Science has long had an uneasy relationship with other aspects of culture. Think of Galileo’s 17th century trial for his rebelling belief before the Catholic Church or poet William Blake’s harsh remarks against the mechanistic worldview of Isaac Newton. The schism between science and the humanities has, if anything, deepened in this century.
Until recently, the scientific community was so powerful that it could afford to ignore its critics - but no longer. As funding for science has declined, scientists have attacked “anti-science” in several books, notably Higher Superstition, by Paul R. Gross, a biologist at the University of Virginia, and Norman Levitt, a mathematician at Rutgers University; and The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan of Cornell University.
Defenders of science have also voiced their concerns at meetings such as “The Flight from Science and Reason,” held in New York City in 1995, and “Science in the Age of (Mis)information,” which assembled last June near Buffalo.
Anti-science clearly means different things to different people. Gross and Levitt find fault primarily with sociologists, philosophers and other academics who have questioned science’s objectivity. Sagan is more concerned with those who believe in ghosts, creationism and other phenomena that contradict the scientific worldview.
A survey of news stories in 1996 reveals that the anti-science tag has been attached to many other groups as well, from authorities who advocated the elimination of the last remaining stocks of smallpox virus to Republicans who advocated decreased funding for basic research.
Few would dispute that the term applies to the Unabomber, those manifesto, published in 1995, scorns science and longs for return to a pretechnological utopia. But surely that does not mean environmentalists concerned about uncontrolled industrial growth are anti-science, as an essay in US News & World Report last May seemed to suggest.
The environmentalists, inevitably, respond to such critics. The true enemies of science, argues Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, a pioneer of environmental studies, are those who question the evidence supporting global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer and other consequences of industrial growth.
Indeed, some observers fear that the anti-science epithet is in danger of becoming meaningless. “The term ´anti-science´ can lump together too many, quite different things,” notes Harvard University philosopher Gerald Holton in his 1993 work Science and Anti Science. “They have in common only one thing that they tend to annoy or threaten those who regard themselves as more enlightened. ”
译文
科学与文化的其他方面的关系一直都很不稳定。想想看,17世纪伽利略由于他叛逆性的信仰而遭受到天主教会的审判,诗人威廉·布莱克对艾萨克·牛顿的机械论世界观进行尖锐地批判。本世纪,科学与人文之间的分裂加剧了。 直到前不久,科学界有着如此之强大的权威以致可以对其批评者不予理会——但是现在不是这样的情况了。由于科研经费减少,所以科学家出了几本书对 “反科学”势力进行批评,其中值得注意的有弗吉尼亚大学生物学家保罗·R·格罗斯和拉特格斯大学的数学家诺曼·莱维特合著的《高级迷信》及康奈尔大学的卡尔·萨根著的《鬼怪世界》。科学的捍卫者们也在一些会议上表示了他们的担忧。比如,1995年在纽约市召开的“远离科学和理性”会议,以及去年6月在布法罗市召开的“信息(迷信)时代的科学”会议。 显然,对于不同的人反科学有着不同的含义。格罗斯和莱维特主要对质疑科学客观性的社会学家、哲学家和其他学者进行批评。萨根则更关注那些相信鬼怪、上帝造物论和其他与科学世界观不同的人。 1996年的一项新闻调查报道表明,反科学的标签也贴在了许多其他的群体上,例如从提倡消灭所有现存的天花病毒的官员到支持削减基础研究基金的共和党人大都有着反科学的倾向。 如果把这一词用在仇视现代文明的恐怖主义者身上,也不会引起太多的争议,因为他们曾在1995年公开发表过对科学的蔑视并且渴望回到前技术时代理想社会的声明。但是并不意味着那些对毫无控制的工业发展表示忧虑的环境主义者也是反科学的,正如去年5月份一篇刊登在《美国新闻和世界报导》的文章似乎暗示过这样的例子。 环境主义者毫无疑问要对此类的批评做出回应。斯坦福大学的保罗·埃利希是环境研究的先驱者,他认为,科学的真正的敌人是那些对工业增长带来的全球变暖、臭氧层稀薄及其他后果的证据提出质疑的人。 确实,一些观察者担心反科学这个词正处于消失的边际。哈佛大学的哲学家杰拉尔德·霍尔顿在1993年的著作《科学和反科学》的一书中写道“‘反科学’这个词可以包含很多迥然不同的东西,他们只有一点是相同的,就是会激怒或威胁那些自以为比别人更有见识的人。”
词汇
antic n. 滑稽动a. 古怪的
例句:Everyone laughed at his foolish antics. 大家都笑他那种愚蠢的滑稽动作。
advocate n. 提倡者, 拥护者vt. 主张, 提倡
例子:He will be his own best advocate. 他自己就是最好的辩护人。
词组:an advocate of peace拥护或提倡和平的人
同义词:defend support
反义词:impugn
critic n. 批评家, 评论家, 吹毛求疵者
例句:Critics really slapped the play around. 剧评家们把那个剧本简直批评得体无完肤。
词组:film critic电影评论sports critic体育评论家armchair critic 闭门造车的批评家, 不做调查研究的批评家; 不负责任的批评家
consequence n. 结果, 重要性
派生:consequent a. 随之发生的 consequently ad. 因而,所以
例句:In consequence of his bad work, I was forced to dismiss him. 由于他工作表现不好,我只好把他辞退。
词组:answer for the consequences 对后果负责as a consequence 因而, 结果face the consequences of one's action 自食其果in consequence 因此, 结果in consequence of…… 的结果, 因为……的缘故, 由于of consequence 有势力的; 重要的take the consequences 自食其果, 承担责任take upon oneself the consequences 自己承担后果without negative consequence 没有副作用without reflecting on the consequences 不顾后果
反义词:cause
deepen vi. 深化vt. 使加深, 使强烈
例句:We'll have to deepen the well if we want more water. 想获得更多的水,我们必须把井加深。
词组:deepen a trench使壕沟加深
dispute n. 争论vt. 争论vi. 争论
派生:disputable a. 可争议的;可疑的 disputation n. disputatious a. 爱争论的
例句:A judge may direct a defendent to admit matters not really in dispute. 法官可以指示被告承认基本没有争议的事情。
词组:beyond dispute 无争论余地; 的确, 无疑past dispute 无争论余地; 的确, 无疑without dispute 无争论余地; 的确, 无疑out of dispute 无争论余地; 的确, 无疑in dispute 在争论中; 尚未解决under dispute 在争论中; 尚未解决settle a dispute with sb. 同某人解决争端settle disputes between 调解……之间的争端dispute with sb. about 与某人争论某事dispute with sb. on 与某人争论某事
同义词:argue bicker contest debate fight oppose quarrel resist
反义词:agree
depletion n. 消耗, 耗尽, 放血
例句:We must seek immediate solutions for problems leading to the rapid depletion of the earth's ozone layer. 我们必须寻求立即解决引起地球臭氧层快速损耗的问题的办法。
elimination n. 除去, 消除, 消灭
派生:eliminate vt. 消灭,消除
例句:Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise. 他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
epithet n. 浑名, 绰号, 称号
例句:A name, especially a descriptive nickname or epithet acquired through usage over a period of time. 绰号名,尤指一描述性的绰号或因一段时间的习惯而得的诨名。
enlightened a. 有知识的, 进步的, 文明的
例句:An enlightened government should permit the free expression of political opinion. 一个开明的政府应当允许自由发表政见。
industrial a. 工业的, 供工业用的, 工业高度发展的, 产业的n. 工业工人, 工业股票
例句:The river forms the division between the heavy industrial and light industrial areas of the city. 这条河成了这座城市重工业区和轻工业区的分界线。
词组:industrial areas工业区industrial workers产业工人an industrial country工业国industrial alcohol工业用酒精an industrial crop劳做收获
lump n. 块, 瘤, 很多, 肿块, 笨人vt. 使成块状, 混在一起vi. 结块
例句:He is not a mere lump of clay but a feeling creature. 他不仅具有血肉之躯而且是一个有感情的人。
词组:lump it 勉强忍受, 将就忍受
同义词:bump chunk hunk mass swelling
mathematician n. 数学家
例句:He is an English mathematician. 他是个英国数学家。
manifesto n. 宣言, 声明
例句:The party set out (released) its manifesto yesterday. 该党昨天发表了它的声明。
词组:issue a manifesto发表一个宣言
notably ad. 显著地, 著名地, 尤其, 特别
例句:Many members were absent, notably the vice-chairman. 许多成员都缺席,特别是副主席也未到场。
ozone n. 臭氧层
例句:Many groups of scientists quickly began monitoring the Antarctic ozone layer. 许多科学家小组很快开始了对南极臭氧层的检测。
词组:ozone layer臭氧层(距地球表面20-40英里, 为同温层的外缘)
phenomena pl. 现象
派生:phenomenon
例句:These phenomena is very universal. 这些现象己经非常普遍了。
schism n. 分裂, 分立, 分裂教会罪
例句:When one intends to integrate a schism, so it will be. 当你意愿整合一个分裂时,它就将如你所愿。
smallpox n. 天花
例句:He was inoculated against smallpox. 他接种了预防天花的疫苗。
scorn n. 轻蔑, 藐视, 嘲笑, 被嘲弄的人vt. 轻蔑, 不屑做
例句:He scorns to tell a lie. 他不屑于撒谎。
词组:be a scorn to (=be the scorn of) 是……的嘲笑对象; 遭到……的鄙视feel ( have) scorn for 对……表示藐视hold in (up to) scorn (ridicule) 藐视, 瞧不起; 奚落laugh sb. (sth。) to scorn (=pour scorn on sb. (sth。)) 嘲笑或挖苦某人(某事) point the finger of scorn at sb. 奚落某人, 嘲笑某人think (hold) it scorn to (do) 不屑(做) think scorn of 藐视, 瞧不起
tag n. 标签, 附属物, 碎片, 结束语, 口头禅, 附加语, 浑名, 标记, 标记符vt. 附以签条, 尾随, 添饰, 起浑名, 连接vi. 紧紧跟随
例句:He could hardly open his mouth without using one or other of his tags. 他开口说话总带口头禅。
词组:keep a tag on 记录; 检查, 监视tag along (口)尾随, 紧紧跟随; 温顺地陪着tag (oneself) on to (口)(未经同意或邀请)硬跟着, 缠着tag sth on (onto, to) 把某物附加于……上面tag, rag and bobtail 乌合之众; 下层人民; 下层社会; 衣衫不整的人们
同义词:brand call designate follow heel label name pursue shadow trail
utopia n. 乌托邦
例句:Sir Thomas More is remembered today as the author of Utopia. 当今,托马斯·莫尔先生还被铭记为乌托邦的作者。
virus n. 病毒, 滤过性病毒, 毒害
例句:Scientists have isolated the virus causing the epidemic. 科学家们已分离出引起这种流行病的病毒。
|