——如何阅读一本书笔记 17
Part 3 Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter
CH17 How to Read Science and Mathematics
“ If we want to know something about what our age is all about, we should have some understanding of what mathematics is, and of how the mathematician operates and thinks. ”
如果我们想了解我们生活的年代，我们应该了解数学是什么，数学家是如何思考的？
不要被这一章的标题迷惑，实际上这一章并不是让指导我们如何阅读某类具体的学科书籍，因为作为某类学科的外行，我们没有必要想专家一样阅读专业的书籍。但是，科技是我们生活不可或缺的一部分，你不必成为专家，但是如果想更好的了解我们的生活，应该了解一些科技，要会读科普读物或是科技文章。懂点量子力学，相对论，至少看《星际穿越》时候会更开心
作者推荐阅读两类科学书籍：
1.伟大的科学经典著作，目的是了解科学的历史和哲学
2.科普读物， 目的是更好的了解我们的生活
我们之前学习的针对论述类作品的阅读方法更适合于阅读科技类书籍，阅读过程是:发现作者要解决的问题，认识问题本身及问题的背景。
Words & Phrases (每日五词）
1.fall back on (something)
alsofall back upon (something): to use (something) for help or protection when you are in a bad situation
When her health insurance was canceled she had nothing tofall back on.
2.recourse /rɪˈkɔːs/noun
a source of help in a difficult situation
求助的对象; （赖以得救的）方法, 手段：
surgery may be the only recourse.
外科手术可能是惟一的解救办法。
3. interstitial /ˌɪntəˈstɪʃəl/adjective
of, forming, or occupying interstices
空隙的, 间隙的, 裂隙的, 缝隙的：
the interstitial space.
空隙。
4.theorem /ˈθɪərəm/noun
Physics & Mathematics a general proposition not self-evident but proved by a chain of reasoning; a truth established by means of accepted truths.
【物理, 数】定理, 定律, 命题。
5. attentive /əˈtentɪv/adjective
paying close attention to something
注意的; 专心的：
never before had she had such an attentive audience
以前她从未有过这样专心的听众
Summary of chapter 17
Aa a layman, why do we need to read science and Mathematics?
Here, the author means we need to read two kinds of these works: one istraditional great scientific and mathematical classics, and the other is modern scientific popularization.
- The task of reading great scientific is to understand the history and philosophy of science.
- Reading popular science is to know something about what our age is all about.
Suggestions or reading Classical scientific books
- Grasp the propositions by leading terms
-Distinguish two propositions: inductive proposition ( observable evidence)and deductive proposition (proved by other propositions)
- Don’t be afraid of mathematics. Just keep in mind mathematics is just a language, so it has its own vocabulary, grammar and syntax.
Your obligation is not to become competent in the subject matter but instead to understand the problem.
Rules for Popular Science ( similar to expository works)
- Read actively is much more important.
- Identify the subject matter.
- Discover the relation between the whole and its parts.
- Come to terms and plot the propositions and arguments.
- Criticize before complete understanding.
感悟：
作为一枚理工女实在惭愧，好多科普文章都看不懂了。其实不是看不懂，是不会看。其一是缺乏足够的专注，二是没有抓住事实，没有把推论，原理，论述之间的关系搞清楚。
最后有个翻译问题想跟大家讨教：
Most important of all, it is an activity of the mind that is essential to education, the central aim of which has always been recognized, from Socrates’ day down to our own, as the freeing of the mind through the discipline of wonder.
我把句子的主干提取出来，
It is an activity which has always been recognized as the freeing of the mind through the discipline of wonder.
这个the discipline of wonder怎么理解？我去查了译本，翻译的让我云里雾里的 ，居然是“透过怀疑的训练”。
感谢@张老师发来的参考
But what does he mean by the discipline of wonder?
The ideal of lifelong learning, that catchphrase so often bandied about, implies that wonder is a quality that can outlast childhood, perhaps even survive adolescence. What Adler says very clearly inThe Paideia Proposal(1982) and elsewhere is that it is a fundamental attribute of the human psyche, and not onlycanit outlast the splendor of childhood, but itshould. It is an attribute of any healthy, evolving adult. What gives the free and open state of wonder the necessary durability to last a lifetime is discipline—in the sense that wonder can and should be sharpened, focused, trained.
