Vocabulary
empirical(experiential,experimental,observed,practical)
-(adv. ) based on experiments or experience rather than ideas or theories以实验（或经验）为依据的；经验主义的
While it may seem obvious today that a good scientist must rely on empirical evidence, this was not always apparent.
尽管这些杰出的科学家基于实践的原理对于现在而言看起来显而易见，它们在当时并不是那么的明显。
example:
-He made his name as an empirical economist.
-Thinking and maintain a certain distance from the object can change the kind of empirical obsession.(执念，着迷)
Origin: empiric
-one who relied on practical experience 经验主义者
-charlatan江湖医生
reinforce(strengthen,support,underpin,buttress)
(v.) - 1.~ sth 加强；充实；使更强烈to make a feeling, an idea, etc. stronger
-2.~ sth 加固；使更结实to make a structure or material stronger, especially by adding another material to it
-3.~ sth给…加强力量（或装备）；使更强大to send more people or equipment in order to make an army, etc. stronger
Building on the work of the Arab scientist Alhazen 600 years earlier, and soon to be reinforced by the French philosopher René Descartes, Bacon's scientific method 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.
- Two companies were moved up to reinforce the front line.
调两个连去增援前线。
- Newspapers like this tend to reinforce people's prejudices.
像这样的报纸往往加深人们的偏见。
hypothesis (theory, proposition, suggestion,supposition)
(n.) - [c]（有少量事实依据但未被证实的）假说，假设an idea or explanation of sth that is based on a few known facts but that has not yet been proved to be true or correct
-[u]（凭空的）猜想，猜测guesses and ideas that are not based on certain knowledge
Making a testable hypothesis or a prediction is always useful.
做出值得考验的假设和预测通常都非常的有用。
1.This hypothesis formed a cornerstone of the theory of general relativity that evolved over the next eight years.
这个假设成为随后八年间形成的广义相对论的一个基石
orbit(n. path, track, course/ v.encircle, loop, revolve)
- [c][u]（天体等运行的）轨道a curved path followed by a planet or an object as it moves around another planet, star, moon, etc.
- [sing]（人、组织等的）影响范围，势力范围an area that a particular person, organization, etc. deals with or is able to influence
……and suggested that all three were the same object, in orbit round the Sun.
speculative(tentative,approximate, rough, provisional)
(adj.)-推测的；猜测的；推断的based on guessing or on opinions that have been formed without knowing all the facts
-揣摩的；忖度的；试探的showing that you are trying to guess sth
-投机性的；风险性的done in the hope of making a profit but involving the risk of losing money
Experiments may test a theory, or be purely speculative.
实验可能是用来检验一个理论的，或是只是纯投机性的
artillery(arms,weaponry,armaments)
(n.)-[u](统称）火炮large, heavy guns which are often moved on wheels
-[sing]炮兵部队the section of an army trained to use these gun
Rutherford said it was as though an artillery shell had bounced back off tissue paper -and this led him to a new idea about the structure of the atom.
-Artillery and mortars were zeroed in on the enemy position.
大炮和迫击炮对准敌人的阵地。
compelling(attractive)
(n.) -引人入胜的；扣人心弦的that makes you pay attention to it because it is so interesting and exciting
-非常强烈的；不可抗拒的so strong that you must do sth about it
-令人信服的that makes you think it is true
An experiment is all the more compelling if the scientist, while proposing a new mechanism(a set of moving parts in a machine that performs a task)or theory, can make a prediction about the outcome.
- No, but there's some compelling evidence that there could be a relationship between the two.
不，但是有很多强有力的证据可能表现两者之间关系。
crash down
crash:v. hit hard
down
crash down 下坠
Every experiment that gives predicted answers is supporting evidence, but one experiment that fails may bring an entire theory crashing down.(让整个理论崩溃）
fire-element
火元素
apparatus
仪器；器械；装置the tools or other pieces of equipment that are needed for a particular activity or task
2.[c][ususing]（尤指政党或政府的）机构，组织，机关the structure of a system or an organization, particularly that of a political party or a government
3.[c][ususing]器官a system of organs in the body
cathode（阴极）
－ 阳极 anode
vacuum［'vækjum］一个u并不发音
－ 真空的
eclipse
assert
-明确肯定；断言to state clearly and firmly that sth is true
-~ yourself坚持自己的主张；表现坚定to behave in a confident and determined way so that other people pay attention to your opinions
- ~ sth维护自己的权利（或权威）to make other people recognize your right or authority to do sth, by behaving firmly and confidently
-~ itself生效；起作用to start to have an effect
He asserted that big object fall faster than little ones.
著名的亚里士多德的错误的断论。assert更有一种武断的意味。
crater
supernova
- 超新星a star that suddenly becomes much brighter because it is exploding
nova(新星)
magnificent(superb, wonderful)
熟悉的单词，然而记不住……
2017.2.27 from Kristen