【英语语言学习】科学家们的智慧

 Scientists are usually portrayed¹ as highly rational seekers of the truth - and they are that. But they also have qualities that make them more similar to you and me than you might think. NPR's Joe Palca has a story that reveals that quite dramatically. Joe's been immersed in an NPR series called Joe's Big Idea, where he explores the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors. And from time to time, he drops by to share some of the interesting things he's learned. Hi, Joe.

JOE PALCA : Hi, Rachel.

RACHEL MARTIN: So, what's the story?

PALCA: Well, this is a story that an astrophysicist named Don Winget told me when I interviewed him in his office at the University of Texas at Austin. And the story takes place in the 1980s and it involves Winget and another astrophysicist named Icko Iben. Now, at the time, Iben was, you know, a senior person in the field and Don was the young upstart just getting started. But Winget came up with this really interesting way of measuring the age of the universe using something called white dwarf² stars. And he got some really startling results. The universe was much younger than people though. So, he wrote up a paper about his work and submitted it to a science journal, but then he doesn't hear anything for a while.

MARTIN: OK.

PALCA: And then one day...

DON WINGET: My phone rings. I recognize the voice. It's Icko on the other end. Don? Yeah, hi, Icko. Come to my office. OK.

MARTIN: OK. Sounds daunting³.

PALCA: Yeah, I love that. OK. Anyway, so, he says come to my office. But the thing is Don's in Austin, Texas and Icko's at the University of Illinois in Champaign. So, he jumps on a plane and flies to Illinois and goes to Icko's office...

WINGET: Knock on the door and he says come in, Don. Holy crap. Scared me, you know. And so I go in, and he says, shut the door. And I shut the door. And he starts yelling at me and yelling at me, and this yelling goes on for honest and true probably almost 30 minutes. He's yelling at me. I mean, realistically probably 10, but you know.

MARTIN: Yelling? Did he have any idea why this is happening?

PALCA: Well, yeah. And so you'll hear the answer. But you have to understand that Don and Icko are friends and so he's a little taken aback by this. But Don told me why Icko was yelling at him.

WINGET: He said you understand, Don, that I'm refereeing⁵ your paper.

MARTIN: Refereeing - wait. I don't understand what that means.

PALCA: OK. So, when a scientist sends a paper into a scientific journal, they ask people to be peer reviewers or referees⁶ and the referees decide whether they science was done properly. And then if it was, then the paper gets published.

MARTIN: So, this is his friend and he's serving as the referee⁴.

PALCA: Exactly.

WINGET: He said you understand, Don, that I'm refereeing your paper on the age of the white dwarfs⁷ and the age of the universe. And he said and I'm really mad because it's right.

PALCA: It's right. Yeah. So, what does that mean? Why would he be mad if the data is right? Well, here is how Don characterized what Icko had to say.

WINGET: Well, I reproduced your calculations and I completely agree - they're right. And so I'm going to recommend that you publish this. But I want you to realize that everybody that's worked in this field are going to hate your guts⁸ because you've just turned over their entire life's work.

MARTIN: Wow.

PALCA: So, what Icko's doing is he's preparing Don for what's about to happen. Because Don has come out with this paper that says the universe is about 10 or 11 billion years old, and everybody else in the field at the time is saying the universe is saying 20 or 30 billion years old. And now these people, the ones who were saying it was much older, have to go back to the drawing board and everything they've done has to be rethought.

MARTIN: But isn't that how science works, Joe?

PALCA: Well, yeah, it is. But that doesn't mean that scientists won't start kicking and screaming about this. And that's what Don was pointing out to me.

WINGET: I didn't think that would happen. I thought, well, scientists, we're all objective, but we're not. We're people. In the end we're objective but it doesn't mean we don't scream and yell. And we have enormous biases⁹ in everything we do. And we try to overcome those. But a lot of times it takes time and perseverance¹⁰ and the collective efforts of the community.

PALCA: Now, it did come out he was right and the field changed. Although he wasn't exactly right.

MARTIN: But it's also a little bit scary as the layperson listening to this because you'd like to think that scientists are those rational beings who are not stuck in the muck of emotion like the rest of us. Because they are the ones who are supposed to be disseminating¹¹ things that are black and white, right and wrong.

PALCA: Well, not black and white. But they are usually able to move the ball forward with some new findings. But if that new information is skewering¹² somebody else's old information, it can lead to some really passionate¹³ moments.

MARTIN: They are just as emotional as the rest of us.

PALCA: Basically, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: NPR's science correspondent Joe Palca. Thanks so much, Joe.

PALCA: You're welcome.

1 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

3 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

4 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

5 refereeing   

[计]仲裁，审稿工作，稿件评审

参考例句：

• I've spent too much time in my career refereeing staff/line disputes. 办事人员和第一线人员常常发生争执，我为解决这种争执花费了许多时间。 来自辞典例句
• Unfair refereeing in yesterday's match made the news again. 昨天的比赛中又爆出了“黑哨”丑闻！ 来自互联网

6 referees   

n.裁判员( referee的名词复数 )；证明人；公断人；（专业性强的文章的）审阅人

参考例句：

• The fiery player has had numerous run-ins with referees. 这位脾气暴躁的队员曾和裁判员发生过无数次争吵。
• If you want to appeal, the Court of Referees will decide. 如果你要上诉，可以由仲裁法庭去判决。 来自辞典例句

7 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

8 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

10 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

11 disseminating   

散布，传播( disseminate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Our comrades in propaganda work have the task of disseminating Marxism. 我们作宣传工作的同志有一个宣传马克思主义的任务。
• Disseminating indecent photographs on the internet a distasteful act. 在因特网上发布不雅照片是卑劣的行径。

12 skewering   

v.（用串肉扦或类似物）串起，刺穿( skewer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But Mr Stone is more interested in skewering rapacious financiers than rash homeowners. 但是斯通先生更感兴趣的是去讥讽贪婪的金融家，而不是冲动的物业购买者。 来自互联网

13 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。