第一章 科学的性质

THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD VIEW

科学世界观

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

科学探索

THE SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE

科学事业

Chapter 1: THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

第一章 科学的性质

Over the course of human history, people have developed many interconnected and validated ideas about the physical, biological, psychological, and social worlds. Those ideas have enabled successive generations to achieve an increasingly comprehensive and reliable understanding of the human species and its environment. The means used to develop these ideas are particular ways of observing, thinking, experimenting, and validating. These ways represent a fundamental aspect of the nature of science and reflect how science tends to differ from other modes of knowing.

在历史进程中，人类发展了有关物质、生物、心理和社会的许多相互关联并且被验证的思想。这些思想代代相传，使人们对人类自身和环境的认识日益全面和可靠。发展这些概念要使用一些特殊方法，如观察、思考、实践和求证。这些方法体现了科学性质的基本方面，也反映出科学与其他认知模式的不同。

It is the union of science, mathematics, and technology that forms the scientific endeavor and that makes it so successful. Although each of these human enterprises has a character and history of its own, each is dependent on and reinforces the others. Accordingly, the first three chapters of recommendations draw portraits of science, mathematics, and technology that emphasize their roles in the scientific endeavor and reveal some of the similarities and connections among them.

科学、数学和技术的结合形成了科学的推动力，并获得了极大的成功。尽管各项人类事业都有其各自的特点和发展历史，但是，它们相互依赖、相互强化。因此，本书的前三章将对科学、数学和技术进行概括的描述，着重论述它们在科学王国中所起的作用，并且揭示它们之间的相似与关联。

This chapter lays out recommendations for what knowledge of the way science works is requisite for scientific literacy. The chapter focuses on three principal subjects: the scientific world view, scientific methods of inquiry, and the nature of the scientific enterprise. Chapters 2 and 3 consider ways in which mathematics and technology differ from science in general. Chapters 4 through 9 present views of the world as depicted by current science; Chapter 10, Historical Perspectives, covers key episodes in the development of science; and Chapter 11, Common Themes, pulls together ideas that cut across all these views of the world. 

本章针对哪些科学方法是科学素养所必需的这一问题提出建议，并集中讨论三个主题：科学世界观、科学的探索方法和科学事业的本质。第二章和第三章探讨数学与技术在通常意义上与科学的差别。第四章至第九章说明当代科学描述世界的见解；第十章“历史展望”综述了科学发展的重大事件；第十一章“通用概念”将汇集贯穿于各种对世界的认识中的概念。

THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD VIEW

科学世界观

Scientists share certain basic beliefs and attitudes about what they do and how they view their work. These have to do with the nature of the world and what can be learned about it.

科学家们对自己所从事的工作，以及如何看待自己的工作都有一些共同的基本信念和态度。这同自然界的性质和如何掌握这些性质有关。

The World Is Understandable

世界是可被认知的

Science presumes that the things and events in the universe occur in consistent patterns that are comprehensible through careful, systematic study. Scientists believe that through the use of the intellect, and with the aid of instruments that extend the senses, people can discover patterns in all of nature.

科学假定宇宙间的众多事物都以恒定的规律发生和发展，通过认真的、系统的研究都是可以认知的。科学家们相信，运用智慧和借助扩展感官功能的仪器可以发现宇宙间各种特性的规律。

Science also assumes that the universe is, as its name implies, a vast single system in which the basic rules are everywhere the same. Knowledge gained from studying one part of the universe is applicable to other parts. For instance, the same principles of motion and gravitation that explain the motion of falling objects on the surface of the earth also explain the motion of the moon and the planets. With some modifications over the years, the same principles of motion have applied to other forces—and to the motion of everything, from the smallest nuclear particles to the most massive stars, from sailboats to space vehicles, from bullets to light rays.

科学还假设，宇宙正如其名，是一个巨大的单一系统。在这个系统的任何地方，基本规律都一样适用。人们从研究一个方面学到的知识可以应用到其他地方。例如，用来解释地球表面自由落体的运动和地心吸力的规律，也适用于月球和其他行星。通过多年所做的一些修正，这个物体运动规律还被用来说明其他致使物体运动的作用力，从最小的核粒子到最大的恒星，从帆船到宇宙飞船，从枪弹到光线。

Scientific Ideas Are Subject To Change

科学理念是会变化的

Science is a process for producing knowledge. The process depends both on making careful observations of phenomena and on inventing theories for making sense out of those observations. Change in knowledge is inevitable because new observations may challenge prevailing theories. No matter how well one theory explains a set of observations, it is possible that another theory may fit just as well or better, or may fit a still wider range of observations. In science, the testing and improving and occasional discarding of theories, whether new or old, go on all the time. Scientists assume that even if there is no way to secure complete and absolute truth, increasingly accurate approximations can be made to account for the world and how it works.

　　研究科学的过程也是一个发掘和获得知识的过程。这个过程要依靠仔细地观察现象，并从观察中创立各种理论。知识变化是不可避免的，因为，新的观察发现可以对流行的理论提出挑战。无论一种理论对一组现象的解释多么完美，但可能还有其他理论同样适用，甚至更好，或适用范围更广泛。在科学界，不管理论新旧，总是不断地对其进行验证、修改、有时还会抛弃。科学家认为，即使无法获得尽善尽美和绝对正确的真理，要说明这个世界及其怎样运转，得到日益精确的近似真理还是可以做到的。

Scientific Knowledge Is Durable

科学知识的持久性

Although scientists reject the notion of attaining absolute truth and accept some uncertainty as part of nature, most scientific knowledge is durable. The modification of ideas, rather than their outright rejection, is the norm in science, as powerful constructs tend to survive and grow more precise and to become widely accepted. For example, in formulating the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein did not discard the Newtonian laws of motion but rather showed them to be only an approximation of limited application within a more general concept. (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses Newtonian mechanics, for instance, in calculating satellite trajectories.) Moreover, the growing ability of scientists to make accurate predictions about natural phenomena provides convincing evidence that we really are gaining in our understanding of how the world works. Continuity and stability are as characteristic of science as change is, and confidence is as prevalent as tentativeness.

虽然科学家反对能获得绝对真理的概念，并认为其中不确定性是事物本性的一部分，但绝大部分知识都具有持久性。当一个有影响的概念力求保存下来，变得更加精确而为更多人所接受时，修正概念，而不是彻底地否定概念是科学的准则。例如，艾伯特•爱因斯坦创立相对论时，不是摈弃牛顿的物体运动定律，而是指出在一个更广泛的概念中，牛顿定律是一条只能有限度运用的近似的定律(例如美国国家航天航空管理局就用牛顿力学定律计算卫星轨道)。然而，科学家们准确地预见到自然现象日益增长的能力，足以证明我们对这个世界的认识正在不断深化。连续性和稳定性如同变化一样都是科学的特征，试验性和置信性同在。

Science Cannot Provide Complete Answers to All Questions

科学不能为所有问题提供完整答案

There are many matters that cannot usefully be examined in a scientific way. There are, for instance, beliefs that—by their very nature—cannot be proved or disproved (such as the existence of supernatural powers and beings, or the true purposes of life). In other cases, a scientific approach that may be valid is likely to be rejected as irrelevant by people who hold to certain beliefs (such as in miracles, fortune-telling, astrology, and superstition). Nor do scientists have the means to settle issues concerning good and evil, although they can sometimes contribute to the discussion of such issues by identifying the likely consequences of particular actions, which may be helpful in weighing alternatives. 

世间有许多事物不能用科学方法检验。例如，信仰就其本性是不能证明或否定的(例如，超自然力和事物的存在，以及生活的真正目的)。在另外一些场合，一种有效的科学方法还可能被具有某种信仰的人(例如，相信奇迹、算命、占星术和迷信的人)认为不恰当而遭致反对。此外，科学家没有能解决好与坏问题的手段，尽管在确认某些特别行动的可能后果时，他们有助于权衡好坏并对最终的决定做出贡献。

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

科学探索

Fundamentally, the various scientific disciplines are alike in their reliance on evidence, the use of hypothesis and theories, the kinds of logic used, and much more. Nevertheless, scientists differ greatly from one another in what phenomena they investigate and in how they go about their work; in the reliance they place on historical data or on experimental findings and on qualitative or quantitative methods; in their recourse to fundamental principles; and in how much they draw on the findings of other sciences. Still, the exchange of techniques, information, and concepts goes on all the time among scientists, and there are common understandings among them about what constitutes an investigation that is scientifically valid.

从根本上来说，科学的各学科在依靠证据、利用假设和理论、运用逻辑推理等很多方面是相同的。然而科学家在调查现象，开展工作，对历史数据或试验结果的依赖，使用定性或定量分析的方法等方面是很不相同的;在使用基本原理和借助其他科学原理方面也是不相同的。不过，科学家之间在技术、信息和概念方面的交流不断进行着，他们对什么构成科学上有效的调查研究有着共同的认识。

Scientific inquiry is not easily described apart from the context of particular investigations. There simply is no fixed set of steps that scientists always follow, no one path that leads them unerringly to scientific knowledge. There are, however, certain features of science that give it a distinctive character as a mode of inquiry. Although those features are especially characteristic of the work of professional scientists, everyone can exercise them in thinking scientifically about many matters of interest in everyday life.

离开了具体的调查研究背景，科学探索就难以叙述清楚。没有一个简单的一成不变的步骤可供科学家们遵循，没有一条道路可以担保正确地引导科学家获取科学知识。然而，科学的某些特性给予科学的探求模式以显著的特征。尽管这些特性是职业科学家的工作所特有的，但是，每个人在科学地思考日常生活中的有趣事物时，都可以运用它们。

Science Demands Evidence

科学需要证据

Sooner or later, the validity of scientific claims is settled by referring to observations of phenomena. Hence, scientists concentrate on getting accurate data. Such evidence is obtained by observations and measurements taken in situations that range from natural settings (such as a forest) to completely contrived ones (such as the laboratory). To make their observations, scientists use their own senses, instruments (such as microscopes) that enhance those senses, and instruments that tap characteristics quite different from what humans can sense (such as magnetic fields). Scientists observe passively (earthquakes, bird migrations), make collections (rocks, shells), and actively probe the world (as by boring into the earth's crust or administering experimental medicines).

科学主张的正确性迟早要通过对现象的观察来判定。因而，科学家把注意力集中在搜集准确的数据上。这种证据只有通过观察和测绘才能获得。观察的场所可以从自然环境(如森林)到完全人造的环境(如实验室)。为了进行观察，科学家们不仅利用自己的辨别力，还使用增强辨别力的仪器(如显微镜)，以此能发现人的辨别力所完全不能发现的特性(如磁场)。科学家被动观察现象(如地震、候鸟迁徙)和搜集样本(如岩石、贝壳)，积极地探索这个世界(如往地壳岩层钻孔，或者服用试验新药)。

In some circumstances, scientists can control conditions deliberately and precisely to obtain their evidence. They may, for example, control the temperature, change the concentration of chemicals, or choose which organisms mate with which others. By varying just one condition at a time, they can hope to identify its exclusive effects on what happens, uncomplicated by changes in other conditions. Often, however, control of conditions may be impractical (as in studying stars), or unethical (as in studying people), or likely to distort the natural phenomena (as in studying wild animals in captivity). In such cases, observations have to be made over a sufficiently wide range of naturally occurring conditions to infer what the influence of various factors might be. Because of this reliance on evidence, great value is placed on the development of better instruments and techniques of observation, and the findings of any one investigator or group are usually checked by others.

在某些场合，科学家们可以自由地控制条件，准确地获得证据。例如，他们可以控制温度，改变化学试剂的浓度，或者选择一种生物与另一种生物杂交。他们每次改变一个条件，希望能确定变化带来的特有影响，然后采取同样方法改变其他的条件。但是，有些控制条件无法实现(如研究行星)，或者不合伦理(如研究人)，或者可能与自然现象相悖(如研究俘获的野生动物)。在这种情况下，必须在足够广阔的范围和与自然界相似的环境下进行观察，才能推断出各种因素产生的影响。由于科学需要证据，所以开发更好的观察仪器和观察技术便具有重大的价值。此外，任何研究人员或研究小组的发现通常都要接受其他人的检查。

Science Is a Blend of Logic and Imagination

科学是逻辑和想象的融合

Although all sorts of imagination and thought may be used in coming up with hypotheses and theories, sooner or later scientific arguments must conform to the principles of logical reasoning—that is, to testing the validity of arguments by applying certain criteria of inference, demonstration, and common sense. Scientists may often disagree about the value of a particular piece of evidence, or about the appropriateness of particular assumptions that are made—and therefore disagree about what conclusions are justified. But they tend to agree about the principles of logical reasoning that connect evidence and assumptions with conclusions.

尽管各种想象和思想都要同假设和理论一起使用，但是，科学论点迟早要符合逻辑推理原则。也就是说，通过采用某些推理标准，通过示范和常识来验证这些论点的正确性。科学家们常常对某些取得证据的价值持有不同意见或对假设的恰当与否表示疑问，进而，不同意判定的结论。但是，他们同意把证据和假设同结论联结起来的逻辑推理原则。

Scientists do not work only with data and well-developed theories. Often, they have only tentative hypotheses about the way things may be. Such hypotheses are widely used in science for choosing what data to pay attention to and what additional data to seek, and for guiding the interpretation of data. In fact, the process of formulating and testing hypotheses is one of the core activities of scientists. To be useful, a hypothesis should suggest what evidence would support it and what evidence would refute it. A hypothesis that cannot in principle be put to the test of evidence may be interesting, but it is not likely to be scientifically useful.

科学家们并不只是借助数据和成熟的理论开展工作。他们还常常利用尝试性假设探讨事物的本来面目。在科学研究中，这种假设被广泛用来选择需要重视的数据和选择额外数据，以及指导对数据的解释。事实上，形成假设和验证假设的过程是科学的核心活动之一。假设的用途在于能暗示人们哪些证据能证实它，哪些证据将否定它。从原则上讲，一个不能用证据验证的假设可能很有趣，但是在科学上却不一定是有用的。

The use of logic and the close examination of evidence are necessary but not usually sufficient for the advancement of science. Scientific concepts do not emerge automatically from data or from any amount of analysis alone. Inventing hypotheses or theories to imagine how the world works and then figuring out how they can be put to the test of reality is as creative as writing poetry, composing music, or designing skyscrapers. Sometimes discoveries in science are made unexpectedly, even by accident. But knowledge and creative insight are usually required to recognize the meaning of the unexpected. Aspects of data that have been ignored by one scientist may lead to new discoveries by another.

对科学发展来说，运用逻辑推理和严密地核查证据是必需的。但是，这样做对推进科学发展往往还不够。科学概念不会仅从数据中、从一定量的分析中自动地形成。提出假设，发明理论来想象这个世界是怎样运转的，然后再解决假设和理论如何能够接受现实的检验的问题，就如同写诗、谱曲和设计摩天大厦一样具有创造性。有些科学发现完全是意外中偶然获得的。但是，通常要具有知识和创造性的洞察力才能认识到这种意外事物的意义。被一个科学家忽略的数据，可能会导致另一个科学家的新发现。

Science Explains and Predicts

科学解释和预见

Scientists strive to make sense of observations of phenomena by constructing explanations for them that use, or are consistent with, currently accepted scientific principles. Such explanations—theories—may be either sweeping or restricted, but they must be logically sound and incorporate a significant body of scientifically valid observations. The credibility of scientific theories often comes from their ability to show relationships among phenomena that previously seemed unrelated. The theory of moving continents, for example, has grown in credibility as it has shown relationships among such diverse phenomena as earthquakes, volcanoes, the match between types of fossils on different continents, the shapes of continents, and the contours of the ocean floors.

科学家们利用或协调现在人们已经接受的科学原理，提出种种解释，力求弄懂观察到的现象。这种解释——理论——既可能是概括的，也可能受到限制。但是，他们必须合乎逻辑，必须与一定量的、科学上有效的观察结合起来。科学理论的可信性常常在于它能显示以前似乎不相关现象间的内在联系。例如，大陆漂移理论可信性的增加是在于它可以说明各种地质现象间的联系，如地震、火山、不同大陆上化石类别的匹配、大陆的形状、海床的轮廓。

The essence of science is validation by observation. But it is not enough for scientific theories to fit only the observations that are already known. Theories should also fit additional observations that were not used in formulating the theories in the first place; that is, theories should have predictive power. Demonstrating the predictive power of a theory does not necessarily require the prediction of events in the future. The predictions may be about evidence from the past that has not yet been found or studied. A theory about the origins of human beings, for example, can be tested by new discoveries of human-like fossil remains. This approach is clearly necessary for reconstructing the events in the history of the earth or of the life forms on it. It is also necessary for the study of processes that usually occur very slowly, such as the building of mountains or the aging of stars. Stars, for example, evolve more slowly than we can usually observe. Theories of the evolution of stars, however, may predict unsuspected relationships between features of starlight that can then be sought in existing collections of data about stars.

科学的本质是通过观察验证。但是，科学理论只适用已经观察到的现象是不够的，理论还应能适用于那些创立理论时尚未观察到的现象，也就是说，科学理论应具有预见性。证明某种理论的预见性并非必然要求预测未来的事件，预测也可以是以往仍未被发现或研究过的证据。例如，人类起源的理论已由新发现的猿人化石证实。显然，在重新推断地球及其生命形态的历史时，需要采用这种方法。在研究变化很慢的事物进程时，如山脉的形成和恒星的年龄，也要采用这种方法。例如，恒星的进化过程比我们能观察到的现象要慢得多。然而，运用恒星进化理论可以预测出不同性质的星光存在不容置疑的联系，这种星光的特性可以在已经收集到的恒星数据中找到。

Scientists Try to Identify and Avoid Bias

科学家要努力鉴别，避免偏见

When faced with a claim that something is true, scientists respond by asking what evidence supports it. But scientific evidence can be biased in how the data are interpreted, in the recording or reporting of the data, or even in the choice of what data to consider in the first place. Scientists' nationality, sex, ethnic origin, age, political convictions, and so on may incline them to look for or emphasize one or another kind of evidence or interpretation. For example, for many years the study of primates—by male scientists—focused on the competitive social behavior of males. Not until female scientists entered the field was the importance of female primates' community-building behavior recognized.

当科学家们面对一个声称正确的事物时，就会反问：“如何证实?”由于对数据的解释不同，记录或报告方式不同，以及选取什么样的数据，科学验证可能会被歪曲。科学家的国籍、性别、民族、年龄、政治信仰等等都可能影响他们偏向寻求或强调这种或那种数据或解释。例如，多年以来，男性科学家所做的灵长目动物研究，重点一直放在雄性动物的竞争性社会行为上。直到女性科学家进入了这个研究领域，雌性灵长目动物在组成群体中的重要作用才被认识。

Bias attributable to the investigator, the sample, the method, or the instrument may not be completely avoidable in every instance, but scientists want to know the possible sources of bias and how bias is likely to influence evidence. Scientists want, and are expected, to be as alert to possible bias in their own work as in that of other scientists, although such objectivity is not always achieved. One safeguard against undetected bias in an area of study is to have many different investigators or groups of investigators working in it.

在研究、取样、选定方法和选用仪器时，不能完全避免偏见。但是，科学家们要知道造成偏见的原因，以及偏见对验证的影响。科学家要求和希望警惕工作中的偏见，同时希望其他科学家也如此。但是，这种主观愿望并不是总能实现。在一个研究领域，对付难于察觉的偏见的防范措施是让许多不同的研究人员或研究小组从事这项工作。

Science Is Not Authoritarian

科学不仰仗权威

It is appropriate in science, as elsewhere, to turn to knowledgeable sources of information and opinion, usually people who specialize in relevant disciplines. But esteemed authorities have been wrong many times in the history of science. In the long run, no scientist, however famous or highly placed, is empowered to decide for other scientists what is true, for none are believed by other scientists to have special access to the truth. There are no preestablished conclusions that scientists must reach on the basis of their investigations.

科学研究和其他工作一样，要借助于能带来知识的信息和观点，这一般要通过具有相关学科专长的人来实现。但是，在科学史中，著名的权威也曾多次出现过错误。从长远的观点来看，没有一个科学家有权决定其他科学家是否正确，不论他多么著名，多么声望显赫。因为，没有一个科学家可以代表绝对真理。而且，世间不存在未经科学家亲自调查而得出的现成结论。

In the short run, new ideas that do not mesh well with mainstream ideas may encounter vigorous criticism, and scientists investigating such ideas may have difficulty obtaining support for their research. Indeed, challenges to new ideas are the legitimate business of science in building valid knowledge. Even the most prestigious scientists have occasionally refused to accept new theories despite there being enough accumulated evidence to convince others. In the long run, however, theories are judged by their results: When someone comes up with a new or improved version that explains more phenomena or answers more important questions than the previous version, the new one eventually takes its place. 

从近期角度来看，与主导思想大相径庭的新概念可能遭到强烈的批评，从事这项研究的科学家也很难得到支持。确实，在创立正确的学说时，向新概念挑战是正常的。即使最有声望的科学家有时也会拒绝接受新的理论，尽管足够的证据已使其他科学家信服。然而，从长远的观点来看，理论是由结果来判断的。当一些人提出一个新的，或者经过改进的理论后，如果新理论比旧理论能解释更多的现象，或者回答更重要的问题时，新理论就会渐渐地取代旧理论。

THE SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE

科学事业

Science as an enterprise has individual, social, and institutional dimensions. Scientific activity is one of the main features of the contemporary world and, perhaps more than any other, distinguishes our times from earlier centuries.

　　科学作为一项事业，具有个人、社会和团体三个层面。科学活动是当今世界的主要特征之一，与其他特征相比，科学或许更能把我们这个时代同以前的各个时代区别开来。

Science Is a Complex Social Activity

科学是一项复杂的社会活动

Scientific work involves many individuals doing many different kinds of work and goes on to some degree in all nations of the world. Men and women of all ethnic and national backgrounds participate in science and its applications. These people—scientists and engineers, mathematicians, physicians, technicians, computer programmers, librarians, and others—may focus on scientific knowledge either for its own sake or for a particular practical purpose, and they may be concerned with data gathering, theory building, instrument building, or communicating.

科学工作涉及许多个体去从事许多不同的工作，科学在一定程度上在世界各国范围内进行。所有民族、所有国家的男人和女人都参与科学研究和应用。这些人包括科学家、工程师、数学家、物理学家、技术人员、计算机编程人员、图书管理员等等。他们或为自己或为解决一定的实际问题，集中注意力探索科学知识。他们可能关心搜集数据、创立理论、制造仪器和交流信息等工作。

As a social activity, science inevitably reflects social values and viewpoints. The history of economic theory, for example, has paralleled the development of ideas of social justice—at one time, economists considered the optimum wage for workers to be no more than what would just barely allow the workers to survive. Before the twentieth century, and well into it, women and people of color were essentially excluded from most of science by restrictions on their education and employment opportunities; the remarkable few who overcame those obstacles were even then likely to have their work belittled by the science establishment.

作为一项社会活动，科学不可避免地要反映社会价值和社会观点。例如，经济理论史就随“社会公正”概念同步发展。经济学家们一度考虑支付给工人的最高工资只是够工人得以维持生存。在20世纪以前，妇女和黑人由于受到教育和就业机会的限制，基本上被排斥在大部分科学研究之外，即使极少数人能够克服这种障碍，他们的研究工作也会受到科学机构的轻视。进入20世纪以后，这种状况才有所好转。

The direction of scientific research is affected by informal influences within the culture of science itself, such as prevailing opinion on what questions are most interesting or what methods of investigation are most likely to be fruitful. Elaborate processes involving scientists themselves have been developed to decide which research proposals receive funding, and committees of scientists regularly review progress in various disciplines to recommend general priorities for funding.

科学研究的方向也会受到科学文化自身非正式的影响，如对于哪些问题最有趣，哪些研究方法最可能取得成果的流行观念的影响。这种影响还包括科学家自己参与的合作项目的进程，以及决定哪些研究能得到资助。科学家委员会定期检查各学科项目进展情况，对应优先给予资助的项目提出建议。

Science goes on in many different settings. Scientists are employed by universities, hospitals, business and industry, government, independent research organizations, and scientific associations. They may work alone, in small groups, or as members of large research teams. Their places of work include classrooms, offices, laboratories, and natural field settings from space to the bottom of the sea.

科学研究可以在许多不同的场所进行。科学家们可受雇于大学、医院、商界、工业界、政府、独立的研究机构和科学协会。他们既可以单独工作，也可以组成小组，或者作为大型研究团体的一员。他们的工作地点可包括教室、办公室、实验室，以及从空间到海底的所有自然场所。

Because of the social nature of science, the dissemination of scientific information is crucial to its progress. Some scientists present their findings and theories in papers that are delivered at meetings or published in scientific journals. Those papers enable scientists to inform others about their work, to expose their ideas to criticism by other scientists, and, of course, to stay abreast of scientific developments around the world. The advancement of information science (knowledge of the nature of information and its manipulation) and the development of information technologies (especially computer systems) affect all sciences. Those technologies speed up data collection, compilation, and analysis; make new kinds of analysis practical; and shorten the time between discovery and application.

由于科学具有社会属性，传播科学信息对于科学进步至关重要。有些科学家把他们的发现和理论写成论文，然后在会议上宣读或者在科学杂志上发表。他们用这些论文向别人通报自己的研究工作，宣传他们的理论，并让别的科学家来评论。当然，科学家也要同世界的科学发展并肩前进。信息科学的发展(即关于信息性质和信息处理的知识)和信息技术的提高(特别是计算机系统)影响到所有科学领域的发展。这些技术加速了数据收集、汇总和分析过程；形成了新型实用分析方法；缩短了发明到应用的时间。

Science Is Organized Into Content Disciplines and Is Conducted in Various Institutions

科学由学科内容组成，由不同机构研究

Organizationally, science can be thought of as the collection of all of the different scientific fields, or content disciplines. From anthropology through zoology, there are dozens of such disciplines. They differ from one another in many ways, including history, phenomena studied, techniques and language used, and kinds of outcomes desired. With respect to purpose and philosophy, however, all are equally scientific and together make up the same scientific endeavor. The advantage of having disciplines is that they provide a conceptual structure for organizing research and research findings. The disadvantage is that their divisions do not necessarily match the way the world works, and they can make communication difficult. In any case, scientific disciplines do not have fixed borders. Physics shades into chemistry, astronomy, and geology, as does chemistry into biology and psychology, and so on. New scientific disciplines (astrophysics and sociobiology, for instance) are continually being formed at the boundaries of others. Some disciplines grow and break into subdisciplines, which then become disciplines in their own right.

组织形式上，科学是所有不同科学领域或不同学科的有机结合。从人类学到动物学，可以分成许多学科，它们在许多方面彼此不同，包括学科的历史、研究的现象、使用的技术和语言，以及希望得到的结果。然而，如果从目的和哲学的角度来考虑，所有学科都同样具有科学性，同样产生了科学的推动力。分成学科的优点在于，这样做可以形成一个组织研究和得到成果的结构。缺点在于，这种划分方法与世界的运行规律并不完全匹配，可能还会造成交流困难。在任何场合，科学学科都没有固定的边界。物理学可以渗透到化学、天文学和地质学，化学可以与生物学和心理学融通，等等。在这些学科的交界处，不断地产生出新的学科(如天文物理学和社会生物学)。有些学科还在不断发展，形成亚学科，然后这些亚学科又不断发展，变成新的学科。

Universities, industry, and government are also part of the structure of the scientific endeavor. University research usually emphasizes knowledge for its own sake, although much of it is also directed toward practical problems. Universities, of course, are also particularly committed to educating successive generations of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. Industries and businesses usually emphasize research directed to practical ends, but many also sponsor research that has no immediately obvious applications, partly on the premise that it will be applied fruitfully in the long run. The federal government funds much of the research in universities and in industry but also supports and conducts research in its many national laboratories and research centers. Private foundations, public-interest groups, and state governments also support research.

大学、工业界和政府也是构成科学推动力的一个组成部分。通常大学的研究侧重于为其本身发展探索知识，尽管其中很多研究也直接面向解决实际问题。当然，大学特别致力于成功地培养、教育一代代科学家、数学家和工程师。工业界和商业界通常注重实用目的。但是，也赞助许多不能马上投入使用的研究项目，前提是从长远角度来看这些研究具有实用价值。美国联邦政府不仅大力资助大学和工业界的研究，而且也支持许多国家实验室和研究中心开展研究。私人基金会、公共利益集团和州政府也支持研究工作。

Funding agencies influence the direction of science by virtue of the decisions they make on which research to support. Other deliberate controls on science result from federal (and sometimes local) government regulations on research practices that are deemed to be dangerous and on the treatment of the human and animal subjects used in experiments.

赞助机构依靠自己支持某些研究的决策影响科学研究的方向。其他对科研的人为控制来自联邦政府(有时是地方政府)有关科学研究的法规条例，这涉及危险的科研活动和在试验中处理人体和动物的试验对象。

There Are Generally Accepted Ethical Principles in the Conduct of Science

科学研究中有着普遍接受的道德规范

Most scientists conduct themselves according to the ethical norms of science. The strongly held traditions of accurate recordkeeping, openness, and replication, buttressed by the critical review of one's work by peers, serve to keep the vast majority of scientists well within the bounds of ethical professional behavior. Sometimes, however, the pressure to get credit for being the first to publish an idea or observation leads some scientists to withhold information or even to falsify their findings. Such a violation of the very nature of science impedes science. When discovered, it is strongly condemned by the scientific community and the agencies that fund research.

大部分科学家的自身行为都能符合科学研究的道德规范。恪守准确记录、研究公开、反复验证的传统，一个科学家的研究工作受到同行的严格核查等等，这些传统使绝大多数科学家都具有良好的职业道德规范。然而，有时由于受到当最先公布一种理论或一项观察结果所带来声誉的压力，一些科学家不愿公开这些资料，甚至篡改他们的发现。这种对科学本性的亵渎阻碍了科学的发展，一旦发现这种情况，就会受到科学界和研究资助机构的强烈谴责。

Another domain of scientific ethics relates to possible harm that could result from scientific experiments. One aspect is the treatment of live experimental subjects. Modern scientific ethics require that due regard must be given to the health, comfort, and well-being of animal subjects. Moreover, research involving human subjects may be conducted only with the informed consent of the subjects, even if this constraint limits some kinds of potentially important research or influences the results. Informed consent entails full disclosure of the risks and intended benefits of the research and the right to refuse to participate. In addition, scientists must not knowingly subject coworkers, students, the neighborhood, or the community to health or property risks without their knowledge and consent.

另一个科学道德领域涉及到科学实验可能造成的伤害，其中，包括对活体实验物的处置。现代科学道德要求考虑实验动物的健康、舒适和良好待遇。在利用人体进行研究时，只有征得本人同意以后才能进行。即使这规定限制了一些非常重要的研究，或者影响了研究结果，也必须这样做。征求参与者的意见时，必须告诉他们这项研究的全部风险和可能得到的好处，以及他们有拒绝参与的权力。此外，在事先没有通知和征得同意的情况下，科学家绝不能故意使同事、学生、邻居和公众的健康或财产受到危害。

The ethics of science also relates to the possible harmful effects of applying the results of research. The long-term effects of science may be unpredictable, but some idea of what applications are expected from scientific work can be ascertained by knowing who is interested in funding it. If, for example, the Department of Defense offers contracts for working on a line of theoretical mathematics, mathematicians may infer that it has application to new military technology and therefore would likely be subject to secrecy measures. Military or industrial secrecy is acceptable to some scientists but not to others. Whether a scientist chooses to work on research of great potential risk to humanity, such as nuclear weapons or germ warfare, is considered by many scientists to be a matter of personal ethics, not one of professional ethics.

科学道德问题还涉及到应用研究成果可能带来的有害影响。科学成果的长期影响难以预测。但是，通过了解谁愿意资助这项研究，可以查明这项研究的实用目的。例如，如果国防部愿意签署一项协议研究线性数学理论问题，数学家就可以猜想，这项研究将用于新的军事技术，而且可能与某项秘密计划有关。有些科学家可以接受军事秘密和工业秘密，有些则不愿意接受。一位科学家是否选择从事对人类具有巨大的潜在危险的研究工作(如核武器或细菌武器)被认为是个人伦理的事，并不涉及职业道德问题。

Scientists Participate in Public Affairs Both as Specialists and as Citizens

科学家在参与公共事务时，既是科学家也是公民

Scientists can bring information, insights, and analytical skills to bear on matters of public concern. Often they can help the public and its representatives to understand the likely causes of events (such as natural and technological disasters) and to estimate the possible effects of projected policies (such as ecological effects of various farming methods). Often they can testify to what is not possible. In playing this advisory role, scientists are expected to be especially careful in trying to distinguish fact from interpretation, and research findings from speculation and opinion; that is, they are expected to make full use of the principles of scientific inquiry.

　　科学家可以通过提供信息、见解和分析技巧，影响为公众所关心的事物，他们往往能够帮助公众以及公众的代理人了解事件产生的原因(如自然灾害和技术灾害)，估计规划政策的潜在后果(如各种耕种方法对生态的影响)。他们常常能够证明哪些设想不能实现。当科学家发挥顾问的作用时，科学家试图区别事实和解释，研究结果和猜测意见时，人们总是期望他们极其小心谨慎。这就是说人们希望他们能充分地利用科学探索的各项原则。

Even so, scientists can seldom bring definitive answers to matters of public debate. Some issues are too complex to fit within the current scope of science, or there may be little reliable information available, or the values involved may lie outside of science. Moreover, although there may be at any one time a broad consensus on the bulk of scientific knowledge, the agreement does not extend to all scientific issues, let alone to all science-related social issues. And of course, on issues outside of their expertise, the opinions of scientists should enjoy no special credibility.

尽管如此，科学家们对一些公众争议的问题很少能做出肯定的回答。因为有些问题过于复杂，超出了科学的范畴；有的则缺少可靠的信息，或含有的价值已超出科学的范围。虽然有时对大量的科学知识可以取得广泛一致的见解，但是，这种一致性不能扩展到所有科学问题，更不必说那些与科学有关的所有社会问题。当然，如果问题超出科学家专长的范围，那么他们的看法就不应享有特殊的可信度。

In their work, scientists go to great lengths to avoid bias—their own as well as that of others. But in matters of public interest, scientists, like other people, can be expected to be biased where their own personal, corporate, institutional, or community interests are at stake. For example, because of their commitment to science, many scientists may understandably be less than objective in their beliefs on how science is to be funded in comparison to other social needs.

在工作中，虽然科学家们尽最大努力避免自己和他人的偏见，但是，当公共利益以及他们个人的利益、合作伙伴的利益、本单位的利益和本社区的利益受到威胁时，他们也会同别人一样产生偏见。例如，由于对科学的偏爱，许多科学家在比较科学研究和其他社会需求的资金分配时，可能就不太客观。