Introduction
1 reasoning :the process of thinking about things in a logical way;opinions and ideas that are based on logical thinking 推想；推理；理性的观点；论证。
Eg. Could you explain your reasoning ?
2 empirical :relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory.
Eg.They collected plenty of empirical data from their experiments.
The scientific method
if it seems true,then the results may be sent out for peer review ,in which people working in the same or a similar firleld are invited to 0"pick holes in the argument,and so falsify the theory,or to repeat the experienment to make sure that the results are correct.
3 send out for sth:to ask a resturant or shop to deliver food to you at home or at work .
Eg. Let's send out for a pizza .
send sth out:(1)to send sth to a lot of different people or place .
Eg. Have the invitations been sent out yet?
(2)to produce sth,such as light,a signal,sound,etc.
4 peer review : a process by which a scholarly work (such as a paper or a research proposal) is checked by a group of experts in the same field to make sure it meets the necessary standards before it is published or accepted.
5 pick holes:to find the weak points in sth such as a plan,duggestion,etc.
Eg. It was easy to pick holes in his arguments.
6 falsify:to make (something) false : to change (something) in order to make people believe something that is not true.
Eg. He was caught falsifying the accounts.
It was spotted on 25December
7 spot:too see or notice a person or thing,especially suddenly or when it is not easy to do so.
Eg. I finally spotted my friend in crowd.
8 speculative:based on guesses or ideas about what might happen or be true rather than on facts: tending to think about what might happen or be true.
Eg. His conclusion are highly speculative.
9 alpha partical: a positively charged nuclear particle identical with the nucleus of a helium atom that consists of two protons and two neutrons and is ejected at high speed in certain radioactive transformations —called also alpha, alpha radiation, alpha ray.
10 deflection: the act of changing or causing something to change direction.
Eg.measuring the angle of deflection.
11 eclipse : an occasion when the sun looks like it is completely or partially covered with a dark circle because the moon is between the sun and the Earth.
Eg.an esclipse of the sun.
The scientific method
12 phlogiston : the hypothetical principle of fire regarded formerly as a material substance.(燃素）
Star-gazers
13 supernova: the explosion of a star that causes the star to become extremely bright.(天文：超新星）
Birth of mordern science
14 alchemy : a science that was used in the Middle Ages with the goal of changing ordinary metals into gold.炼金术
: a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way.
Eg.She practiced her alchemy in the kitchen, turning a pile of vegetables into a delicious salad.
15 fold-out 折叠式插页
Eg.fold-out illustration
Elements,atoms,evolution
16 combustion : the act of burning
: a chemical reaction that occurs when oxygen combines with other substances to produce heat and usually light.
Eg.combusion may occur at high temperatures.
17 strata : one of usually many layers of a substance (such as rock)
: a level of society made up of people of the same rank or position
Eg.the lower strata of society have been hit especially hard by this economic downturn.
18 pebble : a small, round stone ; especially : one that has been made smooth by the movement of water.
Eg. To pelt with pebbles (pelt 投掷）
Uncertainty and infinity
harbour life
19 harbour:to live or exist
Secrets of life
20 albeit :even though
Summary
This is my first time to do some reading notes . I just want to say it's a little difficult for me. Although I can read this passage, I can not understand it accurately. I know myself better that I also have a long distance to the excellent people. So I should work hard more.
Ok,continued my reading note. Through this passage, I know about the knowledge of science: "science is an ongoing search for truth ." This is really true. The scientific method with step 1:make observation step 2:form a theory step 3:experiments to test the theory or spculate. These methods reflect our life, when we want to finish sonething,we also need to follow these steps.
This passage is about the history of science, so author writes this passage with time sequence,and he briefly introduce "first scientists and star-gazers ""house of wisdom ""birth of modern science ""elements,atoms and evolution ""uncertanity,infinity and secrets of life ".
This passage discussed the experiment of Rutherford 's alpha partical scattering. In it, a beam of alpha particals is ained at a thin foil of gold. Through this experiment, he found that the nucleus of an atom has a relatively small diameter compared with that of the atom and most of the mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus. This is a great achievement,which also provide references for backward researching.
At last, I will cite the author 's words that " As today's scientists buid on these and other achievements, the relentless search for the truth continues. It seems likely that there will always be more questions than answers,but future discoveries will continue to amaze ". Yes,our life need us to step foward and we need to persist on everything what we want to get. Science is a process ,while our life also maybe ,so work hard everyday an treasure present time.
Tomorrow is another day!
