The Nature of the Scientific Attitude

 

科学态度的本质

What is the nature of the scientific attitude,the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, biology, chemistry,geology, engineering, medicine or any other science?

科学态度的本质是什么？那些研究并应用物理学，生物学，化学，地质学，工程学，医学或其他所有科学的男男女女们所具有的态度的本质是什么？

We all know that science plays an important role in the societies in which we live.

我们都知道科学在我们的社会中所起的重要作用。

Many people believe, however,that our progress depends on two different aspects of science.

但很多人认为，社会进步靠的是科学的两个不同方面的内容。

The first of these is the application of the machines, products and systems of applied knowledge that scientists and technologists develop.

第一个方面是对科学家和科技人员开放的机器，产品以及应用型知识体系的运用。

Through technology, science improves the structure of society and helps man to gain increasing control over his environment.

通过这些技术，科学完善社会结构，帮助人类获得对周边环境越来越多的控制。

The second aspect is the application by all members of society of the special methods of thought and action that scientists use in their work.

第二个方面是社会所有成员对科学家工作时采用的特殊思考和行动方式的应用。

What are these special methods of thinking and acting?

那什么是特殊思考方式和行动方式呢？

First of all, it seems that a successful scientist is full of curiosity—he wants to find out how and why the universe works.

首先，一个成功的科学家似乎总是充满着好奇心—他想探寻宇宙万物运行的方式和原因。

He usually directs his attention towards problems which he notices have no satisfactory explanation,and his curiosity makes him look for underlying relationships even if the data available seem to be unconnected.

他通常会把注意力放在那些他注意到还没有得到满意解释的问题之上；即便现存数据似乎互不关联，他的好奇心也驱使他去寻找潜在关系。

Moreover, he thinks he can improve the existing conditions and enjoys trying to solve the problems which this involves.

而且他认为他能改善现存条件，并享受自己为改善条件而解决问题的努力。

He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective and applies logical thought to the observations he makes.

他是个好的观察家—精准，耐心，客观，对所做观察总赋予逻辑思考。

He utilizes the facts he observes to the fullest extent.

他总是最充分地利用他观察到的事实。

For example, trained observers obtain a very large amount of information about a star mainly from the accurate analysis of the simple lines that appear in a spectrum.

比如说，训练有素的观察家主要是通过对光谱中出现的简单线条进行精确分析来获取某个星球的大量信息。

He is skeptical—he does not accept statements which are not based on the most complete evidence available—and therefore rejects authority as the sole basis for truth.

他是多疑的—他不接受那些不以可活动的最完整证据为基础的言论，因而拒绝把权威视为真理的唯一依据。

Scientists always check statements and make experiments carefully and objectively to verify them.

科学家总是要检查种种论断，用客观仔细的试验去证实它们。

Furthermore, he is not only critical of the work of others,but also of his own,since he knows that man is the least reliable of scientific instruments and that a number of factors tend to disturb objective investigation.

此外，他不仅挑剔他人工作，也对自己的工作吹毛求疵，因为他清楚人类是最不可靠的科学工具，有一系列因素会影响到它们调查研究的客观性。

Lastly, he is highly imaginative since he often has to look for relationships in data which are not only complex but also frequently incomplete.

最后，他极具想象力，因为他经常不得不在既复杂又往往不全面的数据中寻求它们之间的关系，

Furthermore, he needs imagination if he wants to make hypotheses of how processes work and how events take place.

而且，如果他想对程序如何进行，事件如何发送提出假设，他同样需要想象力。

These seem to be some of the ways in which a successful scientist or technologist thinks and acts.

以上似乎就是成功的科学家或科技人员的一些思考方式和行动方式。