Unit ThreeUnit Three

Pubic Attitudes toward Pubic Attitudes toward ScienceScience

Notes: Stephen HawkingNotes: Stephen Hawking• born on 8 January 1942 (300 years after the death of Galileo) in Oxford, England. At eleven Stephen went to St Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford

•Mathematics was not available at University College, so he did Physics instead. After three years and not very much work he was awarded a first class honours degree in Natural Science.

•Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there being no-one working in that area in Oxford at the time.

•After gaining his Ph.D. he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College.

•leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973 Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

•His many publications include The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with G F R Ellis, General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey, with W Israel, and 300 Years of Gravity, with W Israel. Stephen Hawking has two popular books published; his best seller A Brief History of Time, and his later book, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays.

•Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees, was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes and is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was a great English political philosopher, most famous for his book Leviathan. In this book, he described human nature and the necessity of governments and societies. In the state of nature, while some men may be stronger or smarter than others, none are so far above as to be beyond fear of another man doing harm. Thus, each of us has rights to everything, and due to the scarcity of these things, we are in a constant state of war. However, man has a self-interested desire to end war, and so he forms societies by entering into a social contract. According to Hobbesism, such a society needs a leader to whom all members of that society surrender their authority, in order to secure a common defense. This benevolent sovereign is chosen at random and becomes the Leviathan, an unquestionable authority. Hobbes also wrote numerous other books on political philosophy and other matters, providing a fairly perceptive account of human nature as self-interested cooperation.

It was not so bad for a privileged minority…

---Life was not bad for a small group of people with special power or authority.

privilege—1.a special advantage that is given only to one person or group of people

• He had no special privileges and was treated just like every other prisoner.

2.-- something that you are lucky to have the chance to do, and that you enjoy very much

the privilege of doing something

• Today, we have the privilege of listening to two very unusual men.

the privilege to do something

• I had the great privilege to play for Yorkshire.

• It is a privilege to hear her play.

privileged—

a) having advantages because of your wealth, social position etc

•Students from a privileged background have an advantage at university.

•Only the privileged few can afford private education.

b) the privileged -- people who are privileged

vast majority-- [singular also + plural verb British English]most of the people or things in a group

•The majority of students find it quite hard to live on the amount of money they get.

great/vast/overwhelming majority of something (=almost all of a group)

•In the vast majority of cases the disease is fatal.

be in the majority (=form the largest group)

•In this city, Muslims are in the majority.

Even if all government money for research were cut off (and the present government is dong it’s best), the force of competition would still bring about advances in technology.

--Technology would still advance with the pressure of competition, even if all government money for research were reduced, (and the present government is trying to reduce it as much as possible)

bring about--to make something happen, cause, result to

• How can we bring about a change in attitudes?

• A huge amount of environmental damage has been brought about by the destruction of the rainforests.

The only way to prevent further developments would be a global state that suppressed anything new, and human initiative and inventiveness are such that even this wouldn’t succeed.

– only in a state that all new ideas would be prohibited all over the world, would the further advances be stopped. But human being’s creativity and innovation are so strong that even this state wouldn’t stop the development from going on.

ensure

especially British English (also insure American English)

--to make certain that something will happen properly

•facilities to ensure the safety of cyclists

ensure (that)

•The hospital tries to ensure that people are seen quickly.

informed—1. having a lot of knowledge or information about a particular subject or situation

•Informed sources said it was likely that the President would make a televised statement.

well-informed/ill-informed

•I became reasonably well-informed about the subject.

2. --informed decision/choice/judgment etc

a decision etc that is based on knowledge of a subject or situation

•Good information is essential if people are to make informed choices about services.

3. --keep somebody informed

to give someone the latest news and details about a situation

•Please keep me fully informed of any developments.

At the moment, the public is in two minds about science.

--At present, people do not have a definite attitude towards science.

be in two minds (about something)--

British English be of two minds (about something) American English to be unable to decide what to do, or what you think about something

•I was in two minds about whether to go with him.

harness—Noun.

1. a set of leather bands used to control a horse or to attach it to a vehicle it is pulling

2. in harness -- doing your usual work

•I felt glad to be back in harness.

3. in harness (with somebody)

•British English working closely with another person or group

V. --1. to control and use the natural force or power of something

•We can harness the power of the wind to generate electricity.

2.to fasten two animals together, or to fasten an animal to something using a harness

3. to put a harness on a horse

rote--formal when you learn something by repeating it many times, without thinking about it carefully or without understanding it

• In old-fashioned schools, much learning was by rote .

• the rote learning of facts

Moreover, science is often taught in terms of equations.

-- What’s more, people often teach science by the way of making equations.

in terms of--if you explain or describe something in terms of a particular fact or event, you are explaining or describing it only in relation to that fact or event

•Femininity is still defined in terms of beauty.

•It's a mistake to think of Florida only in terms of its tourist attractions.

•It's too early to start talking in terms of casualties.

in terms of what/how/who etc

•Did the experiment find any differences in terms of what children learned?

Moreover, science is often taught in terms of equations.

-- What’s more, people often teach science by the way of making equations.

equations—1. [countable] a statement in mathematics that shows that two amounts or totals are equal

•In the equation 2x + 1 = 7, what is x?

2. [singular] when you consider that two things are similar or connected

•the equation of violence with power

qualitative --relating to the quality or standard of something rather than the quantity

a qualitative analysis/study/research

• a qualitative study of educational services

ￚ qualitatively adverb

• Women's experiences are qualitatively different from men's.

The science people learn in school can provide the basic framework. –The science people learn in school can give people basic ideas of science.

1. [usually singular] a set of ideas, rules, or beliefs from which something is developed, or on which decisions are based

framework of/for

• This paper provides a framework for future research.

2. social/legal/political etc framework--the structure of a society, a legal or political system etc

• We have to act within the existing legal framework.

3. the main supporting parts of a building, vehicle, or object

the metal framework of the roof

Popular books and magazine articles about science can help to put across new development…--Popular books and magazine articles about science can help the people to understand new development…

put across--put something ↔ across phrasal verb

1. to explain your ideas, beliefs etc in a way that people can understand

•He was trying to put across a serious point.

2.put yourself across--British English to explain your ideas and opinions clearly so that people understand them and realize what sort of person you are

•Sue's never been very good at putting herself across at interviews.

3. to sing, play music, or act in a film or play in a clear, effective way

•She can really put a song across.

…hence the sick joke that the reason we have not been contacted by an alien civilization is that civilizations ten to destroy themselves when they reach our stage.

alien--very different from what you are used to, especially in a way that is difficult to understand or accept (synonym strange )

•the alien environment of the city

•be alien to somebody

•a way of life that is totally alien to us

2. belonging to another country or race (synonym foreign)

alien cultures

•an alien multiracial society

3. [only before noun] relating to creatures from another world

•alien beings from another planet

But I have sufficient faith in the good sense of the public to believe that we might prove this wrong. --But I have enough reason to believe people’s judgment that we will prove this to be wrong.

sense--when someone makes sensible or practical decisions, or behaves in a sensible, practical way

have the sense to do something --behave in a sensible way and do what is best in that situation

• You should have had the sense to turn off the electricity first.

there is no sense in (doing) something spoken --it is not sensible to do something

•There's no sense in getting upset about it now.

see sense --realize what is the sensible thing to do

• I wish the politicians would see sense and stop the war.

talk/knock some sense into somebody --try to make someone behave in a more sensible way

Text B

How to Make Sense out of Science

Text B

WHAT IS EL NIÑO?--The term El Niño (Spanish for "the Christ Child") was originally used by fishermen along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru to refer to a warm ocean current that typically appears around Christmastime and lasts for several months. Fish are less abundant during these warm intervals, so fishermen often take a break to repair their equipment and spend time with their families. In some years, however, the water is especially warm and the break in the fishing season persists into May or even June. Over the years, the term "El Niño" has come to be reserved for these exceptionally strong warm intervals that not only disrupt the normal lives of the fishermen, but also bring heavy rains.

During the past 40 years, nine El Niños have affected the South American coast. Most of them raised water temperatures not only along the coast, but also at the Galapagos Islands and in a belt stretching 5000 miles across the equatorial Pacific. The weaker events raised sea temperatures only one to two degrees Fahrenheit and had only minor impacts on South American fisheries. But the strong ones, like the El Niño of 1982-83, left an imprint, not only upon the local weather and marine life, but also on climatic conditions around the globe.

El NIÑO -- a change in the weather that happens every three to seven years, caused by a rise in the temperature of a large area of the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America. El Niño has severe effects on the weather in many parts of the world, and can cause drought (=complete lack of rain) in some places and heavy rain and violent storms in other places.

make sense out of science—understand science

make sense--a) to have a clear meaning and be easy to understand

•Read this and tell me if it makes sense.

b) to be a sensible thing to do

•it makes sense (for somebody) to do something

•It makes sense to save money while you can.

•Would it make sense for the city authorities to further restrict parking?

c) if something makes sense, there seems to be a good reason or explanation for it

•Why did she do a thing like that? It doesn't seem to make sense.

make (some) sense of something--to understand something, especially something difficult or complicated

•Can you make any sense of this article?

in a sense/in one sense/in some senses etc (=in one way, in some ways etc)

•What he says is right in a sense.

•The hotel was in no sense (=not at all) comfortable.

•George was a big man in every sense of the word (=in every way) .

•Communication, in any real sense (=of any real kind) , was extremely limited.

apocalypse--

Any of a number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century b.c. to the second century a.d. containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous.

spice—1. to add interest or excitement to something

•Millions have taken part in sports to spice up their boring lives.

2. to add spice to food

spice with

•baked apples spiced with cinnamon

yield-- 1. to produce a result, answer, or piece of information

•Our research has only recently begun to yield important results .

2. to produce crops, profits etc

•Each of these oilfields could yield billions of barrels of oil.

•The tourist industry yielded an estimated $2.25 billion for the state last year.

3. to allow yourself to be forced or persuaded to do something or stop having something

•The military has promised to yield power.

yield to

•The hijackers refuse to yield to demands to release the passengers.

•Further action may be necessary if the leaders do not yield to diplomatic pressure .

•Finally she yielded to temptation and helped herself to a large slice of cake.

4. literary to stop fighting and accept defeat

synonym : surrender

bulk—1.the bulk (of something)

the main or largest part of something

• The bulk of consumers are based in towns.

2. a big mass or shape of something

• the great bulk of a building

signify—1. to represent, mean, or be a sign of something

•Some tribes use special facial markings to signify status.

•The image of the lion signified power and strength.

2. if you signify a feeling, opinion etc, you do something that acts as a sign so that other people know your feeling or opinion

signify that

•Hamilton waved his hand to signify that he didn't mind what they decided.

signify something (to somebody)

•He turned away from her slightly to signify his indifference.

wear down--wear down phrasal verb

1. to gradually become flatter or smoother, or to make something become like this, because of rubbing or use

•My shoes have worn down at the heel.

wear something ↔ down

•Its teeth were worn down.

2. wear somebody ↔ down

to gradually make someone physically weaker or less determined

•It was clear he was being worn down by the rumors over his future.

contamination--

1. to make a place or substance dirty or harmful by putting something such as chemicals or poison in it

•Drinking water supplies are believed to have been contaminated.

2. to influence something in a way that has a bad effect

•He claims the poster ads have 'contaminated Berlin's streets'.

trumpet—

1. to tell everyone about something that you are proud of, especially in an annoying way

•They are proudly trumpeting the fact that they are creating more jobs.

2. Noun. blow one’s own trumpet --to talk a lot about your own achievements - used to show disapproval

•Dave spent the whole evening blowing his own trumpet.

NASA--abbr.National Aeronautics and Space Administration