首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(1) Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually
(1) Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually
admin
2010-02-19
59
问题
(1) Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually be accomplished." Well, that of course left only the impossible as the one thing remaining for daring intellectual adventurers to whittle away at. Feinberg, for one, thought that "they’d succeed even there."
(2) It was a point worth considering. How many times in the past had certain things been said to be impossible, only to have it turn out shortly thereafter that the item in question had already been done or soon would be. What greater cliche was there in the history of science than tile comic litany of false it-couldn’t-be-dones; the infamous case of Auguste Comte saying in 1844 that it would never be known what the stars were made of, followed in a few years by the spectroscope being applied to starlight to reveal the stars’ chemical composition; or the case of Lord Rutherford, the man who discovered the structure of the atom, saying in 1933 that dreams of controlled nuclear fission were "moonshine." And those weren’t even the worst examples. No, the huffiest of all it-couldn’t-be-done claims centered on the notion that human beings could actually fly, either at all, or across long distance, or to the moon, the stars, or wherever else.
(3) There had been so many embarrassments of this type that about mid-century Arthur C. Clarke came out with a guideline for avoiding them, which he termed Clarke’s Law: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
(4) Still, one had to admit there were lots of things left that were really and truly impossible, even if it took some ingenuity in coming up with a proper list of examples. Such as: "A camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle. "(Well, unless of course it was a very large needle.) Or: "It is impossible for a door to be simultaneously open and closed."(Well, unless of course it was a revolving door. )
(5) Indeed, watertight examples of the really and truly impossible were so exceptionally hard to come by that paradigm cases turned out to be either trivial or absurd. "I know I will never play the piano like Vladimir Horowitz," offered Milton Rothman, a physicist, "no matter how hard I try." or, from Scott Lankford, a mountaineer; "Everest on roller skates."
The false it-couldn’t-be-dones in science are comic because ______.
选项
A、they are cliches, repeated too often by scientists
B、they are almost always proved to be wrong by later scientific research
C、they are mocked at by later generations
D、they provide material for good comedies
答案
B
解析
“The false it-couldn’t-be-dones in science are comic”意为:科学界那些曾被错误地认为不可能实现的事情现在看来都很滑稽。(因为,它们后来都被实现了。)
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/UjIO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
WhatproblemdidBrianhavewithhissandwichbusiness?WhenJackfirstagreedtohelpGeraldine,hewas
WhatproblemdidBrianhavewithhissandwichbusiness?Geraldinestartedhersandwichbusinessbecauseshe
Lookatthenotesbelow.Someinformationismissing.Youwillhearawomanphoningthroughanordertoheadoffice.Foreachqu
Youwillhearacustomerphoningahotelforareservation.Completetheformusingtheinformationyouhear.Youwillhearth
ComputersalesfellduringAprilbutroseagaininMaytoexceedtheMarchsales.
Educationaldevelopmentisboundupwitheconomicprogress.
Intheprecedingchapter,economicwelfarewastakenbroadlytoconsistofthatgroupofsatisfactionsanddissatisfactionswhic
从20世纪中叶起,各国政府对科学技术的重视引起了各级教育机构的响应,理论科学和应用科学的巨大进步也激起了人们学习自然科学的兴趣,科学技术因此而有了飞速的发展。但与此同时,人们忽视了对人文科学和社会科学的学习,公民对道德观念和社会准则在生活中的意义缺乏认识。
Warhasescapedthebattlefieldandnowcan,withmodernguidancesystemsonmissiles,touchvirtuallyeverysquareyardofthe
JimAyershadinvestigatedallmanneroffeloniesinhisfourteen-yearcareerwiththeOregonStatePolice.Likemostofficersw
随机试题
凡是自己参与()的较大项目,应建立相应的技术档案,相应记录相关数据和关键部位的内容,做到心中有数,并按周期回访,掌握设备的动态。
交感神经兴奋引起的效应是()
A.肿瘤区B.临床靶区C.计划靶区D.治疗区E.照射区接受有意义剂量照射的正常组织
按照《招标投标法》规定,招标人在对某一投标人就招标文件所提出的疑问作出进一步澄清时,须()。
现场生活区严禁使用()取暖。
关于屋面卷材防水找平层的排水坡度要求的说法,正确的是()。
保留“十一”和春节两个黄金周的支持网民数比五个三天“小长假”的支持网民数多约()万人。
如果把实际情况比作“地形”,理论就是“地图”。当实际情况发生很大变化的时候,我们不要期望按照“地图”来修正“地形”,而只能是根据“地形”来矫正“地图”。根据“地形”来矫正“地图”的哲学依据是()。①意识对物质具有能动的反作用②物质决定意识③
知觉的特性包括()。
坚持科学发展观,就是要促进人与自然的和谐,实现经济发展和人口、资源、环境相协调,坚持走生产发展、生活富裕、生态良好的文明发展道路,保证一代接一代地永续发展。这说明,科学发展观坚持()。
最新回复
(
0
)