Рубрика:
41
spontaneously by uranium salts. His discovery excited Marie Curie, and together
with her husband Pierre Curie she tried to obtain more knowledge about the
radiation. What was it exactly? Where did it come from?
4. Second comes the collecting of facts: the techniques of doing this will differ
according to the problem which is to be solved. But it is based on the experiment in
which anything may be used to gather the essential data - from a test-tube to an
earth-satellite. It is known that the Curies encountered great difficulties in gathering
their facts, as they investigated the mysterious uranium rays.
5. This leads to step three: organizing the facts and studying the relationships
that emerge. It was already noted that the above rays were different from anything
known. How to explain this? Did this radiation come from the atom itself? It might
be expected that other materials also have the property of emitting radiation. Some
investigations made by Mme Curie proved that this was so. The discovery was
followed by further experiments with "active" radioelements only.
6. Step four consists of stating a hypothesis or theory: that is, framing a general
truth that has emerged, and that may be modified as new facts emerge. In July 1898,
the Curies announced the probable presence in pitchblende ores of a new element
possessing powerful radioactivity. This was the beginning of the discovery of
radium.
7. Then follows the clearer statement of the theory. In December 1898, the
Curies reported to the Academy of Sciences: "The various reasons enumerated lead
us to believe that the new radioactive substance contains a new element to which we
propose to give the name of Radium. The new radioactive substance certainly
contains a great amount of barium, and still its radioactivity is considerable. It can
be suggested therefore that the radioactivity of radium must be enormous".
8. And the final step is the practical test of the theory, i. e. the prediction of
new facts. This is essential, because from this flows the possibility of control by
man of the forces of nature that are newly revealed.
9. Note should be taken of how Marie Curie used deductive reasoning in order
to proceed with her research, this kind of "detective work" being basic to the
methodology of science. It should be stressed further that she dealt with probability
- and not with certainty - in her investigation. Also, although the Curies were doing
the basic research work at great expense to themselves in hard physical toil, they
knew that were part of an international group of people all concerned with their
search for truth. Their reports were published and immediately examined by
scientists all over the world. Any defects in their arguments would be pointed out to
them immediately.
Task 1. State the main idea of the 1
st
paragraph. Give the Russian equivalents of: a
cumulative body of knowledge, a peculiar method practiced by the scientist,
manufacturing commodities to meet human needs.
Task 2. Identify the topic sentence of the 7
th
paragraph.
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