Mathematization of natural sciences

Exact science in its generally accepted sense can be referred as a family of specialized natural sciences, each of them providing evidence and information about the different aspects of nature by somewhat different working methods. It follows that mathematics in its pure sense does not enter into this frame, its object of study, being not nature itself. Being independent of all observations of the outside world, it attempts to build logical systems based on axioms. In other words, it concentrates on formulating the language of mathematical symbols and equations which may be applied to the functional relations found in nature.

This “mathematization”, in the opinion of most specialists, is witnessed first in physics which deals with general laws of matter and energy on subatomic, atomic and molecular levels. Further application of these mathematical laws and studies is made by chemistry and results in structural bonds between the elements of matter being established.

Grammar Review

I. Translate the sentences and say if they are true for you:

1. I was grown up to believe that life was a gift, and that I had to treasure it.
2. If there is some work to do, I prefer to do it alone.
3. Relatives can never become a source of problems.
4. I don’t mind seeing a film, even if it is thought of as a bore.
5. I am looking forward to finding a good job with an international laboratory.
6. It’s fun to be working together on one problem.
7. My best friend is thought to have studied in a special class.
8. One of my teachers is known to have been working on the same problem for ten years.
9. If you are in university to study, most work is to be done at home.
10. I always suggest choosing the shortest way in solving any problem.

II. Translate into English:

1. Этот фактор слишком важен, чтобы не принять его во внимание. 2. Если мы хотим добиться цели, мы должны учесть также фактор времени. 3. Цель книги заключается в том, чтобы представить все доводы в пользу этих исследований. 4. Эта идея достаточно очевидна и сама собой напрашивается. 5. Извлекать уроки из прошлого опыта не так просто, как это может показаться. 6. Он был достаточно сильно личностью, чтобы преодолеть сопротивление своих коллег. 7. Чтобы по достоинству оценить значение этого эксперимента, необходимо сравнить его с остальными работами в этой области. 8. Избежать ошибок, как правило, очень трудно.

Phrasal Verbs

TURN

Against ополчиться против

Away отвернуться

Back повернуть назад; сгибать

Down уменьшать, отклонять

Grey поседеть

In повернуть вовнутрь

Inside вывернуть наизнанку

Into превратиться

Off выключать

On включать; напасть на

Out вывернуть наизнанку; выпустить

Over перевернуться; обдумать

Pale побледнеть

Red покраснеть

Round обернуться

Sour скиснуть

To обратиться

Up появиться; подшить; сделать громче

Upside down перевернуть вверх дном

Unit 11

Read and translate the text:

Text

LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS

Man has always been fascinated by the possibility of life on other worlds. As long ago as the second century, science fiction writers were peopling the universe with bizarre creatures. When scientists began to develop instruments capable of analyzing distant planets, they generally dismissed the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It was suggested that the atmospheres and temperature ranges of those planets should be different from those of ther earth, which is still the only known life-supporting planet. In recent years, however, scientists have begun to change their minds. They understand how life might have originated under conditions that would appear alien to us now. At the dawn of life on earth, its atmosphere must have resembled that of such apparently hostile planet as Jupiter. Accepting the possibility of life is one thing. Proving it is another. It should be emphasized that great interplanetary distance is still the major obstacle to exploration. But scientists are developing machines and techniques for finding life, preparing for the inevitable day when those distances would be spanned – and man would make his first contact with living beings on another world.

Grammar Review

Expressions to remember:

Anyway

After all

In some respects

First of all

In many ways

In detail

To some extent

As a whole

In particular

So far

At present

Scientifically speaking

Broadly speaking

I. Give Russian equivalents:

1. If you never thought of asking a question you are not interested in having the answer. 2. If you want to succeed in interesting the audience you should not try surprising them with an isolated fact. 3. By having defined one’s research objective one has already made the first, and the most important, step towards the final success. 4. Many useless experiments were prevented from being made by an adequate theory. 5. A true scientist is interested in being told about his mistakes. 6. Research is searching without knowing what you are going to find. 7. Any single card should contain notes from only one source. This will aid in arranging and organizing the materials for your research paper. 8. We do not know how to solve the problem of interesting schoolchildren in science. 9. His research resulted in establishing a new mechanism of the process. 10. Some people say that theory is a device for saving time.

II. Translate into English:

1. Чтобы облегчить понимание данной проблемы, было выпущено несколько научных трудов.
2. Было защищено две диссертации по данной проблеме.
3. Что нужно сделать, чтобы отделить железо от примесей?
4. Для того, чтобы начать заниматься наукой, нужно прежде всего иметь сильное желание познать окружающий мир.
5. Чтобы не выглядеть несведущим, оппонент прочитал пару работ по теме диссертации, написанной молодым ученым.
6. Две эти идеи столкнулись, породив новую область знания.

III. Translate into Russian:

1. The mid-20^th century has witnessed the scientist becoming the most valued member of society. 2. The original idea of a discovery is often the product of one man working in a group environment. 3. There is more chance now of this suggestion being true. 4. A true scientist is prepared for his mistakes being pointed out to him. 5. The snobs at the institute could not tolerate electrical engineers walking around with thier dirty hands and spoiling the purity of the scientific atmosphere. 6. It is believed that there is hardly any chance of there being a mistake in these calculations.

“False friends of the translator”

Translate the sentences using one of the definitions:

ATTACK

1. нападать, атаковать 2. критиковать 3. энергично браться за работу 4. поражать (о болезни) 5. разрушать 6. начинать (что-то делать) 7. ориентировать 8. проверять

The applications that we are attacking are widely spread.

A first step might be to attack the program counter.

ATTRIBUTABLE

1. могущий быть приписанным, отнесенным; обусловленный, связанный, приходящийся на

This variation is attributable to two factors.

Other major sources of errors are attributable to high noise level.

ATTRIBUTE

1. отличительная черта, качество, свойство 2. символ, атрибут 3. определение, атрибут (грам.) 4. неотъемлемое свойство 5. характеристика 6. признак 7. возможность 8. преимущество, достоинство

The other important attribute of the inter-computer links is … .

The chip has attributes of both 8-and 16-bit processors.

We’ll discuss a number of systems which highlight one or more of these attributes.

Unit 12

Read and translate the text:

Text

THE EARTH

The Earth is a planet. It rotates on its axis, revolves around the Sun and moves with the Sun through space. The Earth gets its warm and light from the Sun all around the Earth is atmosphere. We breathe it, and it gives us our weather. The air is always moving. The movements of the air make our winds. Small drops odf water in the air form clouds. And as the clouds move about they bring us rain and snow and storms.

The equatorial diameter of the Earth is 12.756 kilometres. The Earth is like a sphere, but flat at the poles. This makes a difference of only 43 kilometres between the Earth’s diameter at the equator and the diameter at the poles. The weight of the Earth is the figure 6 followed by 21 zeros if count in tons.

The terrestrial globe revolves on its axis for 24 hours. When the terrestrial globe faces to the Sun, we can see sunlight and we have day. When terrestrial globe turns away from the Sun’s light, we have night. When our part begins to turn toward the Sun and we see the first sunlight, we call it morning. When we are facing the Sun most directly, it is noon. When the Earth begins to turn away from the Sun, we have afternoon and evening, and night.

The average speed revolution of the Earth round the Sun is 29.8 kilometres per second. The small eccentricity the orbit of the Earth does the little difference in its speed, but there is a difference in the length of the season because of this variation. The number of days between the beginning of spring and of autumn, in the northern hemisphere is 186, but the number of days between the beginning of autumn and the beginning of spring is 179.

The Earth takes 365 ¼ days to travel around the Sun. This makes our year. As the Earth travels around, first one pole then the other is tilted toward the Sun. When the North Pole tilts toward the Sun, the rays of the Sun fall straighter down on the northern half of the world. It is warmer and it has its summer (June, July and August). It also has longer days, because it turns to the Sun more of the time. When the South Pole is toward the Sun, the southern half of the world is warmer, and it has its summer in December, January and February). Then the northern half is getting less direct sunshine because it tilts away from the Sun. It has shorter days. It has winter. The seasons between them we call spring and autumn.

Grammar Review

I. Translate into English using phrases from Unit 11:

1. До сих пор такой подход только осложнял решение этой проблемы, которая в настоящее время требует поиска новых путей. 2. Прежде всего, нам следует обсудить этот вопрос. 3. Данная проблема будет рассматриваться в целом, хотя некоторые ее аспекты надо обсудить подробно. В частности, необходимо оценить, в какой-то степени, фактор времени. 4. В конце концов, это неплохо выход. 5. Во всяком случае, ваши основные положения правильны. 6. Отчасти вы правы. 7. Более того, существует много других возможностей для решения это проблемы, помимо только что упомянутой. 8. Во многом такой подход вполне оправдан. 9. Если взглянуть на проблему широко, то можно выделить, три основных положения, которые, по мнению автора, представляются спорными. 10. Однако, по-моему, это слишком категоричное утверждение. В научном плане может быть и неплохо, что наши возможности ограничены.

II. Identify the structures and give Russian equivalents:

1. It is not claimed that the research is aimed at deriving an entirely different set of axioms. 2. A bit of work was needed to establish this but once the result was accepted, it was the best instrument for exploring the atom. 3. In the early days of World War II many engineers were faced with the task of mastering the techniques of using radar. 4. Methods employed in solving a problem are strongly influenced by the research objective. 5. The inquiry could be greatly helped by distinguishing two different classes of research techniques. 6. In one’s research to understand what happens in this particular case, one cannot help being influenced by the history of quite another problem. 7. The question of collective scientific discoveries has already been raised, it having been suggested that a solution of some urgent problems can be best achieved that way. 8. During such experiments interfering influences must be excluded and an artifical environment created in which the contribution of the individual components can be taken account of and possibly even measured. 9. If the scientist succeeds in confirming his repeated observations it may be stated that an empirical law or rule of nature has been discovered. 10. Let us examine various types of such mispronunciations, remembering, of course, that they are mispronunciations only in the sense of being looked upon unfavourably by cultural speakers. 11. Social scientists and physical scientists, each group representing a diversity of specialized disciplines, were brought together to review some implications of the interaction between science and society. 12. The oceans and the atmosphere are strongly coupled systems and cannot very well be treated separately. The final circulation pattern is determined by the interaction of the two systems, each system influencing the other in a complicated cycle of events.