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The Nature of the Scientific Attitude
科學態度的本質
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?
科學態度的本質是什么？那些研究并應用物理學，生物學，化學，地質學，工程學，醫學或其他所有科學的男男女女們所具有的態度的本質是什么？
We all know that science plays an important role in the societies in which we live.
我們都知道科學在我們的社會中所起的重要作用。
Many people believe, however,that our progress depends on two different aspects of science.
但很多人認為，社會進步靠的是科學的兩個不同方面的內容。
The first of these is the application of the machines, products and systems of applied knowledge that scientists and technologists develop.
第一個方面是對科學家和科技人員開放的機器，產品以及應用型知識體系的運用。
Through technology, science improves the structure of society and helps man to gain increasing control over his environment.
通過這些技術，科學完善社會結構，幫助人類獲得對周邊環境越來越多的控制。
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.
第二個方面是社會所有成員對科學家工作時采用的特殊思考和行動方式的應用。
What are these special methods of thinking and acting?
那什么是特殊思考方式和行動方式呢？
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，一個成功的科學家似乎總是充滿著好奇心—他想探尋宇宙萬物運行的方式和原因。
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.
他通常會把注意力放在那些他注意到還沒有得到滿意解釋的問題之上；即便現存數據似乎互不關聯，他的好奇心也驅使他去尋找潛在關系。
Moreover, he thinks he can improve the existing conditions and enjoys trying to solve the problems which this involves.
而且他認為他能改善現存條件，并享受自己為改善條件而解決問題的努力。
He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective and applies logical thought to the observations he makes.
他是個好的觀察家—精準，耐心，客觀，對所做觀察總賦予邏輯思考。
He utilizes the facts he observes to the fullest extent.
他總是最充分地利用他觀察到的事實。
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.
比如說，訓練有素的觀察家主要是通過對光譜中出現的簡單線條進行精確分析來獲取某個星球的大量信息。
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動的最完整證據為基礎的言論，因而拒絕把權威視為真理的唯一依據。
Scientists always check statements and make experiments carefully and objectively to verify them.
科學家總是要檢查種種論斷，用客觀仔細的試驗去證實它們。
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，他不僅挑剔他人工作，也對自己的工作吹毛求疵，因為他清楚人類是最不可靠的科學工具，有一系列因素會影響到它們調查研究的客觀性。
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，他極具想象力，因為他經常不得不在既復雜又往往不全面的數據中尋求它們之間的關系，
Furthermore, he needs imagination if he wants to make hypotheses of how processes work and how events take place.
而且，如果他想對程序如何進行，事件如何發送提出假設，他同樣需要想象力。
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學家或科技人員的一些思考方式和行動方式。
