
2.(of an investment) involving a high risk of loss
5. compelling: evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way
e.g. His eyes were strangely compelling.
6. quash: 1.reject as invalid, especially by legal procedure
e.g. His conviction was quashed on appeal.
2.put an end to; suppress
e.g. A hospital executive quashed rumours that nursing staff will lose jobs.
7. bounce back: If you bounce back after a bad experience, you return very quickly to your previous level of success, enthusiasm, or activity. 重新振作
We lost two or three early games but we bounced back.
8.combustion: the process of burning something 燃烧
e.g. the combustion of fossil fuels
9.daunting: seeming difficult to deal with in prospect; intimidating看上去棘手的; 使人畏惧的：
e.g. a daunting task.使人畏惧的任务。
10.relentless: never ending; oppressively constant
e.g. the relentless heat of the desert.沙漠里持续的高温。
11.phlogiston: a substance supposed by 18th-century chemists to exist in all combustible bodies, and to be released in combustion（18世纪化学家认为存在于所有可燃物中且燃烧时会释放的）燃素。
12.thermodynamics: 热力学
13.genome 基因组，染色体组
14.deflection: the action or process of deflecting or being deflected偏离, 偏斜, 转向, 折射：
the deflection of the light beam.光线的折射。
15.peer review：evaluation of scientific, academic, or professional work by others working in the same field
e.g.The firm also deals neatly with the question of peer review. Members must review at least one paper a year.
16.pick holes in 在…找岔子，对…吹毛求疵；非难
e.g. It is possible to pick holes in these figures.
17.geocentric : having or representing the earth as the centre, as in former astronomical systems （旧天文观测系统等中）以地球为中心的
比较：heliocentric: having or representing the sun as the centre, as in the accepted astronomical model of the solar system 以太阳为中心的。
18.ether: Chemistry a pleasant-smelling colourless volatile liquid that is highly flammable. It is used as an anaesthetic and as a solvent or intermediate in industrial processes.【化】乙醚。
19.cathode: the negatively charged electrode by which electrons enter an electrical device 负极, 阴极
opp: anode: the positively charged electrode by which the electrons leave an electrical device
20.volcanic: of, relating to, or produced by a volcano or volcanoes（与）火山（有关）的; 火山产生的。
21.figurative (especially of a feeling or emotion) bursting out or liable to burst out violently〈喻〉（尤指感情或情绪）爆发的, 猛烈的; 易突然发作的：
e.g. the kind of volcanic passion she'd felt last night.
22.dissection:The act or an instance of dissecting. 切割；解剖：解剖的过程或事例
e.g.dissection of a human body
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. ---Issac Newton
Day 2
The author have a clear structure, from ways of science to the scientific method. And then he writes the progression of ideas in chronological, with a lot of examples illustrating them. So if I follow the logic of this article, it won't be a hard task to understand, but the main thing that is difficult to know is the professional terms, they are theories and inventions related to science in the long history, so if I select each of them, I can have a better knowledge of the main achievements in science, and I will try harder. It won't be an easy task, only patience and curiosity will help us. That's my thought after reading this passage, as a student of humanity, I feel the great charm of science.